Metacognition as a mediator of the relation between family SES and language and mathematical abilities in preschoolers.

The effect of family socioeconomic status (SES) on academic achievement in literacy and numeracy has been extensively studied with educational inequalities already witnessed in preschoolers. This is presumably explained by the effect of family SES on cognitive and socioemotional abilities associated with academic achievement. Metacognition which refers to knowledge and regulation skills involving reflexivity about one's own cognitive processes is one of these abilities. However, most of the studies investigating the association between metacognition and academic achievement have focused on school-aged students and studies with younger students are only emerging. Meanwhile, the association between family SES and metacognition abilities has surprisingly received little attention regardless of participants' age. The aim of this study was to explore the associations between family SES, metacognition, language and mathematical abilities in preschoolers aged 5 to 6. We provide the first evidence that the effect of family SES on preschoolers' language and mathematical abilities is mediated by the effect of family SES on their metacognitive abilities. The implications for future research, education and policies aiming at reducing educational inequalities are discussed.

Latent Network Analysis of Executive Functions Across Development.

Executive functions (EFs) are crucial for academic achievement, physical health, and mental well-being. Previous studies using structural equation models revealed EFs' developmental organization, evolving from one factor in childhood to three factors in adults: inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and updating. Recent network model studies confirmed this differentiation from childhood to adulthood. Reanalyzing previously published data from 1019 children (aged 7.8 to 15.3; 50.4% female; 59.1% White, 15.0% Latinx, 14.3% Bi-racial, 6.7% African American, 4.2% Asian American, 0.6% Other), this study compared three analytical methods to explore EF development: structural equation model, network model, and the novel latent variable network model. All approaches supported fine-grained EF-specific trajectories and differentiation throughout development, with inhibition being central in childhood and updating in early adolescence.

Lateralization of the cerebral network of inhibition in children before and after cognitive training.

Inhibitory control (IC) plays a critical role in cognitive and socio-emotional development. IC relies on a lateralized cortico-subcortical brain network including the inferior frontal cortex, anterior parts of insula, anterior cingulate cortex, caudate nucleus and putamen. Brain asymmetries play a critical role for IC efficiency. In parallel to age-related changes, IC can be improved following training. The aim of this study was to (1) assess the lateralization of IC network in children (N = 60, 9-10 y.o.) and (2) examine possible changes in neural asymmetry of this network from anatomical (structural MRI) and functional (resting-state fMRI) levels after 5-week computerized IC vs. active control (AC) training. We observed that IC training, but not AC training, led to a leftward lateralization of the putamen anatomy, similarly to what is observed in adults, supporting that training could accelerate the maturation of this structure.

Differential effects of mindfulness meditation and cognitive training on cool and hot inhibitory control in children and adolescents.

Inhibitory control (IC) can occur either in a neutral context (cool) or in social contexts involving emotions (hot). Cool and hot IC have specific developmental trajectories; cool IC develops linearly from childhood to adulthood, whereas hot IC follows a quadratic trajectory. Some activities can improve the IC, such as cognitive training (CT) and mindfulness meditation (MM). The aim of our study was to compare the effects of 5 weeks of computerized MM versus CT on IC performance in 66 children (9-10 years old) and 63 adolescents (16-17 years old) by specifically analyzing cool and hot dimensions in the same participants and from a developmental perspective. We fit a linear mixed-effect model on the Stroop interference score with time (pretest vs. posttest) and type of conflict (cool vs. hot) as within-participant factors and intervention group (CT vs. MM) and age group (child vs. adolescent) as between-participant factors. The findings revealed that children but not adolescents benefitted from interventions. More specifically, CT improved cool IC but not hot IC, whereas MM practice improved hot IC but not cool IC. This study supports the benefits of MM at a young age. Theoretical issues linking MM programs to emotional competence grounded in hot IC skills are considered in academic settings.

A network analysis of executive functions before and after computerized cognitive training in children and adolescents.

Executive functions (EFs) play a key role in cognitive and socioemotional development. Factor analyses have revealed an age dependent structure of EFs spanning from a single common factor in early childhood to three factors in adults corresponding to inhibitory control (IC), switching and updating. IC performances change not only with age but also with cognitive training. Surprisingly, few studies have investigated training-related changes in EFs structure. We used the regularized partial correlation network model to analyze EFs structure in 137 typically developing children (9-10 years) and adolescents (15-17 years) before and after computerized cognitive training. Network models (NMs) -a graph theory-based approach allowing us to describe the structure of complex systems- can provide a priori free insight into EFs structures. We tested the hypothesis that training-related changes may mimic developmental-related changes. Quantitative and qualitative changes were detected in the EFs network structure with age and also with cognitive training. Of note, the EFs network structure in children after training was more similar to adolescents' networks than before training. This study provided the first evidence of structural changes in EFs that are age and training-dependent and supports the hypothesis that training could accelerate the development of some structural aspects of EFs. Due to the sample size, these findings should be considered preliminary before replication in independent larger samples.