EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING
A
Major Key to Academic and Social Success!
Executive Function (EF) is the ability to interpret, and act upon information.
The EF capability of the brain has been referred to as the "orchestra
conductor" or "CEO." EF can be thought of as an umbrella term
which covers a collection of interrelated functions responsible for purposeful,
goal-directed, problem-solving behavior. The specific cognitive processes that
support executive functioning are active mostly in the frontal lobes
and basal ganglia. Recently, researchers have examined how this
crucial brain function affects how children manage everything they learn.
Dr. Martha Denckla, Director of the Developmental Cognitive Neurology Clinic at
the Kennedy Kreiger Institute, describes children with EF difficulties as
experiencing hardships planning, organizing, and managing time and space. Dr.
F. Zavier Castellanos describes Executive Function as “the ability to delay
responses and sustain or shift attention so that an individual can set
priorities.”
Most EF difficulties are identified in middle school when organization and
independent work are required. However, young children who have difficulty
transitioning from one activity to another or experience trouble following a
sequence of instructions may be demonstrating EF problems.
How Does Executive
Function Work? What Happens When it Doesn't?
How Do Executive
Function Problems Affect Academic and Social Success?
How can EF be
developed?