title: Efficiency of Executive Function: A Two-Generation Cross-Cultural Comparison of Samples From Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.
abstract: Although Asian preschoolers acquire executive functions (EFs) earlier than their Western counterparts, little is known about whether this advantage persists into later childhood and adulthood. To address this gap, in the current study we gave four computerized EF tasks (providing measures of inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and planning) to a large sample ( n = 1,427) of 9- to 16-year-olds and their parents. All participants lived in either the United Kingdom or Hong Kong. Our findings highlight the importance of combining developmental and cultural perspectives and show both similarities and contrasts across sites. Specifically, adults' EF performance did not differ between the two sites; age-related changes in executive function for both the children and the parents appeared to be culturally invariant, as did a modest intergenerational correlation. In contrast, school-age children and young adolescents in Hong Kong outperformed their United Kingdom counterparts on all four EF tasks, a difference consistent with previous findings from preschool children.
authors.affiliation: 1 Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge.
authors.forename: Michelle R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Ellefson
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Educational Psychology, Chinese University of Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Florrie Fei-Yin
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Psychology, Chinese University of Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: 4 Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hughes
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong / Q000208:ethnology; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000208:ethnology
keywords: cognitive flexibility; cross-cultural research; executive functions; inhibition; open data; open materials; planning; working memory