Abstract:
This study investigated the cognitive flexibility trajectories of children in grades kindergarten through fifth grade. The study utilized the longitudinal data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Class of 2010-2011 (ECLS-K:2011) to conduct latent class growth analysis and growth mixture models to better understand cognitive flexibility changes over time.
A diverse sample of 14,173 children from 970 schools from the ECLS-K:2011 dataset was included. The findings suggested that cognitive flexibility (CF) development has multiple growth trajectories, depending on students’ initial levels of CF (their intercept) and their rate of change (slope). Results indicated that a model with five trajectories, or classes, best fit the data, although most of the sample (81.2%) belonged to one class. Those with higher socioeconomic status typically performed better, especially for initial cognitive flexibility levels. Speech and language deficits were also found to increase the probability of being in both an at-risk trajectory class (54%) and remediated class (28%). Both of these classes contained individuals whose initial starting cognitive flexibility was well below expected levels. These findings support the idea that a single growth curve would not fully take into account all children’s growth trajectories of where they began and their rate of change. It also includes supporting evidence that a deficit of speech and language skills increases the probability that a student will struggle significantly with CF skills. Implications include points for building CF skills for elementary students, possible interventions, and educational policy regarding speech and language skills as well as socioeconomic status.
Description:
Dissertation completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Psychology degree in School Psychology at Alfred University, Alfred, NY.
