Executive Function, Self-Regulated Learning, and Reading Comprehension: A Training Study
Abstract
The goal of this study was to evaluate the extent to which training that emphasizes the process of executive function (EF) and self-regulated learning (SRL) would result in increased reading comprehension; we also evaluated interrelationships of EF, SRL, and reading. We report an experiment (N = 75 fourth graders) that contrasted two researcher-implemented conditions (text-based reading [TB] and text-based reading plus executive function [TB+EF]) to a control. We also evaluated relationships among measures of SRL, EF, and reading. Both the TB and TB+EF groups outperformed the control group for proximal text comprehension (where the topic was similar to that covered in training) and background knowledge related to it, but the two researcher-led groups performed similarly. There were no significant differences for less proximal text, and again similar performance for both TB and TB+EF. Correlations among measures were weak in general, although the pattern was similar to that found in the extant literature. The findings speak to the difficulty in separating these components from those of strong instruction more generally. The relationships of these constructs to reading comprehension will likely be enhanced by more sensitive measurement of EF and reading comprehension, particularly where tied to active treatment components.
Get full access to this article
View all access and purchase options for this article.
References
Antoniou F., Souvignier E. (2007). Strategy instruction in reading comprehension: An intervention study for students with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities: A Contemporary Journal, 5(1), 41–57.
Baird G. L., Scott W. D., Dearing E., Hamill S. K. (2009). Cognitive self-regulation in youth with and without learning disabilities: Academic self-efficacy, theories of intelligence, learning vs. performance goal preferences, and effort attributions. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 28(7), 881–908.
Berkeley S., Mastropieri M. A., Scruggs T. E. (2011). Reading comprehension strategy instruction and attribution retraining for secondary students with learning and other mild disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 44(1), 18–32.
Berkeley S., Scruggs T. E., Mastropieri M. A. (2010). Reading comprehension instruction for students with learning disabilities, 1995–2006: A meta-analysis. Remedial and Special Education, 31(6), 423–436.
Best J. R., Miller P. H., Naglieri J. A. (2011). Relations between executive function and academic achievement from ages 5 to 17 in a large, representative national sample. Learning and Individual Differences, 21(4), 327–336.
Booth J. N., Boyle J. M., Kelly S. W. (2010). Do tasks make a difference? Accounting for heterogeneity of performance of children with reading difficulties on tasks of executive function: Findings from a meta-analysis. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 28(1), 133–176.
Braten I., Ferguson L. E., Anmarkrud O., Stromso H. I. (2013). Prediction of learning and comprehension when adolescents read multiple texts: The roles of word-level processing, strategic approach, and reading motivation. Reading and Writing, 26(3), 321–348.
Cain K., Bignell S. (2014). Reading and listening comprehension and their relation to inattention and hyperactivity. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 84(1), 108–124.
Cain K., Oakhill J. V. (1999). Inference making ability and its relation to comprehension failure in young children. Reading and Writing, 11(5/6), 489–503.
Cain K., Oakhill J., Bryant P. (2004). Children’s reading comprehension ability: Concurrent prediction by working memory, verbal ability, and component skills. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96(1), 31.
Caprara G. V., Fida R., Vecchione M., Del Bove G., Vecchio G. M., Barbaranelli C., Bandura A. (2008). Longitudinal analysis of the role of perceived self-efficacy for self-regulated learning in academic continuance and achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(3), 525.
Carretti B., Borella E., Cornoldi C., De Beni R. (2009). Role of working memory in explaining the performance of individuals with specific reading comprehension difficulties: A meta-analysis. Learning and Individual Differences, 19(2), 245–251.
Cartwright K. B. (2012). Insights from cognitive neuroscience: The importance of executive function for early reading development and education. Early Education & Development, 23(1), 24–36.
Catts H. W., Hogan T. P., Adlof S. M. (2005). Developmental changes in reading and reading disabilities. In Catts H. W., Kamhi A. G. (Eds.), The connections between language and reading disabilities (pp. 25–40). Mahwah, NJ: Laurence Erlbaum.
Chard D. J., Vaughn S., Tyler B. J. (2002). A synthesis of research on effective interventions for building reading fluency with elementary students with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 35(5), 386–406.
Christopher M. E., Miyake A., Keenan J. M., Pennington B., DeFries J. C., Wadsworth S. J., … Olson R. K. (2012). Predicting word reading and comprehension with executive function and speed measures across development: A latent variable analysis. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141(3), 470–488.
