The role of executive functions in the comprehension of expository and narrative texts by high school students

TABULLO, ÁNGEL; BENEGAS, JUAN MANUEL; VERNUCCI, SANTIAGO

Encuentro; Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Neurociencias 2022; 2022

Reading comprehension is the result of the orchestration of linguistic, cognitive and metacognitive processes. Reading can be described as the interplay between word decoding and language comprehension processes. In addition, it has been shown that executive processes, such as working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control, contribute to text comprehension. This study aimed to examine the role of executive functions in the comprehension of expository and narrative texts among Argentinean high school students. A sample of 121 adolescents (13.87 ± 0.91 years old, 75.2% female,) completed standard tests of reading comprehension, fluency and vocabulary, and a computerized battery of executive function tasks. A linear regression model indicated that, after controlling for sex, school year, vocabulary and reading fluency; working memory and cognitive flexibility were significant predictors of expository text comprehension. On the other hand, only reading fluency contributed to narrative text comprehension. These findings indicate a specific role of executive processes in the comprehension of expository texts, probably reflecting the cognitive load of: 1) building online representations of the text and 2) shifting between sources of information, inferential processes and reading strategies. In addition, third year students exhibited lower comprehension scores than first years, probably due to the COVID-19 pandemic effects on their educational trajectories.