Executive Function and Academic Achievement in Primary School Children: The Use of Task-Related Processing Speed

This article argues that individual differences in processing speed are important in the relationship between executive function (EF) and academic achievement in primary school children. It proposes that processing times within EF tasks can be used to predict academic attainment and aid in the development of intervention programmes. The evidence discussed here provides opportunities to develop a new approach to examining the relationship between EF and academic achievement. Future studies should clarify the role of executive-loaded processing speed in tasks by measuring individual differences in processing times. Using these as predictors of academic attainment, may allow identification of children who, due to slower processing speeds, struggle with academic tasks when there is an executive load.