Department of Personality, Assessment, and Psychological Treatment, University of Granada (UGR), Granada, Spain.
The Brain, Mind, and Behavior Research Center at the University of Granada (CIMCYC-UGR), Granada, Spain.
PLoS One. 2024 May 14;19(5):e0299394. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299394. eCollection 2024.
Working memory (WM) and inhibitory control (IC) play a crucial role in learning during early childhood. The literature suggests a non-linear developmental trajectory of executive functions (EFs) with varied results according to gender, usually attributed to environmental factors. However, there is insufficient and inconclusive data on whether this pattern is reproduced in the Latin American preschool population since most studies have been conducted in English-speaking, European, and Asian environments. Thus, objectively comparing children's executive performance across diverse international geographical contexts becomes challenging. This study aimed to conduct a cross-sectional analysis of the performance in WM and IC of 982 Ecuadorian preschoolers aged between 42 and 65 months (M = 53.71; SD = 5.714) and belonging to medium-high, medium, and low-medium socioeconomic strata. The participants consisted of 496 boys (M = 53.77; SD = 5.598) and 486 girls (M = 53.65; SD = 5.834), representing nine cities in Ecuador. To assess the effect of age and gender on performance in these two domains, the sample was divided into four 6-month age intervals. Two tests were administered to the participants, and a survey was conducted with 799 of their usual caregivers. Viewing the cross-sectional mean scores of the WM and IC tests as a temporal continuum reveals an upward trend in each age interval studied. Girls outperformed boys on the IC test, showing statistically significant differences in the earliest age interval. The gender differences in executive performance reported in the literature emphasize the need to explore the modulating effect of environmental variables on early childhood development. This information could offer valuable insights for adapting and optimizing cognitive and didactic strategies in early childhood tailored to the characteristics and needs of the preschool population.
工作记忆(WM)和抑制控制(IC)在儿童早期学习中起着至关重要的作用。文献表明,执行功能(EF)的发展轨迹是非线性的,其结果因性别而异,通常归因于环境因素。然而,由于大多数研究都是在英语、欧洲和亚洲环境中进行的,因此关于这种模式是否在拉丁美洲学龄前儿童中重现,目前的数据还不够充分,也没有定论。因此,客观比较不同国际地理背景下儿童的执行表现变得具有挑战性。本研究旨在对 982 名厄瓜多尔学龄前儿童(年龄在 42 至 65 个月之间,M = 53.71;SD = 5.714)的 WM 和 IC 执行表现进行横断面分析,这些儿童属于中高、中、中低社会经济阶层。参与者包括 496 名男孩(M = 53.77;SD = 5.598)和 486 名女孩(M = 53.65;SD = 5.834),代表厄瓜多尔的九个城市。为了评估年龄和性别对这两个领域表现的影响,将样本分为四个 6 个月的年龄间隔。向参与者施测了两项测试,并对其中 799 名儿童的常规照顾者进行了调查。将 WM 和 IC 测试的横断面平均分数视为时间连续体,每个研究的年龄间隔都呈现出上升趋势。在 IC 测试中,女孩的表现优于男孩,在最早的年龄间隔中表现出统计学上的显著差异。文献中报道的执行表现的性别差异强调了需要探索环境变量对儿童早期发展的调节作用。这些信息可以为适应和优化针对学龄前儿童特点和需求的认知和教学策略提供有价值的见解。