Executive Functions and Written Composition in Argentine Primary School Children: The Role of Reading Comprehension and Transcription Skills

Writing is a complex activity involving lower-level (e.g., transcription) and higher-order cognitive skills. Executive functions play a central role in coordinating these processes, while reading comprehension may be involved in their association with writing. This cross-sectional study examined how executive functions, transcription, and reading comprehension are jointly associated with writing quality in primary school children. Participants were 252 Argentine students aged 8–12 years (M = 10.22, SD = 0.86) attending fourth to sixth grade. Regression analyses showed that verbal working memory, attention, and resistance to interference were associated with reading comprehension; response inhibition and resistance to interference were associated with transcription; and writing quality was explained by transcription and expository comprehension. Path analyses indicated that shifting had both direct and indirect associations (via comprehension) with writing, whereas working memory, attention, and resistance to interference had indirect associations only. Response inhibition was indirectly associated with writing quality, through transcription. Findings suggest that comprehension and transcription statistically account for part of the associations between executive functions and writing quality.