executive function docx

Executive Functions

Executive Functions

Top-down mental processes needed for concentration, attention, and goal-directed behavior.

Inhibition

The ability to control impulses, stop automatic responses, and focus on relevant information.

Working Memory

The capacity to hold and manipulate information in mind for short periods to support cognitive tasks.

Cognitive Flexibility

The skill to adapt and switch between different tasks or mental sets efficiently.

Prefrontal Cortex

Brain region associated with executive functions, particularly the frontal lobes and prefrontal cortex.

Phineas Gage

Famous case study illustrating the impact of frontal lobe damage on personality and behavior.

Case Studies

Research method using individual cases to understand the effects of brain injuries on executive functions.

Patient CD

Another case study showing social and behavioral changes following frontal lobe damage.

Top-Down Processes

Neurocognitive functions involved in goal-directed behavior and self-regulation.

Frontal Lobes

Brain region crucial for executive functions, including planning, decision-making, and self-regulation.

Inhibitory Control

Refers to the ability to resist distraction and inhibit pre-potent responses, such as stopping oneself from carrying out an action due to external or internal stimuli.

Stroop Task

A task used to measure inhibitory control by presenting participants with words in incongruent ink colors, requiring them to focus on the ink color rather than the word itself.

Freeze Frame Task

A task developed to measure inhibitory control in infancy, where infants need to focus on an interesting stimulus while avoiding looking at distractor objects to keep the stimulus on the screen.

Delay of Gratification Task

A test, like the marshmallow task, used to assess inhibitory control in preschool-age children by offering a choice between immediate gratification (eating a marshmallow) or delaying gratification for a greater reward (waiting for a second marshmallow).

Executive Function

Refers to a family of abilities used for planning and implementing goal-directed behaviors, typically associated with frontal lobes.

Inhibitory Control

Ability to stop pre-potent responses, resist distractions, and focus attention on a specific goal or task.

Delay of Gratification Tasks

Often used to assess inhibitory control abilities in preschool-aged children, such as the marshmallow task.

Context Sensitivity

Performance on tasks like the marshmallow test can be influenced by contextual factors, like the reliability of the researcher, impacting inhibitory control assessments.

Stop Signal Task

A task involving pressing a button for one stimulus and inhibiting the response for another, used to measure inhibitory control in children.

Development of Inhibition

Studies show that inhibitory control abilities develop from infancy, with improvements seen in older children but not yet reaching adult-like levels.

Flexibility of Executive Functions

Executive function abilities, including inhibitory control, are flexible and can be influenced by context, showing variability in performance across different situations.

Inhibitory Control

The ability to control impulses, thoughts, and behaviors to achieve a specific goal or outcome, such as waiting to speak until someone finishes, or refraining from acting on immediate impulses.

Cognitive Flexibility

The capacity to switch between different concepts or perspectives, adapt to new demands, and modify goals by adding new rules or adjusting to changes in a situation.

Preservative Error

A cognitive error where an individual continues to respond based on an old rule even when they are aware that the rule has changed or is no longer correct.

Cognitive Complexity and Control Theory

A theory proposing that the complexity of a task is determined by the hierarchy of rules involved rather than the sheer number of rules, suggesting that higher order sets of rules are more challenging to use.

Cognitive Flexibility

Refers to the ability to look at stimuli from different perspectives and apply new rules to familiar situations as appropriate. It is often assessed using tasks like the dimensional change card sort task.

Shifting

Another term for cognitive flexibility, it involves the ability to switch between different rules or perspectives when needed.

Working Memory

The ability to hold information in mind and use it to achieve a specific goal. It is also known as updating and differs from short-term memory by involving active manipulation of information.

Executive Functions

Cognitive processes that help with managing tasks, including working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control. They play a crucial role in various daily activities and goal-directed behaviors.

Cognitive Flexibility

Allows individuals to adjust to changing situational demands and switch focus as needed.

Cognitive Complexity and Control Theory

States that cognitive flexibility tasks become harder with an increase in response options, verbal cues, or higher order rules.

Working Memory

Involves holding information in memory for immediate use.

Task Impurity Problem

Refers to the challenge of psychological tests measuring more than intended due to various factors influencing performance.

Executive Functions

Include inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility as core capacities for goal-directed actions.

Fluid Intelligence

Linked to problem-solving abilities and the ability to process new information and learn.

Separable Abilities

Executive functions are argued to be related but independent capacities, as shown by low correlations between different tests of executive function deficits.

Mayaki and Colleagues Study

Demonstrated a three-structure model of executive functions, indicating that cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control are independent but related abilities.

Task Impurity Problem

Overcoming the issue by using multiple tasks to assess performance rather than relying on a single measure of inhibitory control or other.

Executive Function Components

Identified as working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility, showing related but separate capacities.

Development of Executive Functions in Children

Children do not show a clear developmental sequence in passing tasks related to inhibitory control or working memory, suggesting these abilities emerge simultaneously.

Unitary Executive Function Capacity

Executive functions in young children may not be differentiated into separate abilities like in adults, indicating a more unified capacity.

Prefrontal Cortex Development

Maturation of the prefrontal cortex throughout childhood may lead to the specialization and differentiation of executive functions as age advances.

Fluid Intelligence vs

Fluid intelligence involves acquiring new information, while crystallized intelligence refers to existing knowledge and skills.