Predicting the Students' Brain Executive Functions Based on Their Acculturation in Multicultural High Schools

Abstract

Background: Executive functions as a group of complex mental processes and cognitive abilities necessary for our goal-directed behavior to control the skills. Acculturation is a process in which an individual acquires and adjusts to a new cultural environment. Objectives: The present study aimed to predict the ethnically diverse students’ brain executive functions based on their acculturation. Methods: In this correlational survey study, 1,019 high school students in the city of Kabodar Ahang, a multicultural city in Hamedan Province, are investigated. In total, 280 bilingual as ethnically diverse students were selected using a relative stratified random method. The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions (BRIEF) and Marin acculturation scale were used to collect data. The Pearson correlation coefficient, multiple regression, and step-by-step regression were employed to collect the data. Results: There is a positive association between acculturation and brain functions and inhibition components, task completion, working memory, and organization (P ≤ 0.001). In other words, increased students' acculturation leads to fostered brain executive functions in subscales of inhibition, task completion, working memory, and mental organization. Also, the multiple regression indicated that acculturation can predict 30% of the students' brain function variance. Conclusions: Teachers working in multicultural regions can use the findings of the present study to gain an appropriate understanding about students' individual differences according to their capacity of executive functions and organizing the process of learning based on their working memory and the complexity of the task.