Pathways to School Readiness: Executive Functioning Predicts Academic and Social-Emotional Aspects of School Readiness.

ABSTRACT The current study specified the extent to which hot and cool aspects of executive functioning predicted academic and social-emotional indicators of school readiness. It was unique in focusing on positive aspects of social-emotional readiness, rather than problem behaviors. One hundred four 3-5-year-old children completed tasks measuring executive functioning, social-emotional readiness, academic readiness, and vocabulary. As expected, age predicted executive functioning components and social-emotional readiness. Moreover, working memory and inhibitory control directly predicted academic readiness, whereas delay of gratification predicted social-emotional readiness. Working memory and inhibitory control predicted delay of gratification, consistent with the notion that simpler executive functions may set the stage for more complex executive functions. Interestingly, social-emotional readiness predicted academic readiness. These findings confirm that hot and cool aspects of executive functioning are related to social-emotional and academic school readiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]