Regularly Functions in Preschoolers Aged 4–7: the Impact of Kindergarten Attendance Span

Background. Executive functions are one of the factors that contribute to the balanced development of children and their success in the future. In this regard, the study of factors that may influence the development of executive functions is an urgent task. The study examines the role of the kindergarten attendance duration in the development of working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibition as components of executive functions in preschool children.

Methods. The NEPSY–II battery subtests were used to test the level of development of regulatory functions. Data on the period of children’s kindergarten attendance were collected according to preschool attendance journal.

Sample. The study involved 947 children aged 53 to 86 months (Mage = 70.3; SDage = 4.3), 515 boys and 495 girls from Moscow, Kazan, and Sochi.

Results. As a result of comparison of averages using Welch’s criterion, significant differences were found in the development of regulatory functions in children with different periods of kindergarten attendance. The level of visual and verbal working memory development was significantly higher in children who attended kindergarten for more than two years as compared to children with shorter time of attendance. Physical inhibitory control is significantly lower in children who attend kindergarten for less than a year compared to those who attend kindergarten for longer periods of time. Significant differences were shown in the level of visual working memory development depending on the region and on the duration of attendance.

Conclusion. The study demonstrated significant differences in the level of visual working memory, verbal working memory, and physical inhibitory control in children depending on the duration of kindergarten attendance. The highest scores were found in preschoolers attending kindergarten for more than two years. Thus, the results of the study emphasize the importance of kindergarten educational environment for successful cognitive development of preschoolers.

References

Anderson, V. (2001). Assessing executive functions in children: biological, psychological, and developmental considerations. Pediatric Rehabilitation, 4 (3), 119–136. https://doi.org/10.1080/713755568

Ardila, A. (2019). Executive Functions Brain Functional System. In A. Ardila, S. Fatima, M. Rosselli (Eds.). Dysexecutive Syndromes. Springer, Cham. https://doi. org/10.1007/978-3-030-25077-5-2

Belolutskaya, A.K., Veraksa, A.N., Almazova, O.V., Bukhalenkova, D.A., Gavrilova, M.N., Shiyan, I.B. (2018). Association between Educational Environment in Kindergarten and Executive Functions in Preschool Age. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie (Psychological Science and Education), 23 (6), 85–96. https://doi.org/10.17759/ pse.2018230608. (In Russ.).

Best, J.R. (2010). Effects of physical activity on children’s executive function: contributions of experimental research on aerobic exercise. Developmental Review, 30, 331–351.

Best, J.R., Miller, P.H., Naglieri, J.A. (2011). Relations between executive function and academic achievement from ages 5 to 17 in a large, representative national sample. Learning and Individual Differences, 21, 327–336.

Bull, R., Espy, K.A., Wiebe, S.A. (2008). Short–term memory, working memory, and executive functioning in preschoolers: Longitudinal predictors of mathematical achievement at age 7 years. Developmental Neuropsychology, 33, 205–228.

Chichinina, E., Bukhalenkova, D., Tvardovskaya, A., Semyonov, Yu., Gavrilova, M., Almazova, O. (2022). The Relationship between Executive Functions and Dance Classes in Preschool Age Children. Educational Science, 12, 788. https://doi. org/10.3390/educsci12110788

Chichinina, E.A., Gavrilova, M.N. (2022). Growth of Executive Functions in Preschool–Age Children During the COVID–19 Lockdown: Empirical Evidence. Psychology in Russia: State of the Art, 15 (2), 124–136. https://doi.org/10.11621/pir.2022.0209

Clements, D.H., Sarama, J., Germeroth, C. (2016). Learning executive function and early mathematics: Directions of causal relations. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 36, 79–90.

Cortés Pascual, A., Moyano Muñoz, N., Quílez Robres, A. (2019). The Relationship Between Executive Functions and Academic Performance in Primary Education: Review and Meta–Analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1582. https://doi.org/10.3389/ fpsyg.2019.01582

Curby, T.W., et al. (2009). The Relations of Observed Pre–K Classroom Quality Profiles to Children’s Achievement and Social Competence. Early Education and Development, 20 (2), 346–372.

Dean, J.T., Jayachandran, S. (2019). Attending kindergarten improves cognitive but not socioemotional development in India. Working paper. (Retrieved from https://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/~sjv340/kindergarten.pdf).

Diamond, A. (2013). Executive Functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135–168.

Diamond, A., Ling, D.S. (2016). Conclusions about interventions, programs, and approaches for improving executive functions that appear justified and those that, despite much hype, do not. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 18, 34–48. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2015.11.005

Dolgikh, A., Bayanova, L., Shatskaya, A., Yakushina, A. (2022). The Relationship between Teacher Evaluation of Children’s Musical Abilities and Executive Functions Indicators. Rossiiskii psikhologicheskii zhurnal (Russian Psychological Journal), 19 (4), 80–93. https://doi.org/10.21702/rpj.2022.4.5 (In Russ.).

