Test–Retest Reliability and Practice Effects of Executive Function Tasks in Preschool Children
Abstract
This study examined the test-retest reliability of executive function tasks in preschool children. Measures of working memory, response inhibition, attentional flexibility, and planning were administered to thirty three preschool children between the ages of 36 and 72 months (M = 54.75 months) on two testing occasions approximately three weeks apart (M interval = 21.64 days). Working memory tasks showed higher test-retest reliability than measures of response inhibition. There were significant practice effects on three measures of complex working memory. Implications of these findings for the assessment of executive function in preschool children are discussed.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Test-retest reliability was good for working memory and planning tasks but moderate to poor for response inhibition tasks.
“a recent report showed that test-retest reliability was good for working memory and planning tasks but moderate to poor for response inhibition tasks”
From Assessing Executive Function in Preschoolers (2012) · cites this paper as Muller, Kerns, & Konkin, 2012
Computer-based tasks suitable for preschoolers have been designed based on previously validated measures of attention and executive function, including Go/No-Go, response inhibition, delayed alternation, self-ordered pointing, and working memory tasks.
“and colleagues have successfully designed computer based tasks suitable for preschoolers based on previously validated measures of attention and executive function including appealing and interactive Go/No-Go, response inhibition, delayed alternation, self-ordered pointing and working memory tasks (Hrabok, Kerns, & Muller, 2007;Muller, Kerns, & Konkin, 2012).”
From Assessing Executive Function in Preschoolers (2012) · cites this paper as Muller, Kerns, & Konkin, 2012
Cites
Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Emerson, M. J., Witzki, A. H., Howerter, A., & Wager, T. D. (2000) · Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1006/cogp.1999.0734 · Cited by 15,798 · see citing works
Executive function in preschoolers: A review using an integrative framework.
Garon, N., Bryson, S. E., & Smith, I. M. (2008) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.134.1.31 · Cited by 2,695 · see citing works
Developmentally Sensitive Measures of Executive Function in Preschool Children
Carlson, S. M. (2005) · Developmental Neuropsychology · doi:10.1207/s15326942dn2802_3 · Cited by 1,638 · see citing works
Bull, R., Espy, K. A., & Wiebe, S. A. (2008) · Developmental Neuropsychology · doi:10.1080/87565640801982312 · Cited by 1,544 · cited 1× · see citing works
“As a measure of the visuospatial sketchpad, children received the forward version of the Xylophone task (Kerns & McInerney, 2007 ; see Bull, Espy, & Wiebe, 2008 ).”
MethodDimensions of executive functioning: evidence from children
Lehto, J. E., Juujärvi, P., Kooistra, L., & Pulkkinen, L. (2003) · British Journal of Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1348/026151003321164627 · Cited by 1,226 · see citing works
Behavioral Development and Construct Validity: The Principle of Aggregation
Rushton, J. P., Brainerd, C. J., & Pressley, M. (1983) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.94.1.18 · Cited by 940 · see citing works
Verbal and Visuospatial Short-Term and Working Memory in Children: Are They Separable?
Alloway, T. P., Gathercole, S. E., & Pickering, S. J. (2006) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00968.x · Cited by 938 · cited 1× · see citing works
“70) in school-age children (Alloway, Gathercole, & Pickering, 2006 ; Kuntsi, Stevenson, Osterlaan, & Sonuga-Barke, 2001 ).”
The structure of executive function in 3-year-olds.
Wiebe, S. A., Sheffield, T., Nelson, J. M., Clark, C. A. C., Chevalier, N., & Espy, K. A. (2011) · Journal of Experimental Child Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2010.08.008 · Cited by 776 · see citing works
Measuring Executive Functions in Childhood: Problems and Solutions?
Hughes, C., & Graham, A. (2002) · Child and Adolescent Mental Health · doi:10.1111/1475-3588.00024 · Cited by 297 · see citing works
Passolunghi, M. C., Mammarella, I. C., & Altoè, G. (2008) · Developmental Neuropsychology · doi:10.1080/87565640801982320 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Duckworth, A. L., & Yeager, D. S. (2015) · Educational Researcher · doi:10.3102/0013189x15584327 · Cited by 993 · see citing works
Longitudinal associations between executive functioning and academic skills across content areas.
Fuhs, M. W., Nesbitt, K. T., Farran, D. C., & Dong, N. (2014) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0036633 · Cited by 376 · see citing works
Assessing Executive Function in Preschoolers
Anderson, P. J., & Reidy, N. (2012) · Neuropsychology Review · doi:10.1007/s11065-012-9220-3 · Cited by 293 · see citing works
Clarifying Inhibitory Control: Diversity and Development of Attentional Inhibition
Howard, S. J., Johnson, J., & Pascual-Leone, J. (2014) · Cognitive Development · doi:10.1016/j.cogdev.2014.03.001 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
- Authors
- Müller, U., Kerns, K. A., & Konkin, K.
- Affiliations
- University of Victoria (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Müller, Ulrich
- Venue
- The Clinical Neuropsychologist
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2012-01-18
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 271-287
- ISSN
- 0920-1637 (ISSN-L)
- 1385-4046
- 1744-4144
- OpenAlex
- W1987730066
- Cited by
- 84
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 9.78
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Clinical Neuropsychologist (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Keywords
- executive function, test-retest reliability, practice effects, preschool children, working memory, response inhibition, attentional flexibility, planning, executive function assessment
- MeSH terms
- Attention, Child, Preschool, Female, Humans, Inhibition, Psychological, Male, Memory, Short-Term, Neuropsychological Tests, Practice, Psychological, Problem Solving, Psychometrics, Reproducibility of Results, Executive Function
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review