Resumen

REYES DOMINGUEZ, Genoveva Genyen et al. Fluency, cognitive flexibility, planning, and organization functions in rural Mexican children. Sinéctica [online]. 2022, n.59, e1384.  Epub 13-Feb-2023. ISSN 2007-7033.  https://doi.org/10.31391/s2007-7033(2022)0059-004.

The development of executive functions, which play an important role in an individual’s learning and adaptation, has been described in urban populations and relatively less is known about how children in rural contexts with different socioeconomic, cultural, and ecological conditions develop. The aim of this study was to: assess the applicability of the Neuropsychological Assessment of Children test battery to evaluate executive function performance in a rural population; to describe the children’s executive performance by sex and age group, and to assess the distribution of the studied population’ percentiles when estimated using the normative values derived from urban contexts. A series of seven sub-tests was administered to 54 children in two marginalized rural communities in Veracruz, Mexico. All children completed the tests successfully and within established parameters. Participants’ performance was low in the fluency domain, less contrasting in cognitive flexibility and high in planning and organization abilities. No significant intra-population effect of age was found for either test. Our findings show quantitative and qualitative differences in executive function in children who develop in diverse environments and highlight the importance of including populations from diverse contexts to validate standardized neuropsychological instruments, as well as recognizing the need to rethink the curriculum according to the characteristics and demands of the rural context.

Palabras llave : ENI 2; learning; executive function; children; rural; poverty.

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