Cohen M. J., Morgan A. M., Vaughn M., Riccio C. A., Hall J. (1999). Verbal fluency in children: Developmental issues and differential validity in distinguishing children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and two subtypes of dyslexia. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 14(5), 433–443.
Compton D. L., Fuchs D., Fuchs L. S., Elleman A. M., Gilbert J. K. (2008). Tracking children who fly below the radar: Latent transition modeling of students with late-emerging reading disability. Learning and Individual Differences, 18(3), 329–337.
Crocker L., Algina J. (1986). Introduction to classical and modern test theory. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Cromley J. G., Azevedo R. (2007). Testing and refining the direct and inferential mediation model of reading comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99(2), 311.
Cutting L. E., Materek A., Cole C. A., Levine T. M., Mahone E. M. (2009). Effects of fluency, oral language, and executive function on reading comprehension performance. Annals of Dyslexia, 59(1), 34–54.
Delis D., Kaplan E., Kramer J. (2001). Delis-Kaplan executive function scale. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corp.
Dignath C., Buettner G., Langfeldt H. P. (2008). How can primary school students learn self-regulated learning strategies most effectively? A meta-analysis on self-regulation training programmes. Educational Research Review, 3(2), 101–129.
Dimitrov D. M., Rumrill R. D. (2003). Pretest-posttest designs and measurement of change. Work, 20, 159–165.
Diseth A. (2011). Self-efficacy, goal orientations and learning strategies as mediators between preceding and subsequent academic achievement. Learning and Individual Differences, 21(2), 191–195.
Duckworth A. L., Kern M. L. (2011). A meta-analysis of the convergent validity of self-control measures. Journal of Research in Personality, 45(3), 259–268.
Edmonds M. S., Vaughn S., Wexler J., Reutebuch C., Cable A., Tackett K. K., Schnakenberg J. W. (2009). A synthesis of reading interventions and effects on reading comprehension outcomes for older struggling readers. Review of Educational Research, 79(1), 262–300.
Elbro C., Buch-Iversen I. (2013). Activation of background knowledge for inference making: Effects on reading comprehension. Scientific Studies of Reading, 17(6), 435–452.
English L., Barnes M. A., Fletcher J. M., Dennis M., Raghubar K. P. (2010). Effects of reading goals on reading comprehension, reading rate, and allocation of working memory in children and adolescents with spina bifi da meningomyelocele. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 16, 517–525.
Fuchs L. S., Fuchs D., Powell S. R., Seethaler P. M., Cirino P. T., Fletcher J. M. (2008). Intensive intervention for students with mathematics disabilities: Seven principles for effective practice. Learning Disability Quarterly, 31, 79–92.
Goodwin L. D., Leech N. L. (2006). Understanding correlation: Factors that affect the size of r. Journal of Experimental Education, 74(3), 249–266.
Gough P. B., Tunmer W. E. (1986). Decoding, reading, and reading disability. Remedial and Special Education, 7(1), 6–10.
Guthrie J. T., Wigfield A., Metsala J. L., Cox K. E. (1999). Motivational and cognitive predictors of text comprehension and reading amount. Scientific Studies of Reading, 3(3), 231–256.
Hornstra L., van der Veen I., Peetsma T., Volman M. (2013). Developments in motivation and achievement during primary school: A longitudinal study on group-specific differences. Learning and Individual Differences, 23, 195–204.
Ilkowska M., Engle R.W. (2010). Working memory capacity and self-regulation. In Hoyle R. H. (Ed.), Handbook of personality and self-regulation (pp. 263–290). Chichester, UK: Wiley.
Johnson L., Graham S., Harris K. R. (1997). The effects of goal setting and self-instruction on learning a reading comprehension strategy: A study of students with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 30(1), 80–91.
Jurado M. B., Rosselli M. (2007). The elusive nature of executive functions: A review of our current understanding. Neuropsychology Review, 17(3), 213–233.
Kamil M. L., Borman G. D., Dole J., Kral C. C., Salinger T., Torgesen J. (2008). Improving adolescent literacy: Effective classroom and intervention practices (IES Practice Guide, NCEE 2008-4027). Jessup, MD: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance.
Karpicke J. D., Roediger H. L. (2006). The critical importance of retrieval for learning. Science, 319, 966–968.
Kearns D. M., Fuchs D. (2013). Does cognitively focused instruction improve the academic performance of low-achieving students? Exceptional Children, 79(3), 263–290.
Kim S., Nordling J. K., Yoon J. E., Boldt L. J., Kochanska G. (2013). Effortful control in “hot” and “cool” tasks differentially predicts children’s behavior problems and academic performance. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 41(1), 43–56.
