The role of diverse inhibitory skills in early literacy

The role of executive function in school readiness is well-established, yet little is known regarding how specific executive function components contribute to specific pre-academic achievement. In the present longitudinal study, the multi-componential structure of inhibitory control was investigated, and the roles of two different inhibitory control abilities were examined with respect to early literacy skills, with other variables (vocabulary, working memory, and visual-motor integration skills) controlled. Specifically, within inhibitory control, response inhibition and interference suppression components were considered in relation to phonological awareness and procedural writing knowledge. A sample of 147 typically developing children from 4 to 5 years of age was assessed in the winter (T1) and then in the spring (T2) at a preschool educational center. The latent change score approach was used to investigate the variables associated with change in phonological awareness and procedural writing knowledge at T1 and T2. Our results demonstrated that interference suppression was concurrently associated with phonological awareness and procedural writing knowledge tasks together with the other measures at T1. Moreover, interference suppression is associated with changes in phonological awareness, whereas the other measures did not contribute significantly to literacy growth. Our results emphasize the importance of considering specific inhibitory components, and specifically the interference suppression component, in understanding how executive functions impact on pre-academic skill development.