Abstract

LEON, Camila Barbosa Riccardi; RODRIGUES, Camila Cruz; SEABRA, Alessandra Gotuzo  and  DIAS, Natália Martins. Executive functions and academic performance in children aged 6 to 9 years old. Rev. psicopedag. [online]. 2013, vol.30, n.92, pp. 113-120. ISSN 0103-8486.

BACKGROUND: Executive functions (EF) are a set of cognitive skills necessary to learn new things, to think or concentrate facing a distractor environment. They can be arranged in different ways according to the literature, including core EF (cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control and working memory) and more complex EF (problem-solving, reasoning and planning). OBJECTIVE: The present study investigated the relationship between EF and academic performance of children between 6 and 9 years in a public school. METHODS: The study included 40 children evaluated by a functional instrument (IFERI) answered by parents and teachers on the executive functions and behaviors observed in activities of everyday life. The results were correlated with children academic performance, represented by the mean of the bimester grades in 2012, considering the main subjects of each school year (mathematics and Portuguese for 1^st and 2^nd grades, besides history, geography and science for 3^rd grades). RESULTS: It was found that the children assessed by their parents and teachers as having better executive skills also have better academic performance, even at early stages of elementary school. CONCLUSIONS: The differential relations between school performance and scales completed by parents and teachers suggest that teachers may be better able to assess those skills due to their educational background, which enables them to understand child development and behavior, which would, or not, be appropriate for a given age.

Keywords : Learning; Child; Executive function.

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