Inhibition/interference, working memory and processing speed correlate with adolescent academic achievement, while cognitive flexibility and social skills do not¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q3 · i2 medium
Currency · newest study 2019 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i2 Partial correlations adjusted for gender, age and school show inhibition/interference (r=0.25), working memory (r=0.10; r=0.19) and processing speed (r=−0.180) associated with academic achievement; cognitive flexibility (r=−0.17) and social skills (r=0.13) show no significant correlation. → Cancela J 2019

Evidence¶

Cancela J 2019¶

Cancela J, Burgo H, Sande E. (2019). Physical fitness and executive functions in adolescents: cross-sectional associations with academic achievement. J. Phys. Ther. Sci. 31: 556–562. https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jpts/31/7/31_17-478/_article

q3 · i2 · associational · r2

Partial correlation analysis in the same 713-adolescent cross-sectional sample, relating five executive function measures (Stroop, Wechsler memory, Symbol Digit, Trail Making, MESSY) to academic achievement. The study reports "Inhibition/interference (r=0.25, p<0.001)" as the strongest cognitive correlate.

"The partial correlations between EFs and AA, adjusting by gender, age and level school show association with students’ academic achievement in Inhibition/interference (r=0.25, p<0.001), working memory (r=0.10, p<0.05, r=0.19, p<0.05), and processing speed (r= −0.180, p<0.05)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Interference suppression, but not response inhibition, relates to academic achievement and schooling skills — related
• Cool EF (Stroop inhibition and CNT cognitive flexibility) predicts academic performance, while no hot EF variable does — reports the opposite
• Gender differences appear in academic achievement and several cognitive parameters but not in inhibition/interference or social skills — related
• In adolescents, physical fitness components except balance are positively associated with academic achievement, with aerobic endurance the strongest (r=0.49) — related
• Meta-analytic findings show small-to-medium relations between EF and academic performance, with cognitive flexibility showing the strongest effects — reports the opposite
• Age differences in text processing are examined in terms of the roles of working memory, inhibition, and processing speed — related
• Bilingual effect evidence appears for inhibition and cognitive flexibility but disappears for working memory in children and adolescents — related
• Working memory and processing speed, but not inhibition or non-alphanumeric naming speed, uniquely predict both word reading and reading comprehension in children ages 8 to 16 — related
• Specific physical fitness components are differentially associated with specific executive function domains in adolescents — related
• Executive functions, especially working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility, are consistently associated with core SRL activities — related
• Working memory span, updating, and cognitive flexibility positively predict English writing, response inhibition positively predicts reading, and working memory span negatively predicts listening — a narrower finding that bears on this claim