TY  - JOUR
A1  - Lensing, Johanna Nele
A1  - Elsner, Birgit
T1  - Development of hot and cool executive functions in middle childhood
BT  - Three-year growth curves of decision making and working memory updating
JF  - Journal of experimental child psychology
N2  - Although middle childhood is an important period for the development of hot and cool executive functions (EFs), longitudinal studies investigating trajectories of childhood EF development are still limited and little is known about predictors for individual developmental trajectories. The current study examined the development of two typical facets of cool and hot EFs over a 3-year period during middle childhood, comparing a younger cohort (6- and 7-year-olds at the first wave [T1]; n = 621) and an older cohort (8- and 9-year olds at T1; n = 975) of children. "Cool" working memory updating (WM) was assessed using a backward digit span task, and "hot" decision making (DM) was assessed using a child variant of the Iowa Gambling Task. Linear latent growth curve analyses revealed evidence for developmental growth as well as interindividual variance in the initial level and rate of change in both EF facets. Initial level of WM was positively associated with age (both between and within cohorts), socioeconomic status, verbal ability, and processing speed, whereas initial levels of DM were, in addition to a (potentially age-related) cohort effect, exclusively predicted by gender, with boys outperforming girls. None of the variables predicted the rate of change, that is, the developmental trajectories. However, younger children, as compared with older children, had slightly steeper WM growth curves over time, hinting at a leveling off in the development of WM during middle childhood. In sum, these data add important evidence to the understanding of hot and cool EF development during middle childhood. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
KW  - Cognitive development
KW  - Middle childhood
KW  - Hot and cool executive functioning
KW  - Working memory updating
KW  - Decision making
KW  - Growth curve models
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2018.04.002
SN  - 0022-0965
SN  - 1096-0457
VL  - 173
SP  - 187
EP  - 204
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - New York
ER  -