The Scientific Structure of Executive Function Research in Early Childhood

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the scientific development, intellectual and conceptual structure, influential actors, and patterns of collaboration between authors, institutions, and countries in educational research on executive functions in early childhood through bibliometric methods. A search of the Web of Science Core Collection was conducted on July 13, 2026. After limiting the results to articles indexed in the Education/Educational Research category, a dataset of 888 publications was obtained. The data were analyzed using the Biblioshiny interface of the Bibliometrix package. Annual scientific production, co-citation patterns, keyword co-occurrence, author, institutional, and country collaborations, global citations, productive authors, affiliations, and sources, thematic structure, and trend topics were examined. The findings showed that publication output increased after 2013, accelerated after 2018, and reached its highest level in 2025. The co-citation network revealed three major knowledge bases: the cognitive and developmental foundations of executive functions, the relationship of executive functions and self-regulation with school readiness and early academic skills, and the measurement of behavioral self-regulation. The keyword co-occurrence network was found to be concentrated around the concepts of executive function, self-regulation, working memory, inhibitory control, and preschool. The education–development–mathematics cluster emerged as a motor theme, while teachers, professional development, computational thinking, early numeracy, and creativity became more visible in recent years. Scientific production and collaboration were concentrated around a limited number of authors, institutions, and countries, with the United States occupying a central position in international collaboration. The results indicate that the field is expanding from cognitive foundations toward educational applications. Future research should strengthen terminological consistency, cultural diversity, multi-method assessment, and cross-national collaboration.

Keywords

• Executive function
• Early childhood
• Preschool
• Bibliometric analysis
• Biblioshiny

Ethical Statement

This study complied with all the rules specified in the "Guidelines for Scientific Research and Publication Ethics in Higher Education Institutions". None of the actions listed under the second section of the guidelines, titled "Actions Contrary to Scientific Research and Publication Ethics," were carried out. Since this study did not involve human participants, personal data collection, interviews, experiments, or interventions, ethical committee approval was not required.

Erken Çocuklukta Yürütücü İşlev Araştırmalarının Bilimsel Yapısı

Abstract

Bu araştırmanın amacı, erken çocuklukta yürütücü işlevleri eğitim araştırmaları bağlamında ele alan makalelerin bilimsel gelişimini, entelektüel ve kavramsal yapısını, etkili aktörleri ile yazarlar, kurumlar ve ülkeler arasındaki iş birliği örüntülerini bibliyometrik yöntemlerle incelemektir. Web of Science Core Collection veri tabanında 13 Temmuz 2026 tarihinde gerçekleştirilen tarama sonucunda, belge türü makale ve kategori Eğitim ve Eğitim Araştırmaları ile sınırlandırılarak 888 makaleden oluşan veri seti elde edilmiştir. Veriler Bibliometrix paketinin Biblioshiny arayüzü kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Yıllık bilimsel üretim, ortak atıf, anahtar kelime eş-oluşumu, yazar, kurum ve ülke iş birlikleri, küresel atıflar, üretken yazarlar, kurumlar ve kaynaklar, tematik harita ve araştırma eğilimleri (Trend Topics) incelenmiştir. Bulgular, yayın üretiminin 2013 sonrasında arttığını, 2018 sonrasında hızlandığını ve en yüksek düzeye 2025 yılında ulaştığını göstermiştir. Ortak atıf ağı; yürütücü işlevlerin bilişsel ve gelişimsel temelleri, yürütücü işlevler ile öz düzenlemenin okula hazır oluş ve erken akademik becerilerle ilişkisi ve davranışsal öz düzenlemenin ölçülmesi olmak üzere üç temel bilgi alanı ortaya koymuştur. Anahtar kelime eş-oluşum ağının executive function (yürütücü işlev), self-regulation (öz düzenleme), working memory (çalışma belleği), inhibitory control (ketleyici kontrol) ve preschool (okul öncesi) kavramları etrafında yoğunlaştığı görülmüştür. Education–development–mathematics (eğitim–gelişim–matematik) kümesi motor tema olarak öne çıkarken teachers (öğretmenler), professional development (mesleki gelişim), computational thinking (hesaplamalı düşünme), early numeracy (erken sayısal beceriler) ve creativity (yaratıcılık) son yıllarda daha görünür hâle gelmiştir. Bilimsel üretim ve iş birliklerinin sınırlı sayıdaki yazar, kurum ve ülke çevresinde yoğunlaştığı, Amerika Birleşik Devletleri’nin uluslararası iş birliğinde merkezî bir konumda bulunduğu belirlenmiştir. Sonuçlar, alanın bilişsel temellerden eğitimsel uygulamalara doğru genişlediğini göstermektedir. Gelecek araştırmalarda terminolojik tutarlılığın, kültürel çeşitliliğin, çoklu ölçme yaklaşımlarının ve ülkeler arası iş birliklerinin güçlendirilmesi önerilmektedir.

Keywords

• Yürütücü işlev
• Erken çocukluk
• Okul öncesi
• Bibliyometrik analiz
• Biblioshiny

Ethical Statement

Bu çalışma, “Yüksek Öğretim Kurumları Bilimsel Araştırma ve Yayın Etiği Yönergesi” kapsamında belirtilen tüm kurallara uymuştur. Yönergenin ikinci bölümü olan “Bilimsel Araştırma ve Yayın Etiğine Aykırı Eylemler” başlığı altında belirtilen eylemlerden hiçbiri gerçekleştirilmemiştir. Bu çalışma insan katılımcıları, kişisel veri toplama, görüşmeler, deneyler veya müdahaleler içermediği için etik kurul onayı gerekmemiştir.

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