The aim of the present study is to investigate the performance of children of different ages on an analogy-making task involving semantic analogies in which there are competing semantic matches. We suggest that this can be best studied in terms of developmental changes in executive functioning. We hypothesize that the selection of the common relational structure requires the inhibition of other...

Children spend a lot of time watching television on its many platforms: directly, online, and via videos and DVDs. Many researchers are concerned that some types of television content appear to negatively influence children's executive function. Because (1) executive function predicts key developmental outcomes, (2) executive function appears to be influenced by some television content, and (3)...

Introduction A recent increase in studies suggests a role of age-related sleep changes in executive functions (EF). However, this relationship remains unclear and mixed results have emerged. Objective To investigate how age-related sleep changes may play an important role in the extent to which healthy older adults exhibit decline in EF. Methods A systematic strategy was employed to identif...

Behavioral measures of risky decision making are frequently used by researchers and clinicians; however, most of these measures are strongly associated with personality characteristics and state mood. The present study sought to examine personality, mood, and executive function predictors of performance on a newer measure of decision making, the Columbia Card Task (CCT). Participants were 489 u...

Two studies are reported in which younger and older monolingual and bilingual adults performed executive function tasks. In Study 1, 130 participants performed a Stroop task and bilinguals in both age groups showed less interference than monolinguals with a greater benefit for older adults. In Study 2, 108 participants performed a complex working memory task based on verbal or nonverbal stimuli...

Using an epidemiological sample (N = 1,117) and a prospective longitudinal design, this study tested the direct and indirect effects of preverbal and verbal communication (15 months to 3 years) on executive function (EF) at age 4 years. Results indicated that whereas gestures (15 months), as well as language (2 and 3 years), were correlated with later EF (φs ≥ .44), the effect was entirely medi...

Executive functions (EF) are generally described as showing greater sensitivity to ageing compared to other cognitive domains. Numerous pitfalls exist in the measurement of EF due to loose definitions and lack of agreement on these concepts and uncertainty about the constructs being measured. To this date, the validity of EF constructs has not been examined in the old-old population. Performanc...

The present research attempts to evaluate the dose-response relationship between acute resistance exercise and planning. Seventeen participants performed the Tower of London (TOL) in control condition and three different exercise intensity conditions (40%, 70%, and 100% 10-repetition maximal) in a counterbalanced order. The results revealed positive effects of an acute bout of resistance exerci...

BACKGROUND Markers of executive functioning, such as prudent planning for the future and impulse control, are related to conscientiousness and may be central to both occupational success and health outcomes. PURPOSE The aim of the study was to examine relations among conscientiousness, career success, and mortality risk across a 65-year period. METHODS Using data derived from 693 male parti...