Between- and within-person contributions of simple reaction time to executive function skills in early childhood

• Published in: Journal of experimental child psychology 2020-04, Vol.192, p.104779-104779, Article 104779
• Main Authors: Willoughby, Michael, Hong, Yihua, Hudson, Kesha, Wylie, Amanda
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptive centering; Child Development - physiology; Child, Preschool; Early childhood; Executive Function; Executive Function - physiology; Female; Humans; Individual Differences; Inhibition; Male; Preschool Children; Processing speed; Reaction Time; Reaction Time - physiology; Short Term Memory; Simple reaction time; Task Analysis; Task Performance and Analysis; Within-person
• ISSN: 0022-0965; 1096-0457
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2019.104779

•Slower simple reaction time is related to poorer executive function performance.•Simple reaction time indexes between and within person differences.•Removing simple reaction time from executive function scores depends on study design. This study tested whether the bivariate association between simple reaction time (SRT) and executive function (EF) performance that has been observed in early childhood represented a between- and/or within-person association. Up to three repeated assessments (i.e., fall, winter, and spring assessments from September to May) were available for 282 preschool-aged children (Mage = 4.2 years; 54% female) who participated in the Kids Activity and Learning Study. A series of three-level hierarchical linear models (repeated measures nested in child; child nested in classroom) was used to disaggregate the observed variation in EF and SRT into between-classroom, between-person, and within-person components. EF composite scores were regressed on two indicators of SRT, which reflected between- and within-child sources of variation, along with demographic covariates (child age, gender, and parental education). Both between-person (b = −21.2, p