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An East-West contrast in executive function: Measurement invariance of computerized tasks in school-aged children and adolescents.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

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Type

Article

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Authors

Ellefson, Michelle R 
Ng, Florrie Fei-Yin 
Wang, Qian 

Abstract

Existing cross-cultural findings related to school-aged children's executive function (EF) from studies using computerized tasks highlight both an East-West contrast (East > West) and potential methodological confounds (e.g., contrasting levels of computer fluency). Capitalizing on two recent data sets, this multisite study of 1,311 children living in mainland China (n = 453; Mage = 11.89 years, SD = 0.87), Hong Kong (n = 371; Mage = 12.21 years, SD = 0.99), and the United Kingdom (n = 487; Mage = 11.91 years, SD = 0.93) tested measurement invariance of a computerized EF-task battery prior to investigating cultural contrasts in mean levels of EF efficiency scores. Our models established partial scalar invariance across sites. Latent factor means were substantially lower for British children than for their counterparts from either mainland China or Hong Kong, with a significant but smaller contrast between the latter two groups. Within the Chinese sample, self-reported computer use was unrelated to variation in children's performance on online tests of EF, indicating that peripheral effects of task modality are unlikely to explain the between-culture differences in EF task performance.

Description

Keywords

Adolescence, Cross-cultural differences, Executive function, Measurement invariance, Middle childhood, Adolescent, Age Factors, Attitude to Computers, Child, Child Development, China, Computers, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Executive Function, Female, Hong Kong, Humans, Male, Self Report, Task Performance and Analysis, United Kingdom

Journal Title

J Exp Child Psychol

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0022-0965
1096-0457

Volume Title

199

Publisher

Elsevier BV
Sponsorship
Economic and Social Research Council (ES/K010255/1)
United States Department of Education (R305A110932)
The authors would like to acknowledge funding support for this work from: Economic and Social Research Council (ES/ K010225/1), Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, and China Scholarship Council. Initial development of the Thinking Games website was supported by the Institute of Educational Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305A110932 to the University of Cambridge. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the Institute of Educational Sciences or the U.S. Department of Education.