The multicomponent nature of executive functions (EF) has long been recognized, pushing for a better understanding of both the commonalities and the diversity between EF components. Despite the advances made, the operationalization of performance in EF tasks remains rather heterogeneous, and the structure of EF as modeled by confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) is still a topic of debate (Karr et al., 2018). The present work demonstrates these two issues are related, showing how different operationalizations in task-based performance indicators impact the resulting models of EF structure with CFA. Using bootstrapped data from 294 children (8-12 years old) and nine EF tasks (tapping inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility), we first show improved model convergence and acceptance when operationalizing EF through single tasks' scores (e.g., incongruent trials, Flanker task) relative to difference scores (e.g., incongruent minus congruent trials, Flanker task). Furthermore, we show that response times exhibit poor model convergence and acceptance compared not only to accuracy but also drift rate. The latter, a well-known indicator in drift-diffusion models, is found to present the best trade-off between convergence and acceptance to model EF with CFA. Finally, we examine how various operationalizations of performance in EF tasks impact CFA model comparison in the assessment of EF structure and discuss the theoretical foundations for these results. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

---

寻求执行职能评估的更好实践：方法论问题和潜在的解决方案。


执行功能 (EF) 的多组成部分性质早已得到认可，推动人们更好地理解 EF 组成部分之间的共性和多样性。尽管取得了进步，EF 任务中性能的操作化仍然相当异构，并且通过验证性因素分析 (CFA) 建模的 EF 结构仍然是一个争论的话题（Karr 等人，2018）。目前的工作证明了这两个问题是相关的，展示了基于任务的绩效指标的不同操作如何影响 CFA 的 EF 结构的结果模型。使用来自 294 名儿童（8-12 岁）和 9 项 EF 任务（敲击抑制、工作记忆和认知灵活性）的引导数据，我们首先展示了通过单个任务分数（例如，不一致的试验）操作 EF 时模型收敛性和接受度的改进，侧翼任务）相对于差异分数（例如，不一致减去一致试验，侧翼任务）。此外，我们表明，与准确性和漂移率相比，响应时间表现出较差的模型收敛性和接受度。后者是漂移扩散模型中的一个众所周知的指标，被发现可以在收敛和接受 CFA 模型 EF 之间实现最佳权衡。最后，我们研究 EF 任务中绩效的各种操作化如何影响 EF 结构评估中的 CFA 模型比较，并讨论这些结果的理论基础。 （PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2024 APA，保留所有权利）。