ABSTRACT
Executive Function (EF) is a higher mental process that maintains, manages, controls, and modifies mental processes in goal-directed behavior. The critical development of EF takes place during early childhood. A few studies suggest that mothers’ verbal utterances used to guide children’s behavior, which are called maternal management language, could influence EF development in their children. Unfortunately, studies covering this issue are still limited in number. This study aims to investigate the contribution of management language to predicting EF in 48 to 72 month-old children. Mother-child interactions (N = 90) were videotaped and categorized into two categories (direction and suggestion) during a structured play. EF was assessed using Executive Function Battery Test which consists of Matahari/Rumput task, Backward Word Span task, Dimensional Change Card Sorting task, and Gift Delay task. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to investigate the predictive pattern of some variables in this study. The results show that direction language could influence EF performance negatively in preschool children, whereas suggestion language could influence EF only if when it was used by mothers with a high SES. This study presents important findings on how to control children’s behavior, especially through maternal verbal utterance.
