Hot and Cool Executive Functions in Middle Childhood: Evidence for a Weak but Process-Specific Relationship

Background: Executive functions (EFs) are cognitive and emotional abilities that underpin goal-directed behavior, decision-making, and problem-solving. EFs can be categorized into two broad types, Hot EFs and Cool EFs, distinguished by their relation to emotional processing. Cool EFs are associated with cognitive control, while Hot EFs involve emotional regulation and decision-making in emotionally charged contexts. EFs contribute to self-regulation, including the ability to adjust behavior in response to feedback. Methods: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between Hot (decision-making under uncertainty) and Cool (cognitive flexibility) EFs in middle childhood. To assess these dimensions of EFs, we used two tasks, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), completed by children (N = 90) aged 6-12 years. Results: Traditional WCST indices of cognitive flexibility were not associated with IGT performance. Using hierarchical linear regression models, the most significant overlap concerns the negative relationship between post-loss adjustment in the WCST (post-loss reaction time-plRT) and learning across the IGT (learning index-LI). Children who responded faster after negative feedback (plRT ↓) showed greater improvement in advantageous choice over the course of the task (LI ↑). Conclusions: The findings suggest that decision-making in the IGT is more closely linked to dynamic, process-based aspects of self-regulation than to static measures of cognitive flexibility. It can be concluded that the relationship between WCST and IGT during middle childhood is best described as weak, process-specific, and developmentally modulated, indicating that Cool and Hot EFs are partially distinct yet interconnected systems.