Kuhn M. R., Stahl S. A. (2000). Fluency: A review of developmental and remedial practices (Report No. 2-008). Ann Arbor, MI: Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement.
Lezak M. D., Howieson D. B., Bigler E. D., Tranel D. (2012). Neuropsychological assessment (5th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Locascio G., Mahone E. M., Eason S. H., Cutting L. E. (2010). Executive dysfunction among children with reading comprehension deficits. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 43(5), 441–454.
Logan S., Medford E., Hughes N. (2011). The importance of intrinsic motivation for high and low ability readers’ reading comprehension performance. Learning and Individual Differences, 21(1), 124–128.
MacGinitie W., MacGinitie R., Maria K., Dreyer L., Hughes K. (2000). Gates-MacGinitie reading tests—4. Itasca, IL: Riverside.
Mason L. H. (2013). Teaching students who struggle with learning to think before, while, and after reading: Effects of self-regulated strategy development instruction. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 29(2), 124–144.
McGee A., Johnson H. (2003). The effect of inference training on skilled and less skilled comprehenders. Educational Psychology, 23(1), 49–59.
Melby-Lervag M., Hulme C. (2013). Is working memory training effective? A meta-analytic review. Developmental Psychology, 49(2), 270.
Miranda A., Villaescusa M. I., Vidal-Abarca E. (1997). Is attribution retraining necessary? Use of self-regulation procedures for enhancing the reading comprehension strategies of children with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 30(5), 503–512.
National Reading Panel, U.S. National Institute of Child Health & Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction—Reports of the subgroups. Washington, DC: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health.
Nelson J. M., Manset-Williamson G. (2006). The impact of explicit, self-regulatory reading comprehension strategy instruction on the reading-specific self-efficacy, attributions, and affect of students with reading disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, 29(3), 213–230.
Pearson P. D., Hansen J., Gordon C. (1979). The effect of background knowledge on young children’s comprehension of explicit and implicit information. Journal of Literacy Research, 11(3), 201–209.
Pintrich P. (1999). The role of motivation in promoting and sustaining self-regulated learning. International Journal of Educational Research, 31, 459–470.
Pintrich P. (2000). The role of goal orientation in self-regulated learning. In Boekaerts M., Pintrich P. R., Zeidner M. (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 451–502). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Rawson K. A., Dunlosky J. (2013). Relearning attenuates the benefits and costs of spacing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 142(4), 1113.
Roberts G., Rane S., Fall A. M., Denton C. A., Fletcher J. M., Vaughn S. (2015). The impact of intensive reading intervention on level of attention in middle school students. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 44, 942–953.
Roediger H. L., Putnam A. L., Smith M. A. (2011). Ten benefits of testing and their applications to educational practice. In Mestre J. P., Ross B. H. (Eds.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 55, pp. 1–36). San Diego, CA: Elsevier.
Savage R., Cornish K., Manly T., Hollis C. (2006). Cognitive processes in children’s reading and attention: The role of working memory, divided attention, and response inhibition. British Journal of Psychology, 97(3), 365–385.
Scammacca N., Fall A., Roberts G. (2015). Benchmarks for expected annual growth for students in the bottom quartile of the normative distribution. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 8, 366–379.
Scammacca N. K., Roberts G., Vaughn S., Stuebing K. K. (2013). A meta-analysis of interventions for struggling readers in grades 4–12: 1980–2011. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 48, 369–390.
Schunk D. H. (1990). Goal setting and self-efficacy during self-regulated learning. Educational Psychologist, 25(1), 71–86.
Schunk D. H. (2003). Self-efficacy for reading and writing: Influence of modeling, goal setting, and self-evaluation. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 19(2), 159–172.
Sesma H. W., Mahone E. M., Levine T., Eason S. H., Cutting L. E. (2009). The contribution of executive skills to reading comprehension. Child Neuropsychology, 15(3), 232–246.
Shallice T. (1982). Specific impairments of planning. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences, 298(1089), 199–209.
Shanahan T., Callison K., Carriere C., Duke N. K., Pearson P. D., Schatschneider C., Torgesen J. (2010). Improving reading comprehension in kindergarten through 3rd grade: IES Practice Guide (NCEE 2010-4038). Washington, DC: What Works Clearinghouse.
Shell D. F., Murphy C. C., Bruning R. H. (1989). Self-efficacy and outcome expectancy mechanisms in reading and writing achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81(1), 91.
