The deficit profile of executive function in Chinese children with different types of reading difficulties

This study investigated executive function deficits among Chinese primary school children with word reading deficit and specific reading comprehension deficit. Working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility were examined among children with Word Reading Deficit (WRD), children with Specific Reading Comprehension Deficit (S-RCD) and Typically Developing children (TD). Results showed that compared to the TD group, children with WRD showed deficits in working memory and inhibitory control, whereas children with S-RCD had deficits only in working memory. Further analyses suggested that the difference between WRD group and S-RCD group's poor performance on working memory was caused by different types of working memory tasks. The unique feature of the Chinese language may affect the difference between inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility.