scholarly journals Rethinking executive function development

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine Doebel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Mental Content ◽  
Memory Updating ◽  
Component Processes ◽  
Working Memory Updating ◽  
General Component

Research on executive function in early childhood has flourished in recent years. Much of this work is premised on a view of executive function development as the emergence of a set of domain general component processes (e.g., working memory updating, inhibitory control, and shifting). This view has shaped how we think about relations between executive function and other aspects of development, the role of the environment in executive function development, and how best to improve executive function in children who struggle with it. However, there are conceptual and empirical reasons to doubt that executive function should be defined in this way. I argue executive function development is better understood as the emergence of skills in using control in the service of specific goals. Such goals activate and are influenced by mental content like knowledge, beliefs, norms, values, and preferences that are acquired with development and are important to consider in understanding children’s executive function performance. This account better explains empirical findings than the components view; leads to specific, testable hypotheses; and has implications for theory, measurement, and interventions.

Rethinking Executive Function and Its Development

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 942-956 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine Doebel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Mental Content ◽  
Component Process ◽  
Process View ◽  
Component Processes ◽  
Working Memory Updating ◽  
General Component

Research on executive function in early childhood has flourished in recent years. Much of this work is premised on a view of development of executive function as the emergence of a set of domain-general component processes (e.g., working memory updating, inhibitory control, shifting). This view has shaped how we think about relations between executive function and other aspects of development, the role of the environment in executive-function development, and how best to improve executive function in children who struggle with it. However, there are conceptual and empirical reasons to doubt that executive function should be defined in this way. I argue that the development of executive function is better understood as the emergence of skills in using control in the service of specific goals. Such goals activate and are influenced by mental content such as knowledge, beliefs, norms, values, and preferences that are acquired with development and are important to consider in understanding children’s performance on measures of executive function. This account better explains empirical findings than the component-process view; leads to specific, testable hypotheses; and has implications for theory, measurement, and interventions.

scholarly journals Cool and hot executive functions at 5 years old as predictors of physical and relational aggression between 5 and 6 years old

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-165
Author(s):  
Sarah E. O’Toole ◽  
Stella Tsermentseli ◽  
Sajid Humayun ◽  
Claire P. Monks
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Relational Aggression ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Delay Of Gratification ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children

To study the role of executive function (EF) in the early development of aggression, the role of cool and hot EF skills at 5 years old, in the development of physical and relational aggression between 5 and 6 years old, was explored. Typically developing children ( N = 80) completed tasks assessing their cool (inhibition, working memory, planning) and hot EF (affective decision making, delay of gratification) skills at 5 years old. Longitudinal data were collected from teachers that rated children’s aggression when they were 5, 5.5, and 6 years old. Inhibition at 5 years old predicted changes in physical and relational aggression between 5 and 6 years old. Early cool EF, but not hot EF, may therefore be associated with aggression and inhibitory control specifically with changes in aggression during early childhood.

scholarly journals Role of prefrontal cortex and the midbrain dopamine system in working memory updating

2012 ◽  
Vol 109 (49) ◽  
pp. 19900-19909 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. D'Ardenne ◽  
N. Eshel ◽  
J. Luka ◽  
A. Lenartowicz ◽  
L. E. Nystrom ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Dopamine System ◽  
Memory Updating ◽  
Working Memory Updating ◽  
Midbrain Dopamine

scholarly journals The Role of Critical Thinking and Executive Function in Misconceptions in Psychology

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-21
Author(s):  
Heru Astikasari Setya Murti ◽  
Thomas Dicky Hastjarjo ◽  
Bhina Patria
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Card Sorting

Misconception in psychology is a belief that is broadly contradicting to scientific evidence and is particularlycommon in the field of psychology. It is important to study misconceptions in psychology considering thecontribution of the effort to provide education or to demonstrate rejection of fallacies of popular ideas/themes.Misconceptions in psychology relates to critical thinking as well as the executive function (EF) that controls andregulates cognitive processes. This research aims to determine the role of critical thinking and EF (cognitiveflexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control) with misconceptions in psychology. This study used non-experimental methods, using test (paper and pencil) and PEBL/ Psychology Experiment Building Language(computerized). The sampling technique used was convenience sampling. The subjects in this study were 153psychology students, consisting of 105 students from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) and 48 students fromUniversitas Negeri Yogyakarta (UNY). Instruments that were used for data collection were the misconception inpsychology test, critical thinking test, Wisconsin/Berg Card Sorting Test (WCST/BCST), Backward Digit Span,and Stroop Test. There is no correlation between cognitive flexibility and misconceptions in psychology, socognitive flexibility is not included in the calculation of hierarchical regression analysis. Based on the results ofhierarchical regression analysis, it can be concluded that the role of inhibitory control on psychologicalmisconceptions is 11.4%, ΔR2 = .114; b* = .33; t(149) = 4.52, p < .001; the role of working memory is 3%, ΔR2 =.030; b* = -.16; t(149) = -2.19, p = .03; and the role of critical thinking is 2.6%, ΔR2 = .026; b* = -.19; t(149) = -2.53, p = .01.

The development of time-based prospective memory in childhood: The role of working memory updating.

2014 ◽  
Vol 50 (10) ◽  
pp. 2393-2404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Babett Voigt ◽  
Caitlin E. V. Mahy ◽  
Judi Ellis ◽  
Katharina Schnitzspahn ◽  
Ivonne Krause ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Prospective Memory ◽  
Memory Updating ◽  
Working Memory Updating

scholarly journals Transfer of working memory training to the inhibitory control of auditory distraction

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Kattner
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Working Memory Training ◽  
Memory Training ◽  
Transfer Effects ◽  
Memory Updating ◽  
Working Memory Updating ◽  
Back Task

AbstractExtended working memory training with the dual n-back task has been shown to improve performance on various untrained cognitive tasks, but previous findings were inconsistent with regard to the extent of such transfer. The dual n-back training task addresses multiple components of working memory as sequential information from two different stimulus modalities needs to be simultaneously encoded, maintained, continuously monitored and updated in working memory while irrelevant information needs to be inhibited. However, it is unclear which executive functions account for the observed transfer effects. In this study, the degree of inhibitory control required during training was manipulated by comparing two versions of the dual n-back task in which participants are asked to either respond or withhold a response on the less frequent trials when an item was identical to an item n trials back. Eight 80-min sessions of training with adaptive versions of both n-back tasks were shown to improve working memory updating. Moreover, in contrast to the standard n-back task, training on the inhibitory n-back task was found to reduce the interference in working memory produced by task-irrelevant speech. This result suggests that enhanced demand for inhibitory control during training enables transfer to the inhibition of distractor interference, whereas the standard n-back task primarily affects working memory updating. The training effects did not transfer to the inhibition of spatially incompatible responses in a Simon task, and it yielded no far transfer effects to untrained executive functions or measures of fluid intelligence.

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