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Behavioral Sciences
Special Issues
Developing Cognitive and Executive Functions Across Lifespan
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Developing Cognitive and Executive Functions Across Lifespan

A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X). This special issue belongs to the section "Cognition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 3660

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Robbin Gibb

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Dr. W, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4, Canada
Interests: parental experience and its influence on brain development; remediation of deficits arising from early brain injury; executive function and its relationship to language and motor development
Dr. Claudia Gonzalez

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, 4401 University Dr. W, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4, Canada
Interests: sensorimotor integration and control; cognitive and motor interactions; development of sensorimotor functions

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cognitive skills are mental processes that develop, mature, and evolve throughout our lifetime. Executive functions are a prime example of such skills. Executive functions encompass a wide range of abilities, including attentional control, self-regulation, inhibition, working memory, goal setting, planning and organizing, problem solving, mental flexibility, and abstract reasoning.

These core cognitive skills, along with others such as language, numeracy, and social competency, play a crucial role in our daily lives and overall functioning. Numerous studies have shown that well-developed cognitive abilities are strong predictors of success in various domains, including academic achievement, job security and financial stability, overall health and well-being, and the ability to make meaningful contributions to society.

Given the significant impact of cognitive skills on our daily activities and the fact that they can be learned and strengthened over time, it is crucial to explore how these abilities develop, mature, and decline across the lifespan, as well as the complex interplay between different cognitive processes. Furthermore, it is important to develop and test effective, evidence-based strategies that strengthen and optimize cognitive functioning. 

We now invite submissions for papers on all areas of cognitive development, including but not limited to topics related to executive function, attention, language, memory, numerical processing, reasoning and logic, self-regulation, social competency, spatial ability, and theory of mind.

Dr. Robbin Gibb
Dr. Claudia Gonzalez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • attention
  • language
  • memory
  • numerical processing
  • reasoning and logic
  • self-regulation
  • social competency
  • spatial ability
  • theory of mind

