Wednesday 22 July 09:50
- 11:20
Hall: 16 - Room 13 SA
Chair and Presenter:
Panesi Sabrina
Discussant:
Scerif Gaia
Division: Division 2: Psychological Assessment and Evaluation
The development of Executive Functions (EFs) in the first years of life is foundational to later-life success. For this
reason, assessing EFs in young children is fundamental and several approaches are currently used.
This symposium aims to create a debate about different approaches concerning the assessment of EFs in the first years
of life. Specifically, different direct measurements of EFs are explored.
Berni and colleagues present a novel scale designed to assess EFs and self-regulation in children aged 18 to 36 months,
encompassing both typical and atypical developmental trajectories. The study explores the scale's structure and its
correlations with various aspects of daily functioning.
Bandettini and colleagues examine the structure of EFs in 208 preschoolers using a large test battery composed of three
working memory, three updating, three shifting and nine inhibition tasks. CFAs show that the best-fitting model comprises two correlated factors (factor 1: inhibition measures; factor 2: working memory, shifting, and updating
measures).
Downes presents research that explores performance on a scaffolded tool (Preschool Executive Task Assessment;
PETA), developed following an ecological approach. Results show some links between performance on the PETA task
and behavioral functioning, environmental factors, academic ability.
Panesi and colleagues examine an updating task for preschoolers, the Magic House task, comparing analog and digital
versions, also exploring the role of Working Memory (WM) capacity. 127 preschoolers completed both versions of the
Magic House task and two WM capacity tasks. Results show higher performance in the analog version of the Magic
House task.
Gaia Scerif leads the discussion.
