Exploratory data analysis of executive functions in children: a new assessment battery

Abstract

Executive Functions (EF) are fundamental during childhood since they participate actively in such heterogeneous domains as mental and physical health, learning, school performance, and cognitive, social and psychological development. Their evaluation is of interest, both in the field of clinical practice and research. Several criticisms and discussions have been generated regarding the available resources for its measurement, so it is necessary to have evaluation tasks that present adequate psychometric properties and that allow to evaluate each EF with the least possible interference of other processes. This paper aims to present the Tareas de Autorregulación Cognitiva Battery (TAC), a computerized platform designed for independent measurement of inhibition, working memory and cognitive flexibility, as well as obtaining evidence of construct validity from a set of tasks that compose it. 103 children between 9 and 12 years of age from the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina, were assessed. The results of the factor analysis showed a solution of 3 factors, which significantly explain 52.79% of the variance. These results, together with the scientific evidence presented by previous studies, provide empirical support of the validity of the tasks analyzed in the present study. Thus, this study contributes to the literature by presenting a computerized battery for specific and independent assessment of the different executive processes, valid for its application in children.