Booth, Elizabeth Rebecca (2024) Structure and development of executive function in early adolescence. PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London.
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Abstract
Executive functions (EFs) are a set of over-arching cognitive functions that act to that to coordinate other mental processes, enabling goal-directed behaviour to take place. The exact structural relationship between components of EFs is as yet unclear, and the relationships of EFs to other factors such as socio-economic status are also still to be fully explored. The developmental pathways of EF components and the structural relationships between them, in particular during adolescence, also remain unclear. This thesis uses data from the Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones - a longitudinal cohort study of over 6,600 high-school students across Greater London – to explore structure and development of EFs across adolescence. A computerised task battery was completed at two time points: baseline assessment took place during school Years 7-8 (ages approximately 10-13 years) and follow-up occurred during school Years 9-10 (ages approximately 13-16 years). The first experimental chapter investigates the relationship between EFs and socio-economic status (SES) at baseline assessment, finding significant associations between overall SES and EF, and between some specific EF measures and aspects of SES. In some cases these relationships remain significant even when accounting for fluid intelligence. The second chapter uses multiple regressions and multi-level modelling to explore developmental trajectories of EF and fluid intelligence across early adolescence, and finds significant associations with age and task score for most of the cognitive tasks. The final chapter uses exploratory factor analysis to explore structural relationships between EF components at the two assessment points, and finds evidence supporting a three-factor model of EF within our cohort.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Thesis |
|---|---|
| Copyright Holders: | The copyright of this thesis rests with the author, who asserts his/her right to be known as such according to the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. No dealing with the thesis contrary to the copyright or moral rights of the author is permitted. |
| Depositing User: | Acquisitions And Metadata |
| Date Deposited: | 15 Oct 2024 15:11 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Oct 2024 15:42 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/54394 |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.18743/PUB.00054394 |
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