This longitudinal study contributes to the growing literature on the predictive nature of the relation between executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM). A latent variable model was fit to the data acquired from 226 socioeconomically and racially diverse children (52% female) at 3, 4, and 5 years of age on a number of age-appropriate tasks designed to assess EF and ToM. After controlling for sex, income-to-needs, and receptive language ability, there was substantial stability within each construct as children aged. In addition, EF at 3 years predicted ToM at 4 years but ToM did not predict EF, replicating earlier results. This pattern also appeared from 4 to 5 years of age, suggesting that the developmental precedence of EF persists later in development. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of contemporary cognitive development theories, as well as the relation between EF and social reasoning in general.

中文翻译：

---

对 3、4 和 5 年执行功能与心理理论之间关系的纵向评估

这项纵向研究有助于越来越多的关于执行功能 (EF) 和心理理论 (ToM) 之间关系的预测性质的文献。潜在变量模型适用于从 3、4 和 5 岁的 226 名社会经济和种族不同的儿童（52% 为女性）在一些旨在评估 EF 和 ToM 的适合年龄的任务中获得的数据。在控制了性别、收入需求和语言接受能力之后，随着儿童年龄的增长，每个结构都具有实质性的稳定性。此外，3 年的 EF 预测了 4 年的 ToM，但 ToM 没有预测 EF，重复了早期的结果。这种模式也出现在 4 到 5 岁之间，表明 EF 的发育优先性在发育后期仍然存在。