Executive Functions: A Tutorial Study Guide

Nicoladie Tam

• Publisher: Nicoladie Tam, Ph.D.
• ISBN:
  9781301125968
• Topic: Psychologie
• Subtopic: Neurosciences cognitives et neuropsychologie

“Executive Functions” is a part of the college-level Neuropsychopharmacology course series textbooks. It is a tutorial written in questions and answers format to describe the neurobiological basis of the executive function and executive control in decision making and conflict resolution cognitively and psychologically.

It is a study guide with in-depth explanations. Each section is a modular unit that is self-contained for easy reading. The principles and concepts are introduced systematically so students can learn and retain the materials intuitively.

1.Executive Functions

Objectives

• Understand how executive function is regulated and controlled

Concepts to Learn

• Executive function
• Executive control
• Relationship with executive function and ADHD

1.1.Executive Control

Objectives

• Understand how executive function is regulated and controlled

Concepts to Learn

• Executive function
• Executive control
• selective attention
• judgment
• decision-making
• anticipation
• planning
• reasoning
• hindsight
• forethought
• anticipatory set
• sense of time
• self-awareness
• inhibition (impulse control)
• set shifting (attention switching)
• working memory (temporary storage of internal task-related information)
• planning (organization of sequence of actions)
• fluency (temporal sequencing of actions)

Executive function is one of the most essential processes executed by the brain to assess and evaluate information provided so it can make an appropriate decision in response to the stimuli. It is analogous to the boss (executive) of the brain that controls the decision-making function.

Some of the executive function examples are decision-making, selective attention, judgment, anticipation, planning and reasoning. These are high-level cognitive functions, which requires complex interactions of sensory stimulus information, emotional information and assessing one’s own response output.

Decision requires selection of one choice out of multiple choices or alternatives. Decision-making is simple if it does not involve resolution of conflicts so long as the process is prioritized. But when conflicts arise, decision is required to resolve such conflicts. Conflict arises when there are competing options to choose from. The competing choices often prevents a single decision be made, in which simultaneous selection of multiple options is desirable, but not practical or feasible in real-life. When such circumstances arise, it leads to conflict, and inability to make decision, or make ineffective decision as a result.

Selective attention requires directing attention to a specific choice among many different alternatives. If we don’t direct attention to the sensory stimulus, it does not reach our consciousness even though the sensory information is processed by the brain. Thus, selective attention is intimately related to consciousness.

Judgment requires selection of the appropriate choice among many different alternatives that predicts the best outcome for a given scenario. It requires anticipation of the predicted outcome given the conditions in which the circumstances occur. It also requires planning of the sequence of action before the actual execution of those actions with the anticipated outcomes. It also requires reasoning the sequence of action that will lead to the predicted outcome given the circumstances.

Executive function also requires working memory to complete. Without the dynamic memory that holds the information to store the temporary steps needed to complete these tasks, executive control would be completed or effectively executed.

Working memory is the capacity to store and retrieve information to produce hindsight, forethought, anticipatory set, sense of time and self-awareness. Hindsight is the ability to evaluate the past sequence of action and learn from the outcome it produced. Forethought is the ability to predict the most likely future outcome before actual execution of the action....

Table of contents

• Executive Functions
• 1.Executive Functions