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The Role of Executive Functions in Socioeconomic Attainment Gaps: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial

Carroll, Daniel J.; Blakey, Emma; Matthews, Danielle; Cragg, Lucy; Buck, Jessica; Cameron, David; Higgins, Ben; Pepper, Lisa; Ridley, Ellen; Sullivan, Emma

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Authors

Daniel J. Carroll

Emma Blakey

Danielle Matthews

LUCY CRAGG lucy.cragg@nottingham.ac.uk
Professor of Developmental Psychology

Jessica Buck

David Cameron

Ben Higgins

Lisa Pepper

Ellen Ridley

Emma Sullivan



Abstract

© 2020 Society for Research in Child Development The socioeconomic attainment gap in mathematics starts early and increases over time. This study aimed to examine why this gap exists. Four-year-olds from diverse backgrounds were randomly allocated to a brief intervention designed to improve executive functions (N=87) or to an active control group (N=88). The study was preregistered and followed CONSORT guidelines. Executive functions and mathematical skills were measured at baseline, 1week, 3months, 6months, and 1year posttraining. Executive functions mediated the relation between socioeconomic status and mathematical skills. Children improved over training, but this did not transfer to untrained executive functions or mathematics. Executive functions may explain socioeconomic attainment gaps, but cognitive training directly targeting executive functions is not an effective way to narrow this gap.

Citation

Carroll, D. J., Blakey, E., Matthews, D., Cragg, L., Buck, J., Cameron, D., …Sullivan, E. (2020). The Role of Executive Functions in Socioeconomic Attainment Gaps: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial. Child Development, 91(5), 1594-1614. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13358

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Sep 3, 2019
Online Publication Date Feb 6, 2020
Publication Date 2020-09
Deposit Date Sep 26, 2019
Publicly Available Date Feb 7, 2021
Journal Child Development
Print ISSN 0009-3920
Electronic ISSN 1467-8624
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 91
Issue 5
Pages 1594-1614
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13358
Keywords Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health; Education; Developmental and Educational Psychology
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2662604
Publisher URL https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cdev.13358
Additional Information This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: lakey, E., Matthews, D., Cragg, L., Buck, J., Cameron, D., Higgins, B., Pepper, L., Ridley, E., Sullivan, E. and Carroll, D.J. (2020), The Role of Executive Functions in Socioeconomic Attainment Gaps: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial. Child Dev., which has been published in final form at https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cdev.13358. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.
Contract Date Sep 26, 2019

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