Abstract: Research in higher education has revealed a significant connection between executive functions (EFs) and study success. Previous investigations have typically assessed EFs using either neuropsychological tasks, which provide direct and objective measures of core EFs components such as inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility, or self-report questionnaires, which offer indirect and subjective assessments. However, studies rarely utilize both assessment methods simultaneously despite their potential to offer complementary insights into EFs. This study aims to evaluate the predictive capabilities of performance-based and self-reported EFs measures on study success. Employing a retrospective cohort design, 748 first-year Applied Psychology students completed performance-based and self-report questionnaires to assess EFs. Maximum likelihood correlations were computed for 474 students, with data from 562-586 first-year students subsequently subjected to hierarchical regression analysis, accommodating pairwise missing values. Our results demonstrate minimal overlap between performance-based and self-reported EFs measures. Additionally, the model incorporating self-reported EFs accounted for 13% of the variance in study success after one year, with the inclusion of performance-based EFs raising this proportion to 16%. Self-reported EFs assessments modestly predict study success. However, monitoring levels of self-reported EFs could offer valuable insights for students and educational institutions, given that EFs play a crucial role in learning. Additionally, one in five students reports experiencing significant EFs difficulties, highlighting the importance of addressing EFs concerns for learning and study success.
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Abstract: Research in higher education has revealed a significant connection between executive functions (EFs) and study success. Previous investigations have typically assessed EFs using either neuropsychological tasks, which provide direct and objective measures of core EFs components such as inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility, or self-report questionnaires, which offer indirect and subjective assessments. However, studies rarely utilize both assessment methods simultaneously despite their potential to offer complementary insights into EFs. This study aims to evaluate the predictive capabilities of performance-based and self-reported EFs measures on study success. Employing a retrospective cohort design, 748 first-year Applied Psychology students completed performance-based and self-report questionnaires to assess EFs. Maximum likelihood correlations were computed for 474 students, with data from 562-586 first-year students subsequently subjected to hierarchical regression analysis, accommodating pairwise missing values. Our results demonstrate minimal overlap between performance-based and self-reported EFs measures. Additionally, the model incorporating self-reported EFs accounted for 13% of the variance in study success after one year, with the inclusion of performance-based EFs raising this proportion to 16%. Self-reported EFs assessments modestly predict study success. However, monitoring levels of self-reported EFs could offer valuable insights for students and educational institutions, given that EFs play a crucial role in learning. Additionally, one in five students reports experiencing significant EFs difficulties, highlighting the importance of addressing EFs concerns for learning and study success.
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Introduction: Self-regulated learning (SRL) has traditionally been associated with study success in higher education. In contrast, study success is still rarely associated with executive functions (EF), while it is known from neuropsychological practice that EF can influence overall functioning and performance. However some studies have shown relationships between EF and study success, but this has mainly been investigated in school children and adolescents. EF refer to higher-order cognitive processes to regulate cognition, behavior, and emotion in service of adaptive and goal-directed behaviors. SRL is a dynamic process in which learners activate and maintain cognitions, affects, and behaviors to achieve personal learning goals. This study explores the added value of including EF and SRL to predict study success (i.e., the obtained credits). Methods: In this study, we collected data from 315 first-year psychology students of a University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands who completed questionnaires related to both EF (BRIEF) and SRL (MSLQ) two months after the start of the academic year. Credit points were obtained at the end of that first academic year. We used Structural Equation Modeling to test whether EF and SRL together explain more variance in study success than either concept alone. Results: EF explains 19.8% of the variance, SRL 22.9%, and in line with our hypothesis, EF and SRL combined explain 39.8% of the variance in obtained credits. Discussion: These results indicate that focusing on EF and SRL could lead to a better understanding of how higher education students learn successfully. This might be the objective of further investigation.
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