title: Test-retest reliability and practice effects of executive function tasks in preschool children.
abstract: This study examined the test-retest reliability of executive function tasks in preschool children. Measures of working memory, response inhibition, attentional flexibility, and planning were administered to thirty three preschool children between the ages of 36 and 72 months (M = 54.75 months) on two testing occasions approximately three weeks apart (M interval = 21.64 days). Working memory tasks showed higher test-retest reliability than measures of response inhibition. There were significant practice effects on three measures of complex working memory. Implications of these findings for the assessment of executive function in preschool children are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. umueller@uvic.ca
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Kimberly A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Kerns
authors.forename: Katelyn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Konkin
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D002675:Child, Preschool; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D011340:Problem Solving; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results