Executive Function
Contents
Executive Function
Basic Characteristics
- Description
Executive function is the idea that there is a cognitive system composed of a collection of brain processes that guide our thoughts and behaviors. Specifically, this cognitive system is considered responsible for planning, cognitive felxibility, abstract thinking, and rule acquisition. Executive functioning is responsible for the selection of relevant information and also allows us to initiate or inhibit inappropriate and appropriate actions. Sometimes referred to as cognitive control, fundamental cognitive functions include memory, learning, language and reasoning. Research has shown than frontal lobe damage creates deficits in executive functioning. People who experience frontal lobe damage often exhibit disorganized actions and strategies in everyday tasks. Deficits in executive function are a common feature of disorders such as schizophrenia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Bipolar Disorder.
- History
British psychologist Donald Broadbent was the first to identify what he called selective attention and distinguished between 'automatic' and 'controlled' processes in the 1950s. It wasn't until 1975, however, that US psychologist Michael Posner coined the term cognitive control.
- References
Martel et al, 2007. Executive function in adolsecents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder PMID 18316327
Torrent et al, 2006. Cognitive impairment in bipolar II disorder PMID 16946361
Related Information
- Task or test associated with this construct (vote for your favorite, or nominate a new one by editing this page):
- Indicators (dependent variables, conditions, or contrasts; measurement variables used for analysis) associated with this construct (vote or nominate by editing this page):
- Closely related pages (vote or nominate related pages by editing this page):
- CNP Level
- Cognitive Concept
External Resources
- Links out:
- Google: Executive Function
- Wikipedia: Executive Function
- PubBrain: Executive Function
- PubMed: Executive Function
- -ucla cognitive atlas- (coming soon!)
- Database links