Development of executive functioning in school-age Tunisian children

Abstract

Research regarding executive functioning (EF) in children rarely focuses on populations in African or Middle-Eastern Arabic-speaking countries. The current study used a cross-sectional design to examine the developmental trajectories of school-age Tunisian children in three domains of executive control (inhibition of prepotent responses, cognitive flexibility, and working memory) as well as their mutual interactions and the effects of gender and parents' education level. Inhibitory processes, cognitive flexibility, and working memory were assessed using the Stroop test, a version of the Hayling test adapted for children, simple and alternating tasks of verbal fluency, and verbal and visuospatial span tasks (forward and backward spans). The study population included 120 7- to 12-year-old Tunisian children (60 girls, 60 boys) who were grouped and matched for age, gender, and parents' education level. The results revealed an overall effect of age on executive performance, whereas gender and parents' education level showed non-significant effects. In addition, executive indices were significantly associated with fluid intelligence level. Partial correlation analyses (controlled for age) found significant links between indices that assessed the same executive process, except for inhibitory processes; the temporal indices for inhibitory processes showed relative independence. The correlations between indices that assessed distinct executive processes were weaker (but significant). Overall, the results suggest that executive components in school-age Tunisian children operate according to relatively homogeneous developmental trajectories, marked by peaks of maturity that differ according to the assessed index. A transcultural approach to EF is discussed in terms of the unity and diversity of its components.

Cognitive Remediation Interventions in Autism Spectrum Condition: A Systematic Review

“… *Diagnosis of ASC = ( 1 , 36 , 37 ), IQ, Intelligence Quotient ( 38 ); Cognitive difficulties, The Cognitive Styles and Social Cognition Eligibility Interview ( 39 ); AQ-10, The 10-Item Autism Spectrum Quotient ( 40 ); Corsi-BTT, The Corsi block tapping task ( 41 ); BRIEF, Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning ( 42 ); SSRT, The stop-signal reaction time ( 43 ); N-back task ( 44 , 45 ), Gender-emotion switch-task ( 46 ). BACS-J, The Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia- Japanese version ( 47 ); CPT, Continuous Performance Test ( 48 ); SCoRS-J, Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale-Japanese version ( 48 ); LASMI, Life Assessment Scale for the Mentally Ill ( 49 ); MCCB, MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery ( 50 ); MSCEIT, The Mayer–Salovey–Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test ( 51 ); CAM, Cambridge Mindreading Face-Voice Battery ( 52 ); RME, Reading the Mind in the Eyes ( 53 ); RMV, Reading the Mind in the Voice task ( 54 ); RMF, Reading the mind in the films ( 55 ); FEIT, The Face Emotion Identification Test ( 56 ); The Hinting Task ( 57 ); SCSQ, Social Communication Skills Questionnaire ( 58 ); SSPA, Social Skills Performance Assessment ( 59 ); CSQ-8, Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8 ( 60 ); NIMH MATRICS, Consensus Cognitive Battery ( 50 ); WCST, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ( 61 ); CSSCEI, Cognitive Style and Social Cognition Eligibility Interview ( 39 ); PERT, Penn Emotion Recognition Test-40 ( 62 ); PEDT, Penn Emotion Discrimination Task ( 63 ); PEAT, Penn Emotional Acuity Test ( 64 ); SCS, the Social Cognition Profile ( 39 ); CPM, Raven Progressive Matrices (CPM); ( 65 ); VSFT, Verbal and Semantic Fluency Tests ( 66 ); PFT, phonemic fluency task ( 67 ); SF, Semantic Fluency ( 68 ); DST, Digit-span task ( 69 ); CARS, Childhood autism rating scale ( 70 , 71 …”

Effects of Cognitive Remediation Therapy in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Study Protocol

“…We chose both "clothe s" and "animals" for semantic fluency as stated in a prior Tunisian study (24). The measure adopted was words number.…”

Development of executive functions in Lebanese children

“…A study conducted on American school aged children show a variable effect of parental level of education on children's performance on problem solving tasks and tasks requiring cognitive flexibility, and a strong effect of the type of school attended . However, those findings were partially contradicted by Bellaj, Salhi, Le Gall and Roy (2015) as the authors did not report a relationship between parental level of education on children's EFs. However, they found one particular interaction between paternal level of education and certain specific measures such as time to complete a task of inhibition and digit span backward.…”

“…En effet, le traitement chirurgical de l'ELF peut mener à une amélioration de la fréquence des crises mais être aussi responsable de conséquences délétères sur le fonctionnement exécutif de l'enfant . Bellaj et al, 2015;.…”

“…Malgré les données empiriques disponibles , peu d'études se sont intéressées à la question des FE dans le monde arabe (Bellaj et al 2015).…”