Executive Function Pt 2/10 – Three Key Areas of Executive Function (Part 1).

Different mental processes are implicated in the planning, initiation, and accomplishment of any given task.

Regardless of whether a task is simple or complex, the successful completion of a task depends on one or more of the following mental processes:

1. Working Memory,
2. Mental Flexibility, and
3. Self-Control.

These three cognitive processes are the ones most frequently highlighted by scientist in the literature. While these executive functioning skills might seem like separate entities, in reality, they are interrelated functions that cooperate to give rise to competent executive functioning.

Working Memory involves one’s ability to temporarily store and manipulate information in our mind, over short periods of time.

Children with weak working memory skills might have trouble:

• remembering details of a story they have just read,
• struggle to remember the steps to complete a task,
• require frequent reminders to follow multi-step instructions,
• find it challenging to remember and apply game rules,
• and misplace or lose their personal items time and again.

References

• Hill Learning Center. (n.d.). 7 executive functioning skills your child should have. https://www.hillcenter.org/7-executive-functioning-skills-your-child-should-have/
• National Center for Learning Disabilities, Inc. (2013). Executive Function 101. Retrieved from https://www.chconline.org/resourcelibrary/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/executivefunction101ebook_344.pdf
• National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, & National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs. (2011). Building the brain’s “air traffic control” system: How early experiences shape the development of executive function (Working Paper No. 11). Harvard University, Center on the Developing Child. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/How-Early-Experiences-Shape-the-Development-of-Executive-Function.pdf