title: The Predictive Impact of Biological and Sociocultural Factors on Executive Processing: The Role of Age, Education, and Frequency of Reading and Writing Habits.
abstract: Although the impact of education and age on executive functions (EF) has been widely studied, the influence of daily cognitive stimulation on EF has not been sufficiently investigated. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate whether the age, education, and frequency of reading and writing habits (FRWH) of healthy adults could predict their performance on measures of inhibition and cognitive flexibility. Inhibition speed, inhibitory control, and set shifting were assessed using speed, accuracy, and discrepancy scores on the Trail-Making Test (TMT) and Hayling Test. Demographic characteristics and the FRWH were assessed using specialized questionnaires. Regression analyses showed that age and the FRWH predicted speed and accuracy on the TMT. The FRWH predicted both speed and accuracy on the Hayling Test, for which speed and accuracy scores were also partly explained by age and education, respectively. Surprisingly, only the FRWH was associated with Hayling Test discrepancy scores, considered one of the purest EF measures. This highlights the importance of regular cognitive stimulation over the number of years of formal education on EF tasks. Further studies are required to investigate the role of the FRWH so as to better comprehend its relationship with EF and general cognition.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS) , Porto Alegre , Brazil.
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cotrena
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS) , Porto Alegre , Brazil.
authors.forename: Laura D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Branco
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS) , Porto Alegre , Brazil.|b Department of Psychology , Feevale University , Novo Hamburgo , Brazil.
authors.forename: Caroline O
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.affiliation: c Department of Psychology , Autonomous University of Sinaloa (UAS) , Sinaloa , Mexico.
authors.forename: Cristina Elizabeth I
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS) , Porto Alegre , Brazil.
authors.forename: Rochele P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Fonseca
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D003469:Culture; D004522:Educational Status; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006184:Habits; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011932:Reading; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014956:Writing; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: cognition; education; neuropsychology