Development and Differentiation of Executive Function Structure

This study explores the development of executive function (EF), focusing on inhibition, working memory (WM), and cognitive flexibility. The sample consisted of 294 children recruited in Swiss public schools (146 female; x‾age = 10.63, SD = 1.31). The children completed nine EF tasks. Cognitive and latent variable modeling techniques were applied to 5,000 samples obtained via bootstrapping to examine age-related performance improvements and structural changes in EF. Our findings confirm performance enhancements with age. More notably, testing structural changes via correlated models of EF, we show greater evidence for a three-factor structure with age, aligning with adult-like EF characterization. This transition underscores a gradual differentiation of EF, highlighting the nuanced nature of these processes. Additionally, bifactor models of EF pointed to the importance of considering a common factor alongside domain-specific abilities in future work. Together, our findings underscore a gradual differentiation of EF during a developmental period characterized by large interindividual differences.