Does how children grasp relate to executive function?
Children who more consistently used their right hand and reached into right-side space first while grasping had better parent-rated executive function, whereas how fast they finished the tasks was unrelated.
Source
Getting the right grasp on executive function
Study at a glance
- Design
- Cross-sectional — Correlation and regression between video-coded grasping behaviour (completion time, hand use, order of space use) and parent-rated BRIEF executive-function scores in two age groups
- N
- N=40 · 40 right-handed children: 19 aged 5-6 and 21 aged 9-10; analyses run on both groups together and on each age group
- Population
- Healthy right-handed Canadian children recruited around the University of Lethbridge
- Outcome
- BRIEF executive-function scores (Global Executive Composite, indices, subscales) related to percent right-hand use, right-hemispace/right-near space use order, and time to complete grasp-to-construct and grasp-to-place tasks
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What they did
Forty right-handed children aged 5-6 or 9-10 completed two video-recorded grasping games: building copies of LEGO models from pieces spread across four table quadrants, and picking numbered or coloured blocks off a grid and dropping them in a box as the experimenter called them out. Researchers coded completion time, the percentage of grasps made with the right hand, and how early each region of the table was used. Meanwhile a parent completed the BRIEF, a questionnaire rating everyday executive-function problems, where lower scores mean better function.
What they found
Completion time did not correlate with any executive-function score. Greater right-hand use correlated with better executive function, most clearly in the block-placing task (overall composite r = -0.37) and especially for inhibition and monitoring; earlier use of right and right-near space in the LEGO task correlated with better scores, mainly in the older children. In regressions, right-hand and right-near-space use predicted the executive-function composite (a model explaining 15.7% of variance) and executive function in turn predicted right-hand use, while age did not predict executive function.
The limits
What it doesn't show
With 40 children and dozens of correlations tested at p < .05 without correction, some associations are likely false positives, and several reported effects are only trends. Executive function was measured solely by a parent questionnaire rather than lab tasks, which the authors name as a limitation, and all children were right-handed, so the claim about brain lateralization (and whether strongly left-handed children would show the same) is untested speculation. The design is correlational, so it cannot show that training right-hand use would improve executive function, although the authors propose this.
Key terms
- Executive function
- Top-down mental processes such as inhibition, working memory, planning and flexible shifting that let people control behaviour toward goals.
- BRIEF
- Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function: a parent or teacher questionnaire rating everyday executive-function problems; higher scores indicate more difficulty.
- Lateralization
- The tendency for a function to be handled more by one brain hemisphere, reflected behaviourally in things like hand preference.
- Hemispace
- One side (left or right) of the space in front of the body, relative to the midline.
- Grasp-to-construct task
- A task in which a child reaches for and grasps building blocks to replicate a model, demanding planning as well as motor control.
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Quiz yourself
On the BRIEF, what does a lower score indicate?
Common questions
Why is a negative correlation good news here?
On the BRIEF, lower scores mean fewer executive-function problems, so a negative correlation between right-hand use and BRIEF scores means more right-hand use went with better executive function.
Could age explain the link, since both hand preference and executive function change with age?
The authors checked: age did not correlate with right-hand use, BRIEF standard scores are already age-normed, and age did not predict executive function in the regression.
Why didn't completion time relate to executive function?
The authors suggest individual differences such as prior LEGO experience, chattiness or shyness added noise to timing.
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