Progress in Executive-Function Research: From Tasks to Functions to Regions to Networks

ABSTRACT— It has long been observed that damage to the frontal cortex affects a person's ability to control thought, behavior, and emotion while sometimes leaving fundamental processes such as vision, hearing, and long-term memory intact. Such observations have led theoreticians to suppose that a set of executive control functions exists, at the top of the hierarchy of mental processes. To study these executive functions and their relation to the frontal cortex and its subregions, researchers have long employed several now-classic cognitive tests in patients with brain damage. Yet until recently it has proved difficult to reliably localize the putative executive functions to discrete regions. This article illustrates how recent progress in executive-functions research has been driven by the coupling of sophisticated neuroscience techniques with advances in experimental psychology. Taking examples from recent studies, it shows how experimental tasks may be decomposed into cognitive components that can be localized to discrete—but structurally connected—brain regions. What emerges is a new ontology for executive function in terms of which cognitive components exist and of how, and when, they are recruited during task performance.     

人格对幼儿白谎行为的影响：“冷”“热”执行功能的并行中介作用

为探讨人格对幼儿白谎行为的影响,及“冷”“热”执行功能的中介作用机制,采用问卷法和测验法对218名3～6岁幼儿的人格、言语能力、“冷”“热”执行功能和白谎行为进行测试。结果显示：控制年龄和言语能力后,智能特征和亲社会性可显著正向预测幼儿白谎行为;“冷”执行功能在智能特征和白谎行为间发挥部分中介作用;“热”执行功能在亲社会性和白谎行为间发挥部分中介作用;“热”执行功能在外倾性和白谎行为间发挥完全中介作用;“冷”“热”执行功能在认真自控和白谎行为间发挥完全中介作用。研究结果进一步揭示了人格对幼儿白谎行为影响的内在机制。     

儿童执行功能与情绪调节

大脑执行功能是一种调节、控制、综合、分析个体心理过程和外显行为的认知神经机制。儿童的高级认知活动、社会性行为（同伴交往、攻击性行为）都受到执行功能发展水平的制约。研究者希望通过儿童执行功能的发展,了解整个执行系统的发展成熟过程,揭示执行控制机能的内在机制。同时,有研究者把执行控制这种认知神经机制和儿童的社会性行为包括自我控制、情绪调控等方面的发展结合起来研究,从中发现二者的联系。该文就这方面的核心问题以及研究成果进行了综述。     

Advertising Literacy and Executive Function: Testing Their Influence on Children’s Consumer Behavior

For decades, researchers have theorized that children’s persuasion understanding should help them cope with commercial messages. Yet, to date, there is little evidence to support this hypothesized relationship. Recently, scholars have suggested 2 potential reasons for the lack of findings. The first is that the measure of children’s persuasion understanding has not been thoroughly conceptualized, as previous work has confused knowledge of persuasive intent with knowledge of selling intent. The second is that previous research on the subject has not appropriately considered the role that cognitive development plays in helping children respond to commercial messages with a particular focus on the role that executive function should play. Working with 79 elementary school children and their parents, this study tested whether children’s advertising knowledge was associated with parent-reported consumer behavior (i.e., purchase requests) and if children’s executive function moderated this relationship. Results indicate that children’s understanding of selling intent is negatively associated with parent-reported purchase requests, but understanding of persuasive intent is not. Moreover, although children’s executive function does not moderate this relationship, it is directly associated with consumer behavior. These results offer new insights into how children’s advertising literacy and cognitive development potentially affect their consumer behavior.     

A hierarchical competing systems model of the emergence and early development of executive function

The hierarchical competing systems model (HCSM) provides a framework for understanding the emergence and early development of executive function – the cognitive processes underlying the conscious control of behavior – in the context of search for hidden objects. According to this model, behavior is determined by the joint influence of a developmentally invariant habit system and a conscious representational system that becomes increasingly influential as children develop. This article describes a computational formalization of the HCSM, reviews behavioral and computational research consistent with the model, and suggests directions for future research on the development of executive function.     

