In a meta-analytic database of ten studies, the latent EF factor model was preferred in seven samples, with two favoring the components model and one equal¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2019 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Replication across ten peer-reviewed studies of children aged 3–6 found the latent EF model preferred in most but not all samples. → Nguyen 2019

Evidence¶

Nguyen 2019¶

Nguyen, T., Duncan, R.J., & Bailey, D.H. (2019). Theoretical and methodological implications of associations between executive function and mathematics in early childhood. Contemporary Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2019.04.002

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Meta-analytic database of ten studies (2008–2017) meeting inclusion criteria for measuring all three EF components and standardized math achievement; models were estimated from correlation matrices. The article reports "Seven of the ten samples had smaller BIC values for Model 1".

"Seven of the ten samples had smaller BIC values for Model 1, two of the ten had smaller BIC values for Model 2, and one was equal."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Children's executive function at the beginning of pre-kindergarten predicts growth in mathematics achievement across the pre-kindergarten year — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• In the ECLS-K: 2010 dataset, a single latent EF factor model fits EF–math associations better than a specific-components model at all three time points — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Math achievement correlates more strongly with EF components than EF components correlate with each other in early childhood — related
• Under the components model in ECLS-K, working memory is the most closely associated EF component with math, but only at time point 1 does it show a positive residual correlation beyond latent EF — related
• EC factor loadings on executive tasks strengthen and stabilize across the preschool period — related