Measurement of Executive Functioning and High Intellectual Ability in Childhood: A Comparative Meta-Analysis

Lourdes Viana-Sáenz, Sylvia Sastre-Riba, Maria Luz Urraca-Martínez and Juan Botella
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Lourdes Viana-Sáenz: Department of Educational Sciences, University of La Rioja, 26004 Logroño, Spain
Sylvia Sastre-Riba: Department of Educational Sciences, University of La Rioja, 26004 Logroño, Spain
Maria Luz Urraca-Martínez: Department of Educational Sciences, University of La Rioja, 26004 Logroño, Spain
Juan Botella: Department of Social Psyhology and Methodology, Autonomous University of Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 11, 1-12

Abstract: From a neuroconstructivist approach and a developmental model of high intellectual ability (HIA), it is argued that the management of intellectual resources through executive functioning (EF) is one of the factors influencing the expression of high potential. The main objective is to determine the effectiveness of measures of executive functioning used comparing schoolchildren with HIA and those of average intelligence. A meta-analysis was carried out on a selection of 17 studies for a total sample of 1518 children with either HIA or an average level of intelligence. Pooled estimates of effect size revealed a significant difference favoring the HIA individuals in the two components of EF related with WM verbal ( d = 1.015), and WM visual-spatial ( d = 0.709). Other components did not show significant differences: inhibition ( d = −0.014), flexibility ( d = 0.068), and planification ( d = −0.038). The empirical heterogeneity was very high. It is concluded that these instruments show a degree of measurement impurity, which condition their validity and reliability, and that schoolchildren with HIA display better executive functioning in the components of verbal and visual-spatial working memory.

Keywords: high intellectual ability; executive functions; measurement; validity; reliability; meta-analysis; average intelligence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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