La représentation du but dans le contrôle exécutif chez l’enfant

Implementation of executive control over thought and action can only be guided by the goals that one desires to reach. Over the last decade, research has pointed out the central role of goal representation in executive control both during childhood and adulthood. The present paper reviews these findings, emphasizing the developmental dynamics observed during childhood. More precisely, it addresses the role of active goal maintenance in working memory, as it has been stressed by developmental and neurocognitive theoretical models. Beyond goal maintenance, the question as to how goal representations are formed in working memory has attracted research efforts lately. With age, children successfully process increasingly subtle environmental cues to infer the current task goal and when task goals need to be updated, as evidenced by the effect of cue transparency on switching and inhibition performance. In addition, the paper addresses how goal representation sheds light on the interplay between executive skills and conceptual knowledge, through the presentation of research in such domains as analogical reasoning, categorical flexibility, and class inclusion quantification. Taken together, these lines of research show that executive control development does not rely exclusively on a growing ability to implement appropriate actions, but it also depends largely on increasingly efficient identification of what such actions should be.     

Executive function tests in early‐onset psychosis: which one to choose?

People with schizophrenia exhibit executive functioning deficits, an area well investigated in the adult onset schizophrenia (AOS) group, but far less so in early-onset schizophrenia (EOS). Since EOS in general seems to exhibit poorer cognitive functions and is clinically more compromised than AOS, choice of efficient and sensitive assessment measures is not necessarily the same within the two groups. The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery was developed for adults when studying treatment effects and uses Mazes (Neuropsychological Assessment Battery [NAB]) to assess executive functioning. We tested 31 adolescents with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and 66 healthy controls in order to examine how Mazes compares to two other commonly used tests to measure executive functioning, D-KEFS Color Word Interference Test (Stroop) and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Significant discriminating power was found for all three measures. Patients performed 0.8-1.5 SD below controls with Stroop as the most sensitive measure, followed by Mazes and WCST. Mazes was selected by the MATRICS to assess treatment effects in AOS and is shown to be able. We find the instrument also able to separate adolescent patients from controls and thus, it appears a sensible choice in clinical settings. If a more elaborated neuropsychological evaluation of the executive functioning domain is needed, Stroop should be considered a complementary test.     

Interactions between Callous Unemotional Behaviors and Executive Function in Early Childhood Predict later Aggression and Lower Peer-liking in Late-childhood

Callous unemotional (CU) behaviors are linked to aggression, behavior problems, and difficulties in peer relationships in children and adolescents. However, few studies have examined whether early childhood CU behaviors predict aggression or peer-rejection during late-childhood or potential moderation of this relationship by executive function. The current study examined whether the interaction of CU behaviors and executive function in early childhood predicted different forms of aggression in late-childhood, including proactive, reactive, and relational aggression, as well as how much children were liked by their peers. Data from cross-informant reports and multiple observational tasks were collected from a high-risk sample (N = 240; female = 118) at ages 3 and 10 years old. Parent reports of CU behaviors at age 3 predicted teacher reports of reactive, proactive, and relational aggression, as well as lower peer-liking at age 10. Moderation analysis showed that specifically at high levels of CU behaviors and low levels of observed executive function, children were reported by teachers as showing greater reactive and proactive aggression, and were less-liked by peers. Findings demonstrate that early childhood CU behaviors and executive function have unique main and interactive effects on both later aggression and lower peer-liking even when taking into account stability in behavior problems over time. By elucidating how CU behaviors and deficits in executive function potentiate each other during early childhood, we can better characterize the emergence of severe and persistent behavior and interpersonal difficulties across development.     

Individual differences in speakers’ perspective taking: The roles of executive control and working memory

Both speaking and listening require taking into account the perspective of one’s communicative partner. Is perspective taking a domain-specific process internal to the language production and comprehension systems? Or is it a domain-general process regulated by the same mechanisms that are used to regulate other forms of behavior? Past research has shown that listeners’ perspective taking is at least partially regulated by inhibitory control and working memory (WM), suggesting that it may be best thought of in domain-general terms. The present experiment was designed to explore individual differences in nonlinguistic executive functioning in order to assess whether domain-general mechanisms help regulate speakers’ perspective-taking behavior. A group of 60 speakers participated in a referential communication task and in tasks measuring WM and executive control (EC). The results revealed that WM and EC were both predictive of the speakers’ perspective taking, suggesting that perspective taking may be regulated by domain-general mechanisms.     