Duncombe, M., Havighurst, S.S., Holland, K.A., Frankling, E.J. (2013). Relations of emotional competence and effortful control to child dis–ruptive behavior problems. Early Education & Development, 24 (5), 599–615. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289. 2012.701536

Duval, S., Bouchard, C., Pagé, P., Hamel, C. (2016). Quality of classroom interactions in kindergarten and executive functions among five–year–old children. Cogent Education, 3, 79–96.

Elkonin, D.B. (1978). Psychology of the play. Moscow: Pedagogy. (In Russ.).

Ellemberg, D., St–Louis–Deschênes, M. (2010). The effect of acute physical exercise on cognitive function during development. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 11, 122–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2009.09.006

Frolli, A., Cerciello, F., Esposito, C., Ciotola, S., De Candia, G., Ricci, M.C., Russo, M.G. (2022). Executive Functions and Foreign Language Learning. Pediatric Reports, 14 (4), 450–456. https://doi.org/10.3390/pediatric14040053

Ghardashi, F., Rahnama, F., Akbarzadeh, R., Stagy, Z. (2013). Relationship between Kindergarten Attendance and Cognitive–Motor Development of Preschool Children in Sabzevar City. Life Science Journal, 9, 377–380.

Gong, X., Xu, D., Han, W.J. (2016). The effects of preschool attendance on adolescent outcomes in rural China. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 37, 140–152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2016.06.003

Hall, J., Sylva K., Sammons P., Melhuish E., Siraj–Blatchford I., Taggart B. (2013). Can preschool protect young children’s cognitive and social development? Variation by center quality and duration of attendance. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 24, 155–176. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2012.749793

Hamre, B., Hatfield, B., Pianta, R., Jamil, F. (2014). Evidence for general and domain–specific elements of teacher–child interactions: associations with preschool children’s development. Child Development, 85, 1257–1274.

Hill, C.J., Gormley, W.T., Adelstein, S. (2015). Do the short–term effects of a high–quality preschool program persist? Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 32, 60–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2014.12.005

Jaschke, A.C., Honing, H., Scherder, E.J.A. (2018). Longitudinal Analysis of Music Education on Executive Functions in Primary School Children. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 12, 103.

Jeon, H., Langill, C., Peterson, C., Luze, G., Carta, J., Atwater, J. (2010). Children’s Individual Experiences in Early Care and Education: Relations With Overall Classroom Quality and Children’s School Readiness. Early Education and Development, 21, 912–939.

Kardanova, E.Y., Ivanova, A.I., Sergomanov, P.A., Kanonir, T.N., Antipkina, I.V., Kayky, D.N. (2018). Generalized types of first graders’ development at the entrance to school Based on the materials of the iPIPS study. Voprosy obrazovaniya (Educational Issues), 1, 8–37. https://doi.org/10.17323/1814-9545-2018-1-8-37 (In Russ.).

Korkman, M., Kirk, U., Kemp, S.L. (2007). NEPSY II. Administrative Manual. Psychological Corporation: San Antonio, TX, USA.

Luria, A.R. (1962). Higher cortical functions of man and their violations at local brain lesions. Moscow: Moscow University Publishing House. (In Russ.).

Lyakhova, E.V. (2019). Communicative competence of preschoolers with different group status. Psikhologiya i pedagogika sluzhebnoi deyatel’nosti (Psychology and pedagogy of professional activity), 3, 30–32. (In Russ.).

Miyake, A., Friedman, N.P., Emerson, M.J., Witzki, A.H., Howerter, A., Wager, T.D. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “frontal lobe” tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41, 49–100.

Morosanova, V.I. (2021). Conscious self–regulation as a meta–resource for achieving goals and solving the problems of human activity. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 14. Psikhologiya (Moscow University Psychology Bulletin), 1, 4–37. https://doi. org/10.11621/vsp.2021.01.01 (In Russ.).

Oshchepkova, E.S., Shatskaya, A.N., Kovyazina, M.S. (2023). The longitudinal influence of the level of executive function development on children’s transcriptional skills: a modern view of A. Luria’s ideas. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1199683. https:// doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1199683

Piaget, J. (1994). Child’s Speech and Thinking. SPb.: Pedagogika–Press. (In Russ.).

Pinto, A.I., Pessanha, M., Aguiar, C. (2013). Effects of home environment and center–based child care quality on children’s language, communication, and literacy outcomes. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28, 94–101.

Proshkova, Z.V. (2021). Influence of training in kindergarten on the educational success of junior high school students in parents’ assessments. Mir nauki. Pedagogika i psikhologiya (World of Science. Pedagogy and psychology), 9 (5). (Retrieved from https://mir–nauki.com/PDF/22PSMN521.pdf). https://doi.org/10.15862/22PSMN521 (In Russ.).