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 2751 KiB  
Article
Speech Production Development in Mandarin-Speaking Children: A Case of Lingual Stop Consonants
by Fangfang Li
Behav. Sci. 2025, 15(4), 516; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15040516 - 13 Apr 2025
Viewed by 302
Abstract
Lingual stops are among the earliest sounds acquired by young children, but the process of acquiring the temporal coordination of lingual gestures necessary for the production of stop consonants appears to be protracted. The current research aims to investigate the developmental process of [...] Read more.
Lingual stops are among the earliest sounds acquired by young children, but the process of acquiring the temporal coordination of lingual gestures necessary for the production of stop consonants appears to be protracted. The current research aims to investigate the developmental process of lingual stop consonants in 100 Mandarin-speaking 2- to 5-year-olds using the acoustic parameter voice onset time (VOT). Children were engaged in a word-repetition task and recorded while producing words that begin with /t/, /d/, /k/, and /g/. Results indicate well-established contrasts between /t/ and /d/ as well as between /k/ and /g/ by age 2. However, comparing with adults’ speech patterns, children’s speech productions are characterized by greater within-category dispersion and overlap, as well as smaller phoneme discriminability. Mandarin-speaking children also go through an “overshoot” stage by producing longer-than-adult VOT values, especially for voiceless aspirated stops /t/ and /k/. Lastly, unlike adults who exhibit gender-specific patterns in VOT, boys and girls do not show distinct patterns in their VOT by age 5. These results will be discussed in relation to children’s lingual motor control development and the organization of phonological and phonetic structures during the process of language acquisition. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Developing Cognitive and Executive Functions Across Lifespan)
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19 pages, 269 KiB  
Article
Self-Regulation Intervention Impact on Turkish Children with Emotional and Behavioral Disorder Risks
by Gamze Apaydın and Çığıl Aykut
Behav. Sci. 2025, 15(4), 508; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15040508 - 10 Apr 2025
Viewed by 336
Abstract
This study examined the effect of a self-regulation intervention package prepared for preschool children at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBDs) in Türkiye on children’s self-regulation skills, social skills, problem behaviors, relationships with teachers, and peer acceptance. Ten children, five at risk [...] Read more.
This study examined the effect of a self-regulation intervention package prepared for preschool children at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBDs) in Türkiye on children’s self-regulation skills, social skills, problem behaviors, relationships with teachers, and peer acceptance. Ten children, five at risk of EBD and five with typical development (TD), participated in the study. This study used a single-group pretest-posttest design. The intervention lasted for eight weeks, two days a week. Follow-up data were collected three weeks after the intervention. It was found that the intervention package was effective in self-regulation, problem behavior, social skills, and peer acceptance variables of children at risk of EBD (z = −2.02, p < 0.05, r = 0.64) but not in student-teacher relationships (p > 0.05). In the follow-up, no significant changes were observed in any of the variables, except for problem behaviors. However, the levels were maintained (p > 0.05). Only the problem behavior variable showed a significant decrease compared to the post-test (z = −2.03, p < 0.05, r = 0.64). In addition, in the post- and follow-up tests, children at risk of EBD reached performance levels similar to those of TD children in terms of all variables (p > 0.05), which is essential evidence showing the effectiveness and social validity of the intervention. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Developing Cognitive and Executive Functions Across Lifespan)
15 pages, 276 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Long COVID on Language Proficiency Across Different School Levels in Hong Kong
by Shebe S. Xu, Yixun Li, Wanyi Li, Catherine M. Capio, Winnie W. Y. Tso and Derwin K. C. Chan
Behav. Sci. 2025, 15(4), 432; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15040432 - 28 Mar 2025
Viewed by 1211
Abstract
Long COVID, where symptoms persist after recovering from COVID-19, can affect cognitive functions like language. However, little is known about its impact on children’s language skills, especially across different school levels. This study investigated the impact of long COVID on language proficiency among [...] Read more.
Long COVID, where symptoms persist after recovering from COVID-19, can affect cognitive functions like language. However, little is known about its impact on children’s language skills, especially across different school levels. This study investigated the impact of long COVID on language proficiency among 1244 children (Asian; 53.5% boys) from kindergartens (N = 408, Mage = 4.42 ± 1.26 years), primary schools (N = 547, Mage = 9.69 ± 1.96 years), and secondary schools (N = 289, Mage = 14.97 ± 1.85 years) in Hong Kong. Language proficiency was assessed using the Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q), which measured speaking, listening, reading, and writing in both Chinese and English. Participants were categorized into three groups: long COVID, recovered from COVID-19, and no history of COVID-19. One-way and two-way ANOVAs were used to analyze the differences in language proficiency across these groups and school levels. Children with long COVID symptoms exhibited significantly lower overall language proficiency, particularly in speaking and listening, compared to those in the recovered and no-COVID groups. The effect was more pronounced among primary and secondary students, with secondary school students showing the most substantial deficits. No significant differences were found between the recovered and no-COVID groups. The results suggest that long COVID might have detrimental effects on children’s linguistic proficiency. The language development of older students who suffered from long COVID could benefit from receiving targeted educational and therapeutic interventions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Developing Cognitive and Executive Functions Across Lifespan)
16 pages, 1188 KiB  
Article
Working Memory as the Focus of the Bilingual Effect in Executive Functions
by Jiejia Chen, Zitong Li, Zhiheng Xiong and Guangyuan Liu
Behav. Sci. 2025, 15(2), 134; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15020134 - 26 Jan 2025
Viewed by 1078
Abstract
The bilingual effect on executive functions (EFs) has garnered considerable attention, with most studies focusing on the visual domain and largely overlooking the auditory domain. Furthermore, research has predominantly concentrated on specific subcomponents of executive functions, with few studies systematically examining all three [...] Read more.
The bilingual effect on executive functions (EFs) has garnered considerable attention, with most studies focusing on the visual domain and largely overlooking the auditory domain. Furthermore, research has predominantly concentrated on specific subcomponents of executive functions, with few studies systematically examining all three key subcomponents. This raises two important questions: (a) Is the bilingual effect specific to certain modalities (modality-specific), or a more general phenomenon (modality-general)? (b) Is the bilingual effect concentrated in a specific component of executive functions (process-specific), or does it extend to all three components (process-general)? To explore these questions, this study recruited monolingual Chinese and bilingual Chinese–English participants, using matched visual and auditory Stroop, N-back, and task-switching tasks to assess inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility in both groups. The results showed that, after controlling for variables like intelligence, socioeconomic status, and age, bilingualism significantly predicted performance in both auditory and visual working memory tasks, explaining 34% and 19% of the variance, respectively. However, no evidence was found to support a bilingual effect in inhibitory control or cognitive flexibility. In conclusion, these results suggest that bilingual effects are not only process-specific (affecting only working memory) but also modality-general (providing advantages in both visual and auditory modalities). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Developing Cognitive and Executive Functions Across Lifespan)
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