Table 1 Description of the EF touch tasks, including the correspondent executive function component measured.

From: Hyperactive-impulsive behavior does not moderate the association between executive function and physical activity in preschoolers

Task

Executive function component

Task description

Items

Items for 3-year-olds

RT measurement

Data exclusion

First appointment

 Something’s the same

Shifting

Recognize similarities between pictures on three dimensions (color, size, shape)

30

20

No

4a

 Arrows

Inhibition

Press button in direction that arrow points at (congruent, incongruent trials)

36

All

Yes

3

 Houses

Working memory

Remember animal(s) and color(s) of house(s)

18

0

No

4

 Pig (Go/NoG)

Inhibition

Press button when animals are presented; except for pig

40

All

Yes

4

 Farmer

Working memory

Remember movements of animals across a 4 × 4 matrix

36

8

Yes

3

Second appointment

 Pick the picture

Working memory

Select each picture once; position of pictures rotates

32

All

No

4

 Silly sounds game (stroop)

Inhibition

Press cat when hearing bark, press dog when hearing meow

17

All

Yes

2

  1. EF Touch subtests were always presented in the order depicted above. Items for 3-year-olds describe the number of items presented in this age group; some items were omitted because of increased task difficulty. Data exclusion specifies the number of children for which data from the task was excluded because of problems in the task administration (e.g., external disturbance) or limited understanding of the task/instruction.
  2. aFor two additional children, data was excluded for the second part of the task because of limited understanding.
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