Relational Thinking: An Overlooked Component of Executive Functioning
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| Title: | Relational Thinking: An Overlooked Component of Executive Functioning |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Starr, Ariel (ORCID |
| Source: | Developmental Science. May 2023 26(3). |
| Availability: | Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 18 |
| Publication Date: | 2023 |
| Sponsoring Agency: | Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (DHHS/NIH) National Science Foundation (NSF) |
| Contract Number: | F32HD085736 NSFSLCN1540854 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Elementary Education Junior High Schools Middle Schools Secondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Thinking Skills, Executive Function, Task Analysis, Mathematics Skills, Mathematics Achievement, Elementary School Students, Middle School Students, Mathematics Tests, Scores, Fractions, Cognitive Ability |
| DOI: | 10.1111/desc.13320 |
| ISSN: | 1363-755X 1467-7687 |
| Abstract: | Relational thinking, the ability to represent abstract, generalizable relations, is a core component of reasoning and human cognition. Relational thinking contributes to fluid reasoning and academic achievement, particularly in the domain of math. However, due to the complex nature of many fluid reasoning tasks, it has been difficult to determine the degree to which relational thinking has a separable role from the cognitive processes collectively known as executive functions (EFs). Here, we used a simplified reasoning task to better understand how relational thinking contributes to math achievement in a large, diverse sample of elementary and middle school students (N = 942). Students also performed a set of ten adaptive EF assessments, as well as tests of math fluency and fraction magnitude comparison. We found that relational thinking was significantly correlated with each of the three EF composite scores previously derived from this dataset, albeit no more strongly than they were with each other. Further, relational thinking predicted unique variance in students' math fluency and fraction magnitude comparison scores over and above the three EF composites. Thus, we propose that relational thinking be considered an EF in its own right as one of the core, mid-level cognitive abilities that supports cognition and goal-directed behavior. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2023 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1372378 |
| Database: | ERIC |
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| Abstract: | Relational thinking, the ability to represent abstract, generalizable relations, is a core component of reasoning and human cognition. Relational thinking contributes to fluid reasoning and academic achievement, particularly in the domain of math. However, due to the complex nature of many fluid reasoning tasks, it has been difficult to determine the degree to which relational thinking has a separable role from the cognitive processes collectively known as executive functions (EFs). Here, we used a simplified reasoning task to better understand how relational thinking contributes to math achievement in a large, diverse sample of elementary and middle school students (N = 942). Students also performed a set of ten adaptive EF assessments, as well as tests of math fluency and fraction magnitude comparison. We found that relational thinking was significantly correlated with each of the three EF composite scores previously derived from this dataset, albeit no more strongly than they were with each other. Further, relational thinking predicted unique variance in students' math fluency and fraction magnitude comparison scores over and above the three EF composites. Thus, we propose that relational thinking be considered an EF in its own right as one of the core, mid-level cognitive abilities that supports cognition and goal-directed behavior. |
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| ISSN: | 1363-755X 1467-7687 |
| DOI: | 10.1111/desc.13320 |
