The characteristics of language development and executive functioning in pre-schoolers (neuropsychological aspect)

Abstract

Significant differences in language and self-regulation skills exist among children when they enter school. Yet, the relationship between these functions is still not fully understood. This study explored bidirectional associations between language development and executive functions in preschool period. 124 children from 4,8 to 6,5 years old participated in the research. Seven neuropsychological tests were given to estimate the level of language development: The Picture Naming test, Naming of Actions, ULGC, Text Comprehension, USSW, Story Production and VFT. DCCS and SR were used to assess executive functions. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to verify the hypothesis for a correlation between language development and executive functions. Unexpectedly, a zero correlation was found with cognitive flexibility. Verbal working memory was only associated with different parameters of story production task. Based on these results, it can be concluded that language and executive functions develop independently in preschool period.