A role for executive functions in explanatory understanding of the physical world

Are executive functions needed only for the expression of an already present understanding of the physical world or they are needed for the construction of that understanding? We addressed this question in the context of Hood's (1995) tubes task. When asked to find a ball dropped down an opaque curved tube, 2- and 3-year-olds search directly below the place where they have seen the ball dropped, rather than at the bottom of the tube into which the ball was dropped. Instructions about the role of the tubes, but not visual feedback about the correct location of the ball, help children improve on this task. We found that children who scored higher on specific EF measures and on performance IQ showed greater improvement on the tubes task after receiving instructions about the role of the tubes than did children with lower EFs and performance IQ. These results suggest that EFs are needed for the construction of new explanatory understanding of the physical world.