Social and Cognitive Predictors of Early School Outcomes: A Longitudinal Study

This thesis examines the role of Executive Function (EF) sub-components - inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility and working memory - and social cognition, specifically Theory of Mind (ToM), in predicting children’s overall success during the transition from Reception to Key Stage 1. Over the past three decades, a considerable number of studies have been dedicated to investigating the links between social cognitive abilities and other areas of development. Some researchers have looked at the academic implications of these for school readiness on entry to school, with some specifically focusing on self-regulation and social-emotional competence as the key factors mediating the association between ToM and academic outcomes. While some of this previous research has demonstrated a link between children’s early ToM and later achievement in literacy, this relationship is hypothesised to be the product of two interconnected pathways: ToM’s foundational role in understanding narrative literacy and EF’s strong predictive relationship with both ToM and literacy outcomes. The goals of this research are to (i) examine whether this relation between ToM and academic outcomes extends to numeracy, (ii) determine the extent to which early EF and ToM abilities influence metacognition, self-regulation and classroom behaviour, and (iii) identify the underlying mechanisms that characterise the interaction between ToM, EF and school achievement with particular emphasis on readiness. To address these questions, a sample of 106 primary school-aged children were invited to participate in three waves of data collection over 24 months, spanning Reception (Time 1), Year 1 (Time 2) and Year 2 (Time 3). Measures of ToM and the three fractionated components of EF were taken at the beginning and end of the study (Times 1 and 3). At Time 2, teachers completed an assessment of the children’s metacognition and self-regulated learning. Moreover, an abridged version of the Child Behaviour Rating Scale (CBRS) was adapted into a structured observation schedule that was administered individually to a sub-sample (N=35) of the children to assess their behavioural regulation during learning activities in the classroom; this was done in three observation blocks so as to capture variations across tasks and learning contexts. Measures of the children’s literacy and numeracy skills were also taken at Time 3. This multi-method approach allows for a detailed look at the concurrent and longitudinal relations between ToM, EF and academic achievement and the predictive power of each of these constructs for children’s outcomes as they transition from the play-based Reception environment to a more structured formal schooling in Key Stage 1.