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Article published In: Written Language & Literacy
Vol. 20:2 (2017) ► pp.170–193

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How executive control predicts early reading development

 | Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University
 | Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University
 | Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University
Published online: 9 February 2018
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https://doi.org/10.1075/wll.00003.san
Abstract
Attentional and action control are two levels of executive control that are essential to early reading development. Together these levels enable the construction and monitoring of cognitive representations and of efficient task-behavior, which are both necessary to benefit from reading instruction. The longitudinal and unique contributions of this internal and external level of executive control to early reading are still unclear. We therefore examined how these control capacities facilitate reading development from kindergarten to second-grade. Attentional and action control and multiple early reading skills were assessed at all three time points. Structural Equation Modeling showed a mediation effect for attentional control and an indirect effect for action control to subsequent reading skills via the contributions to the precursor of phonological awareness. From these results it can be concluded that both types uniquely allowed for the emergence of kindergarten preliteracy skills, which in turn provided children with a better starting point for reading development in first- and second-grade.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Direct contributions of attentional and action control to early reading development
    • 1.2Indirect contributions of attentional and action control to early reading development
    • 1.3The present study
  • 2.Method
    • 2.1Participants
    • 2.2Measures
      • 2.2.1Executive control
        • 2.2.1.1Attentional control
        • 2.2.1.2Action control
        • 2.2.1.3Aggregated executive control measures
      • 2.2.2Phonological awareness
        • 2.2.2.1Aggregated phonological awareness measures
      • 2.2.3Word-decoding
      • 2.2.4Reading comprehension
    • 2.3Procedure
    • 2.4Data analyses
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Descriptive statistics and intercorrelations
    • 3.2Analyses of the direct and indirect effects of executive control to early reading development
  • 4.Discussion
    • 4.1Direct and indirect contributions of attentional and action control to early reading development
    • 4.2Limitations and future directions
    • 4.3Conclusions
  • References
References (68)
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