A Study On The Relationship Between Executive Function And Reading Comprehension Ability In Children Aged 4～6

Early reading begins with stimulating interest,cultivating habits,and developing children’s reading abilities.Guiding children from "learning to read" to "learning through reading" and then moving towards "independent reading" is the key to children’s lifelong development.Reading comprehension ability is an important component of children’s early reading ability and has a profound impact on their future academic achievements,which has attracted widespread attention from the research community and society.Previous studies have found a close relationship between executive function in general cognitive abilities and children’s reading ability.However,for more complex reading comprehension,there is still room for further research on the relationship between executive function and various subcomponents in preschool children and their reading comprehension ability and its dimensions.Due to inconsistent research results,most of which are focused on school-age children.Therefore,based on previous studies,this study analyzes the differences and interaction effects of executive function and reading comprehension in demography variables of children aged 4～6,reveals the internal correlation between executive function and reading comprehension of children aged 4～6,and further explores whether executive function and subcomponents of children aged 4～6 predict reading comprehension and its dimensions,so as to test inhibition control The indirect impact of cognitive flexibility on reading comprehension ability.Based on the research findings,educational suggestions are proposed to promote the development of executive function and reading comprehension abilities in preschool children,while providing theoretical basis for timely detection and intervention of related research on children with reading difficulties.This study takes 205 preschool children as the research subjects,and comprehensively explores the relationship between executive function and reading comprehension ability of children aged 4～6 using measurement and interview methods.The conclusions obtained through data processing and analysis are as follows:Firstly,there are significant differences in the development of executive function among children aged 4～6 in terms of region and age,with no significant gender differences,and no significant interaction effects between region and age,age,and gender.The sub components of executive function have different differences in demography variables.Specifically,there are significant regional differences in working memory,cognitive flexibility,inhibition control,and simple inhibition control,while there are no significant regional differences in complex inhibition control;There are significant age differences in the development of each sub component of executive function,but gender differences are not significant.The interaction effects of region and age on cognitive flexibility,inhibitory control,and simple inhibitory control are significant,but the interaction effects of age and gender on executive function and various subcomponents are not significant.Secondly,there are significant differences in the development of reading comprehension ability among children aged 4～6 in terms of region,gender,and age.The differences of reading comprehension in demography variables are different.Specifically,there are significant regional differences in story content,obvious problems,and implicit problems,while there are no significant regional differences in story structure;There are significant age differences in all dimensions of reading comprehension ability;There are significant gender differences in the structure of the story,and there are no significant gender differences in the content and its obvious and implicit issues.The interaction effects of region and age,age and gender on reading comprehension ability and its various dimensions are not significant.Thirdly,there is a significant positive correlation between executive function and reading comprehension ability in children aged 4～6.Among them,working memory is significantly positively correlated with reading comprehension ability and its dimensions;There is no significant positive correlation between cognitive flexibility and reading comprehension ability and its various dimensions;There is a significant positive correlation between inhibitory control and reading comprehension ability,as well as the content of the story,obvious issues,and implicit issues,but there is no significant positive correlation with the story structure;Simple inhibition control is significantly positively correlated with story content and saliency issues,but not with story structure,implicit issues,and reading comprehension ability;There is a significant positive correlation between complex inhibition control and reading comprehension ability,as well as story structure,story content,and implicit issues,but there is no significant positive correlation with explicit issues.Fourthly,executive function can significantly and positively predict the development level of reading comprehension ability in children aged 4～6 to a certain extent.Among them,working memory can significantly and positively predict the reading comprehension ability and the development level of each dimension of children aged 4～6 years old to a certain extent;Complex inhibition control can significantly and positively predict the development level of reading comprehension ability and the understanding level of implicit problems in children aged 4～6 to a certain extent.The inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility in the executive function sub component indirectly affect the reading comprehension ability of children aged 4～6 years old with working memory as the mediating factor.Based on the research results of this study and the actual situation of educational practice,this study puts forward the following educational suggestions: First,pay attention to the development differences of preschool children’s executive function and seize the critical period,especially properly exercise working memory and complex inhibitory control ability to promote the improvement of reading comprehension ability,and promote the promotion of cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control on reading comprehension ability with the help of working memory.Secondly,emphasis should be placed on the process of reading comprehension for preschool children,and effective reading comprehension strategies should be applied to children of different ages to help them construct meaning.Thirdly,based on the close relationship between executive function and reading comprehension ability,establish an educational awareness of the dynamic development of executive function,create an educational context that integrates the two,and design activities that integrate executive function and reading goals,providing opportunities for the development of children’s reading comprehension ability.