Background and purpose. Executive function (EF) skills are necessary to set a strong foundation for play development, school readiness and social participation in young children. However, few ecologically valid assessments are available to detect potential executive function deficits in preschool aged children. The Preschool Kitchen Task Assessment (PKTA) is a new tool that measures EF in preschool aged children. The PKTA was adapted from the Kitchen Task Assessment and The Children Task Assessment by Christine Berg, Ph.D., OTR/L. This study aimed to validate the PKTA as an ecological assessment of EF in preschool aged children.
Subjects. Twenty-four typically developing children ages three to five and their parents from three preschools in Marin County.
Methods. An exploratory research design was utilized to examine the ecological validity of the PKTA. Scores from the PKTA were compared to three established neuropsychological assessments using Pearson’s r correlation.
Results. Weak and non-significant correlations were found between the PKTA and the three established neuropsychological assessments: The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function – Preschool Version Parent Form (BRIEF-P), Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS), Forward Digit & Backward Digit Span (FDS & BDS). A strong negative significant relationship was found between the participant’s age in months and their total score on the PKTA.
Discussion and conclusion. The findings do not support the validity of the PKTA as an assessment tool for EF in preschool aged children. The PKTA may be a useful ecologically valid assessment of developmental milestones in preschoolers.
","abstract_html":"<p><strong>Background and purpose. </strong>Executive function (EF) skills are necessary to set a strong foundation for play development, school readiness and social participation in young children. However, few ecologically valid assessments are available to detect potential executive function deficits in preschool aged children. The Preschool Kitchen Task Assessment (PKTA) is a new tool that measures EF in preschool aged children. The PKTA was adapted from the Kitchen Task Assessment and The Children Task Assessment by Christine Berg, Ph.D., OTR/L. This study aimed to validate the PKTA as an ecological assessment of EF in preschool aged children.</p> <p><strong>Subjects. </strong>Twenty-four typically developing children ages three to five and their parents from three preschools in Marin County.</p> <p><strong>Methods. </strong>An exploratory research design was utilized to examine the ecological validity of the PKTA. Scores from the PKTA were compared to three established neuropsychological assessments using Pearson’s <em>r</em> correlation.</p> <p><strong>Results. </strong>Weak and non-significant correlations were found between the PKTA and the three established neuropsychological assessments: The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function – Preschool Version Parent Form (BRIEF-P), Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS), Forward Digit & Backward Digit Span (FDS & BDS). A strong negative significant relationship was found between the participant’s age in months and their total score on the PKTA.</p> <p><strong>Discussion and conclusion. </strong>The findings do not support the validity of the PKTA as an assessment tool for EF in preschool aged children. The PKTA may be a useful ecologically valid assessment of developmental milestones in preschoolers.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kim, Christine","Soltis, Angelica"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Occupational Therapy","degree_level":"Master's Thesis","degree_discipline":"Occupational Therapy","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Julia Wilbarger, PhD, OTR/L","Susan Schwartz, MPA, OTR/L, FAOTA"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-04-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-04-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:04:35Z","subjects":["executive function","preschool","occupational therapy","intervention"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholar.dominican.edu/masters-theses/194","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Julia Wilbarger, PhD, OTR/L","Susan Schwartz, MPA, OTR/L, FAOTA"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kim, Christine","Soltis, Angelica"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["1970-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Occupational Therapy"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Occupational Therapy"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["executive function","preschool","occupational therapy","intervention"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholar.dominican.edu/masters-theses/194"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Background and purpose. Executive function (EF) skills are necessary to set a strong foundation for play development, school readiness and social participation in young children. However, few ecologically valid assessments are available to detect potential executive function deficits in preschool aged children. The Preschool Kitchen Task Assessment (PKTA) is a new tool that measures EF in preschool aged children. The PKTA was adapted from the Kitchen Task Assessment and The Children Task Assessment by Christine Berg, Ph.D., OTR/L. This study aimed to validate the PKTA as an ecological assessment of EF in preschool aged children.
Subjects. Twenty-four typically developing children ages three to five and their parents from three preschools in Marin County.
Methods. An exploratory research design was utilized to examine the ecological validity of the PKTA. Scores from the PKTA were compared to three established neuropsychological assessments using Pearson’s r correlation.
Results. Weak and non-significant correlations were found between the PKTA and the three established neuropsychological assessments: The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function – Preschool Version Parent Form (BRIEF-P), Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS), Forward Digit & Backward Digit Span (FDS & BDS). A strong negative significant relationship was found between the participant’s age in months and their total score on the PKTA.
Discussion and conclusion. The findings do not support the validity of the PKTA as an assessment tool for EF in preschool aged children. The PKTA may be a useful ecologically valid assessment of developmental milestones in preschoolers.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Examining the Validity of the Preschool Kitchen Task Assessment"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Julia Wilbarger, PhD, OTR/L","Susan Schwartz, MPA, OTR/L, FAOTA"],"dc:creator":["Kim, Christine","Soltis, Angelica"],"dc:date.available":["1970-01-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Background and purpose. Executive function (EF) skills are necessary to set a strong foundation for play development, school readiness and social participation in young children. However, few ecologically valid assessments are available to detect potential executive function deficits in preschool aged children. The Preschool Kitchen Task Assessment (PKTA) is a new tool that measures EF in preschool aged children. The PKTA was adapted from the Kitchen Task Assessment and The Children Task Assessment by Christine Berg, Ph.D., OTR/L. This study aimed to validate the PKTA as an ecological assessment of EF in preschool aged children.
Subjects. Twenty-four typically developing children ages three to five and their parents from three preschools in Marin County.
Methods. An exploratory research design was utilized to examine the ecological validity of the PKTA. Scores from the PKTA were compared to three established neuropsychological assessments using Pearson’s r correlation.
Results. Weak and non-significant correlations were found between the PKTA and the three established neuropsychological assessments: The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function – Preschool Version Parent Form (BRIEF-P), Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS), Forward Digit & Backward Digit Span (FDS & BDS). A strong negative significant relationship was found between the participant’s age in months and their total score on the PKTA.
Discussion and conclusion. The findings do not support the validity of the PKTA as an assessment tool for EF in preschool aged children. The PKTA may be a useful ecologically valid assessment of developmental milestones in preschoolers.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholar.dominican.edu/masters-theses/194"],"dc:subject":["executive function","preschool","occupational therapy","intervention"],"dc:title":["Examining the Validity of the Preschool Kitchen Task Assessment"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Occupational Therapy"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Occupational Therapy"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:04:35Z"}