Language and Executive Function in Preschoolers

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dc.contributor.authorYeung, Emanuela
dc.contributor.supervisorMuller, Ulrich
dc.date.accessioned2013-12-23T23:38:12Z
dc.date.available2014-12-14T12:22:05Z
dc.date.copyright2013en_US
dc.date.issued2013-12-23
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of Psychology
dc.degree.levelMaster of Science M.Sc.en_US
dc.description.abstractBased on classic and contemporary theories of cognitive development by Vygotsky, Luria, and Zelazo and colleagues, the main objective of the present study was to systematically evaluate the association between different aspects of language, namely semantic and syntactic knowledge, and specific executive functioning (EF) abilities (working memory, inhibition, and flexibility) in preschoolers. Sixty-seven children age 3-5 years were administered a battery of EF and language measures. A latent variable approach was used to estimate performance on EF tasks. A two-factor model consisting of working memory/inhibition (WM/INH) and flexibility provided the best fit for the data. The results showed that syntactic ability uniquely explained a significant amount of variance in both WM/INH and flexibility over and above age and semantic ability. Furthermore, children’s complex syntax scores predicted their performance on complex blocks of flexibility tasks. These findings provide preliminary evidence for the association between children’s understanding of the structure of language and EF.en_US
dc.description.proquestcode0620en_US
dc.description.proquestemaileyeung@uvic.caen_US
dc.description.scholarlevelGraduateen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/5114
dc.languageEnglisheng
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.rights.tempAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.subjectcognitive developmenten_US
dc.subjectexecutive functionen_US
dc.subjectchildhooden_US
dc.subjectlanguageen_US
dc.titleLanguage and Executive Function in Preschoolersen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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