Shipstead Z., Redick T. S., Engle R. W. (2012). Is working memory training effective? Psychological Bulletin, 138(4), 628.
Sideridis G. D., Morgan P. L., Botsas G., Padeliadu S., Fuchs D. (2006). Predicting LD on the basis of motivation, metacognition, and psychopathology: An ROC analysis. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39(3), 215–229.
Sikora D. M., Haley P., Edwards J., Butler R. W. (2002). Tower of London Test performance in children with poor arithmetic skills. Developmental Neuropsychology, 21(3), 243–254.
Solheim O. J. (2011). The impact of reading self-efficacy and task value on reading comprehension scores in different item formats. Reading Psychology, 32(1), 1–27.
Spörer N., Schünemann N. (2014). Improvements of self-regulation procedures for fifth graders’ reading competence: Analyzing effects on reading comprehension, reading strategy performance, and motivation for reading. Learning and Instruction, 33, 147–157.
St. Clair-Thompson H. L., Gathercole S. E. (2006). Executive functions and achievements in school: Shifting, updating, inhibition, and working memory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 59(4), 745–759.
Stern S. K., Morris M. K. (2013). Discrimination of ADHD and reading disability in adults using the D-KEFS. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 28, 125–134.
Stroud K. C. (2006). Development of the school motivation and learning strategies inventory. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University, College Station.
Swanson J. M., Schuck S., Porter M. M., Carlson C., Hartman C. A., Sergeant J., … Wigal T. (2012). Categorical and dimensional definitions and evaluations of symptoms of ADHD: History of the SNAP and SWAN rating scales. International Journal of Educational Psychological Assessment, 10(1), 51–70.
Swanson J. M., Sergeant J. A., Taylor E., Sonuga-Barke E. J. S., Jensen P. S., Cantwell D. P. (1998). Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and hyperkinetic disorder. Lancet, 351(9100), 429–433.
Taboada A., Tonks S. M., Wigfield A., Guthrie J. T. (2009). Effects of motivational and cognitive variables on reading comprehension. Reading and Writing, 22(1), 85–106.
Therrien W. J. (2004). Fluency and comprehension gains as a result of repeated reading a meta-analysis. Remedial and Special Education, 25(4), 252–261.
Toplak M. E., West R. F., Stanovich K. E. (2013). Do performance-based measures and ratings of executive function assess the same construct? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 54(2), 131–143.
Torgesen J. K. (2000). Individual differences in response to early interventions in reading: The lingering problem of treatment resisters. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 15(1), 55–64.
Torgesen J. K., Wagner R., Rashotte C. (1999). Test of word reading efficiency (2nd ed.). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
Tymms P., Merrell C. (2011). ADHD and academic attainment: Is there an advantage in impulsivity? Learning and Individual Differences, 21(6), 753–758.
Wagner R. K., Torgesen J. K., Rashotte C. A., Pearson N. A. (2009). Test of sentence reading efficiency and comprehension (TOSREC). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
Wanzek J., Vaughn S., Scammacca N. K., Metz K., Murray C. S., Roberts G., Danielson L. (2013). Extensive reading interventions for students with reading difficulties after Grade 3. Review of Educational Research, 83(2), 163–195.
Welsh M., Peterson E. (2014). Issues in the conceptualization and assessment of hot executive functions in childhood. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 20(2), 152–156.
Willoughby M., Kupersmidt J., Voegler-Lee M., Bryant D. (2011). Contributions of hot and cool self-regulation to preschool disruptive behavior and academic achievement. Developmental Neuropsychology, 36(2), 162–180.
Willoughby M. T., Kupersmidt J. B., Voegler-Lee M. E. (2012). Is preschool executive function causally related to academic achievement? Child Neuropsychology, 18(1), 79–91.
Willoughby M. T., Pek J., Blair C. B. (2013). Measuring executive function in early childhood: A focus on maximal reliability and the derivation of short forms. Psychological Assessment, 25(2), 664.
Wolters C. A., Denton C. A., York M. J., Francis D. J. (2014). Adolescents’ motivation for reading: Group differences and relation to standardized achievement. Reading and Writing, 27(3), 503–533.
Woodcock R. W., McGrew K. S., Mather N. (2001). The Woodcock-Johnson III tests of achievement. Atasca, IL: Riverside.
Ylvisaker M., Feeney T. (2002). Executive functions, self-regulation, and learned optimism in paediatric rehabilitation: A review and implications for intervention. Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 5(2), 51–70.
Zelazo P. D., Carter A., Reznick J., Frye D. (1997). Early development of executive function: A problem solving framework. Review of General Psychology, 1(2), 198–226.
