The umbrella-term ‘executive functions’ (EF) includes various domain-general, goal-directed cognitive abilities responsible for behavioral self-regulation. The influential unity and diversity model of EF posits the existence of three correlated yet separable executive domains: inhibition, shifting and updating. These domains may be influenced by factors such as socioeconomic status (SES) and culture, possibly due to the way EF tasks are devised and to biased choice of stimuli, focusing on first-world testees. Here, we propose a FREE (Free Research Executive Function Evaluation) test battery that includes two open-access tasks for each of the three abovementioned executive domains to allow latent variables to be obtained. The tasks were selected from those that have been shown to be representative of each domain, that are not copyrighted and do not require special hardware/software to be administered. These tasks were adapted for use in populations with varying SES/schooling levels by simplifying tasks/instructions and using easily-recognized stimuli such as pictures. Items are answered verbally and tasks are self-paced to minimize interference from individual differences in psychomotor and perceptual speed, to better isolate executive from other cognitive abilities. We tested these tasks on 146 early adolescents (aged 9-15 years) of both sexes and varying SES, because this is the age group in which the executive domains of interest become distinguishable and in order to confirm that SES effects were minimized. Performance was determined by Rate Correct Scores (correct answers divided by total time taken to complete blocks/trial), which consider speed-accuracy trade-offs. Scores were sensitive to the expected improvement in performance with age and rarely/inconsistently affected by sex and SES, as expected, with no floor or ceiling effects, or skewed distribution, thus suggesting their adequacy for diverse populations in these respects. Using structural equation modeling, evidence based on internal structure was obtained by replicating the three correlated-factor solution proposed by the authors of the model. We conclude that the FREE test battery, which is open access and described in detail to encourage replication, may be useful for research in a wide range of populations.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Resumo O presente artigo problematiza aspectos afetivos inerentes à relação materno-filial que podem estar associados ao surgimento e estabelecimento de sintomas psicossomáticos de refluxo gastroesofágico no bebê de até 1 ano de idade. Para tanto, apresenta-se estudo de caso de uma díade mãe-bebê auxiliado por entrevista semiestruturada, aplicação das pranchas 1, 2 e 7MF do teste de apercepção temática e observação naturalista. Cada instrumento foi analisado qualitativamente e teve seus resultados integrados e articulados à teoria psicanalítica. Os principais resultados apontaram certa fragilidade egóica e necessidade de apoio social por parte da mãe, compatíveis com o período do puerpério. São discutidas possíveis maneiras de funcionamento do psiquismo materno, por exemplo, quando sobrecarregado com afetos ansiosos, há sobredeterminação de sintomas psicofuncionais no bebê, os quais, por sua vez, causam efeitos no modo como a mãe se posiciona no exercício da maternagem suficientemente boa, marcando um interjogo relacional.

Executive functions (EFs) are cognitive skills that regulate thoughts and behavior. The unity and diversity model of EF, one of the most prominent frameworks in this field, proposes the existence of three correlated but separable EF domains (inhibition, updating and switching). This fractionation of EF has been shown from adolescence on in some, but not all studies, which usually only reported a few of many possible factor structures. Additionally, age and socioeconomic status (SES) effects in these studies were unreliable due to lack of invariance testing, necessary to ensure that participants of different ages/SES perform tasks similarly so that these effects can be estimated. Hence, we tested this framework in 407 9-15-year-old Iranians of variable SES using a test battery that includes two tasks for each EF domain and allows cultural adaptations regarding language and stimuli. We tested various alternative model configurations (one, two and three factor, nested and bifactor-S-1 models) using Confirmatory Factor Analyses and, for the selected best fitting model, performed invariance testing (across age and SES) with Multiple Indicators, Multiple Causes model. The best fitting model solution (three-correlated factors) replicated prior results in early adolescent samples from different countries, speaking to the universality of the separability of the three EF domains at this age. Furthermore, this model exhibited differential item functioning for only one of 7 indicators (for age and SES) allowing us to reliably show that all three EF latent traits improve with age, while SES exerts only minimal positive effects on shifting and updating.

Cultural background can influence cognition, including executive functions (EFs), abilities that encompass skills responsible for self-regulation of thoughts and behaviour. The seminal unity and diversity model of EFs proposes the existence, in adulthood, of three correlated but separable EF latent (shared variance in more than one task/indicator) domains: inhibition, updating and shifting. However, evidence of the cross-cultural generality of the development of this framework is lacking, especially regarding adolescence, an age during which these domains become more clearly separable. We tested whether EF unity/diversity could be observed in early adolescents (9 – 15-year-olds) from Brazil and Iran (total sample: 739; 407 Iranians; 358 girls). Participants carried out two open-access tasks that are representative of each EF domain and that were adapted to each cultural context. Seven latent model configurations were tested. The three-correlated latent factor structure had adequate fit and multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis invariance testing showed invariance for country at the level of the latent factor structure (configural invariance), factor loadings (metric invariance), and partial invariance at the intercept (scalar) level. Iranians had higher scores in all domains. Multiple indicators multiple causes invariance testing showed model invariance across age (except for one task) and parental education and that performance in all domains improved with age and only minimally with parental schooling. We conclude that EF fractionation into three domains is already present in the first half of adolescence in two samples from underrepresented populations in the literature, suggesting a potential generality of EF latent unity/diversity development at this age.

Behavioral self-regulation (BSR) refers to a set of abilities such as cool and hot executive functions, that enable flexible, adaptive, and goal-directed regulation of behavior. During adolescence, BSR improves as individuals age and learn from their experiences. Crucially, BSR is also influenced by maturational changes related to pubertal development. However, the contribution of pubertal status to BSR development beyond age-related effects is unclear. Here, we performed a systematic review of the literature to investigate effects of pubertal status that can be separated from age effects. We identified 113 studies reporting results on the relationship between pubertal status and BSR measures, but most of them were not informative for our review question because they did not properly adjust for age effects, or manipulated pubertal data in ways that no longer reflected the participants’ pubertal status. The 26 remaining eligible studies used a heterogeneous set of tasks and questionnaires to assess BSR-related capacities. More than a third of these studies found no pubertal effects, while the remainder reported a mix of positive and negative effects, with few clear patterns. Additionally, there were common methodological shortcomings in this literature that significantly limited the strength of the evidence. So, despite indirect evidence for pubertal effects on BSR, our review showed a lack of strong direct evidence for substantial effects. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our findings for current theories of BSR development during adolescence, and present suggestions for dealing with the current methodological shortcomings in future studies.