| Abstract [eng] |
Executive functions are higher order cognitive processes regulating and coordinating other cognitive abilities and behaviour, giving direction for dynamics of human cognition and letting individual achieve its goals. The doctoral thesis aims to explore the executive functions in primary school children and to determine how they contribute to school success, including academic and social success. 101 children attending the second grade participated in the study. All subjects were tested on 9 sets of tasks, created for the purposes of this research to assess three executive functions (response inhibition, mental set shifting and working memory updating), postulated in the executive function model by Miyake and others (2000). Children's intelligence, attention and academic achievement was also assessed; teachers and/or parents provided information on children's achievement, symptoms of hyperactivity, learning behaviour, social competence and the quality of peer relationships. Structural equation modelling showed that executive function is an important predictor of academic achievement in primary school. No significant relationship between executive functions and social success was observed. Working memory updating is the only executive function that predicts achievement directly, while response inhibition and mental set shifting have an indirect effect on achievement through behavioural mediators – symptoms of hyperactivity and learning behaviour. |