Rydell, A.M., Berlin, L., Bohlin, G. (2003). Emotionality, emotion regulation, and adaptation among 5- to 8-year-old children. Emotion, 3, 30–47.

Sánchez–García, M.A., Lucas–Molina, B., Fonseca–Pedrero, E., Pérez–Albéniz, A., Paino, M. (2018). Dificultades emocionales y comportamentales en la adolescencia: relación con bienestar emocional, afecto y rendimiento académico. Anales de Psicología, 34 (3), 482–489. https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.34.3.296631

Shoghi Javan, S., Ghonsooly, B. (2017). Learning a Foreign Language: A New Path to Enhancement of Cognitive Functions. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 47 (1), 125–138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-017-9518-7

Silva, C., Sousa–Gomes, V., Fávero, M., Oliveira–Lopes, S., Merendeiro, C.S., Oliveira, J., Moreira, D. (2022). Assessment of preschool–age executive functions: A systematic review. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 29 (4), 1374–1391. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2718

Solopova, O.V., Kozopolyanskaya–Solovyova, A.I. (2016). The phenomenon of “settler” as a factor of rejection or reproduction of national culture in the practice of children’s upbringing among the Belarusians of Moscow. Sovremennoe doshkol’noe obrazovanie. Teoriya i praktika (Modern Preschool Education. Theory and Practice), 7 (69), 8–16. (In Russ.).

Stich, H.L., Baune, B.T., Caniato, R.N., Krämer, A. (2006). Associations between preschool attendance and developmental impairments in pre–school children in a six–year retrospective survey. BMC Public Health, 6, 260. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-6-260

Sukhikh, V.L., Veresov, N.N., Veraksa, N.E. (2022). Dramatic Perezhivanie as a driver of executive functions development through role–play in early childhood: Theoretical framework and experimental evidence. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1057209. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1057209

Sylva, K., Melhuish E., Sammons P., Siraj I., Taggart B., Smees R., Toth K., Welcomme W., Hollingworth K. (2014). Effective Pre–school, Primary and Secondary Education 3–16 Project (EPPSE 3–16) Students’ Educational and Developmental Outcomes at Age 16 Department. Education Research Report RR354.

Vandell, D.L., Belsky, J., Burchinal, M., Steinberg, L., Vandergrift, N. (2010). NICHD Early Child Care Research. Do effects of early child care extend to age 15 years? Results from the NICHD study of early child care and youth development. Child Development, 81, 737–756. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467–8624.2010.01431.x

Veraksa, A., Almazova, O., Bukhalenkova, D. (2020). Studying executive functions in senior preschoolers. PsyCh Journal, 9 (1), 144–146. https://doi.org/10.1002/pchj.310

Veraksa, A.N., Almazova, O.V., Bukhalenkova, D.A. (2020). Diagnostics of regulatory functions in the senior preschool age: a battery of methods. Psikhologicheskii zhurnal (Psychological Journal), 41 (6), 108–118. https://doi.org/10.31857/S0.31857/ S020595920012593–8 (In Russ.).

Veraksa, A.N., Aslanova, M.S., Bukhalenkova, D.A., Veraksa, N.E., Liutsko, L. (2020). Assessing the Effectiveness of Differentiated Instructional Approaches for Teaching Math to Preschoolers with Different Levels of Executive Functions. Education Sciences, 10, 181. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci10070181

Veraksa, N.E., Komarova, T.S., Dorofeeva, E.M. (2019). From Birth to School. Innovative program of preschool education. M.: MOZAIKA–SYNTEZ. (In Russ.).

Veresov, N. (2012). The importance of cultural–historical theory of education: Reflections on learning, development, business and creativity. Forum Oswiatowe, 1 (46), 141–156.

Vygotsky, L.S. (1982). Problems of General Psychology. Collected Works. In 6 vol.: vol. 2. Moscow: Pedagogy. (In Russ.).

Weiland, C., Ulvestad, K., Sachs, J., Yoshikawa, H. (2013). Associations between classroom quality and children’s vocabulary and executive functions skills in an urban public prekindergarten program. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28, 199–209.

Yudina, E. (2022). Pretend play as the territory of freedom. Natsional’nyi psikhologicheskii zhurnal (National Psychological Journal), 3, 13–25. https://doi.org/10.11621/ npj.2022.0303 (In Russ.).

Zelazo, P.D. (2006). The Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS): A method of assessing executive function in children. Nature Protocols, 1, 297–301.

Zheng, L., Weng, Q., Gong, X. (2021). Does preschool attendance affect the urban–rural cognition gap among middle school students? Evidence from China Education Panel Survey. The Journal of Chinese Sociology, 8, 14 https://doi.org/10.1186/ s40711-021-00150-1