Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science · 2 authors, 1 centre
This summary was generated by AI from a single paper. It has not been reviewed by a clinician and is not clinical advice. Verify against the source before acting on it.
This longitudinal case study of a single child observed from 8 to 17 months old in a nursery school found that early executive functions, such as goal-setting and self-regulation, were demonstrated through the child's own challenges involving object use and private gestures, with teacher involvement emerging later.
This study presents a longitudinal case study of one child (Ils) in a nursery school classroom, observed from 8 months and 7 days to 1 year, 4 months, and 28 days of age. The research adopted a 'pragmatic' approach, analyzing the child's naturally occurring activities without experimental manipulation. The authors identified sequences where the child set self-initiated challenges related to the functional use of objects and instruments, and regulated his behavior through object use, private gestures (like ostensive gestures), and later, teacher involvement. The central result is that from 8 months, the child demonstrated executive control components, including goal setting, flexibility, inhibition, and sustained attention, within everyday actions. The study concludes that the material world and teachers' interventions are important in early executive function development. Limitations include its single-case design, potential variability across different school environments, and infrequent data collection (once per month). Implications suggest a need for ecological validity in studying executive functions by focusing on children's own intentional activity.