Zentall S. S., Lee J. (2012). A reading motivation intervention with differential outcomes for students at risk for reading disabilities, ADHD, and typical comparisons: “Clever is and clever does.” Learning Disability Quarterly, 35, 248–259.
Zhou Q., Chen S. H., Main A. (2012). Commonalities and differences in the research on children’s effortful control and executive function: A call for an integrated model of self-regulation. Child Development Perspectives, 6(2), 112–121.
Zimmerman B. J. (2000). Self-efficacy: An essential motive to learn. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 82–91.
Zimmerman B. J., Schunk D. H. (2011). Self-regulated learning: An introduction and an overview. In Zimmerman B. J., Schunk D. H. (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulated learning and performance (pp. 65–84). New York, NY: Routledge.
Zuffiano A., Alessandri G., Gerbino M., Luengo Kanacri B. P., Di Giunta L., Milioni M., Caprara G. V. (2013). Academic achievement: The unique contribution of self-efficacy beliefs in self-regulated learning beyond intelligence, personality traits, and self-esteem. Learning and Individual Differences, 23, 158–162.
Supplementary Material
Files in Data Supplement
Summary
The online appendix is available at http://ldx.sagepub.com/supplemental.
Resources
File (jld618497_supplmaterial.pdf)
- Download
- 131.59 KB
Cite article
Cite article
Cite article
OR
Download to reference manager
If you have citation software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice
Information, rights and permissions
Information
Published In
Article first published online: January 8, 2016
Issue published: July/August 2017
Keywords
PubMed: 26746314
Authors
Metrics and citations
Metrics
Journals metrics
This article was published in Journal of Learning Disabilities.
VIEW ALL JOURNAL METRICSArticle usage*
Total views and downloads: 3732
*Article usage tracking started in December 2016
Articles citing this one
Receive email alerts when this article is cited
Web of Science: 32 view articles Opens in new tab
Crossref: 34
- The Active Ingredient in Reading Comprehension Strategy Intervention f...
- The role of prosodic sensitivity and executive functions in L2 reading...
- The reading-attention relationship: Variations in working memory netwo...
- Reading Interventions for Students in Grades 3–12 With Significant Wor...
- Cognitive Flexibility + Phonics Intervention Effects on Reading Gains
- Executive functions and classroom behaviour in second graders
- Motivational Practices in Reading Interventions for Students With or a...
- Properties of a combined measure of reading and writing: the Assessmen...
- From self-regulated learning to computer-delivered integrated speaking...
- Direct and Indirect Effects of Inhibition and Flexibility to Reading C...
- Assessment of strategy instruction and self-regulation in reading comp...
- Assessment of effective strategy instruction and reading comprehension
- Effects of reading interventions implemented for upper elementary stru...
- Sustained Attention and Behavioral Ratings of Attention in Struggling ...
- The Impact of Motivational Reading Instruction on the Reading Achievem...
- The Relation Between Cognitively Measured Executive Functions and Repo...
- Comparing the Effects of Reading Intervention Versus Reading and Minds...
- Examining the role of calibration of executive function performance in...
- Executive Functioning with the NIH EXAMINER and Inference Making in St...
- Near- and far-transfer effects of an executive function intervention f...
- Executive Functions and Decoding in Children and Adolescents: a Meta-a...
- Self-regulated learning instruction and the relationships among self-r...
- Direct and indirect contributions of executive function to word decodi...
- Executive function: association with multiple reading skills
- Embedding Self-Regulation Instruction Within Fractions Intervention fo...
- Cognitive, Intervention, and Neuroimaging Perspectives on Executive Fu...
- Leitura de Estudantes com Dislexia do Desenvolvimento: Impactos de uma...
- Executive Functions and Response to Intervention: Identification of St...
- Links between achievement, executive functions, and self‐regulated lea...
- La conexión entre el lenguaje oral y la lectura temprana: un cambio de...
- Examining the Effects of Afterschool Reading Interventions for Upper E...
- Dynamic assessment: a case of unfulfilled potential?
- An Introduction to the Special Issue: Contributions of Executive Funct...
- Development of a Neuropsychological Rehabilitation Program for Executi...
Figures and tables
Figures & Media
Tables
View Options
Get access
Access options
If you have access to journal content via a personal subscription, university, library, employer or society, select from the options below:
loading institutional access options
Alternatively, view purchase options below:
Purchase 24 hour online access to view and download content.
Access journal content via a DeepDyve subscription or find out more about this option.