幼儿选择性信任与心理理论和执行功能的关联:来自追踪研究的证据

研究选取122名3到5岁幼儿,同时测量了选择性信任、心理理论和执行功能,并控制了幼儿的语言能力,通过追踪研究进行交叉滞后回归分析探讨了幼儿选择性信任与心理理论和执行功能之间的关联。结果表明:幼儿的选择性信任与执行功能呈显著正相关,控制了幼儿的年龄和语言能力之后,相关仍然显著;第一年的选择性信任可以正向预测第二年的执行功能,而第一年的执行功能不能预测第二年的选择性信任;选择性信任与心理理论之间不存在纵向的相互关联。该结果为幼儿选择性信任领域的争议提供了重要的证据支持。     

高低创造性思维水平者的认知抑制能力：行为和生理的证据

本研究采用2个实验, 考察创造性思维测验得分高低者在Stroop任务干扰条件上的差异, 从行为和生理指标探讨认知抑制与创造性思维的关系, 以及时间压力对认知抑制与创造性思维关系的调节作用。实验1采用Stroop颜色命名任务。结果发现, 相比低创者, 高创者的反应时干扰效应量和正确率干扰效应量均更小。实验2采用更灵活的Stroop字义-颜色命名转换任务, 操纵不同的时间压力条件, 并记录被试完成任务时的皮肤电活动。结果发现, 高创者在有时间压力条件下的干扰效应量显著小于无时间压力条件下, 而低创者在有和无时间压力条件下的干扰效应量无显著差异; 高创者在颜色命名任务的不一致条件下的皮肤电活动变化显著高于一致条件, 而低创者在颜色命名任务的一致和不一致条件下无显著差异。研究表明：总体而言, 相比低创者, 高创者的认知抑制能力更高, 能够有效抑制优势的但不相关的反应倾向。时间压力在认知抑制与创造性思维的关系中起调节作用, 高创者面对不同任务要求能够灵活调整自身的认知抑制水平, 并表现出变化的生理唤醒水平。结果支持创造性思维的适应性认知抑制假说。     

Proverb interpretation changes in aging

Recent investigations have emphasized the involvement of fronto-subcortical networks to proverb comprehension. Although the prefrontal cortex is thought to be affected by normal aging, relatively little work has been carried out to investigate potential effects of aging on proverb comprehension. In the present investigation participants in three age groups were assessed on a proverb comprehension task and a range of executive function tasks. The older group showed impairment in selecting correct interpretations from alternatives. They also showed executive function deficits, as reflected by reduced working memory and deficient set shifting and inhibition abilities. The findings of the present investigation showed proverb comprehension deficits in normal aging which appeared to be related to reduced executive skills.     

Retiring the central executive

Reasoning, problem solving, comprehension, learning and retrieval, inhibition, switching, updating, or multitasking are often referred to as higher cognition, thought to require control processes or the use of a central executive. However, the concept of an executive controller begs the question of what is controlling the controller and so on, leading to an infinite hierarchy of executives or “homunculi”. In what is now a QJEP citation classic, Baddeley [Baddeley, A. D. (1996). Exploring the central executive. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 49A, 5–28] referred to the concept of a central executive in cognition as a “conceptual ragbag” that acted as a placeholder umbrella term for aspects of cognition that are complex, were poorly understood at the time, and most likely involve several different cognitive functions working in concert. He suggested that with systematic empirical research, advances in understanding might progress sufficiently to allow the executive concept to be “sacked”. This article offers an overview of the 1996 article and of some subsequent systematic research and argues that after two decades of research, there is sufficient advance in understanding to suggest that executive control might arise from the interaction among multiple different functions in cognition that use different, but overlapping, brain networks. The article concludes that the central executive concept might now be offered a dignified retirement.     

Greater attention problems during childhood predict poorer executive functioning in late adolescence

Attention problems (behavior problems including inattention, disorganization, impulsivity, and hyperactivity) are widely thought to reflect deficits in executive functions (EFs). However, it is unclear whether attention problems differentially relate to distinct EFs and how developmental stability and change predict levels of EFs in late adolescence. We investigated, in an unselected sample, how teacher-rated attention problems from ages 7 to 14 years related to three correlated but separable EFs, measured as latent variables at age 17. Attention problems at all ages significantly predicted later levels of response inhibition and working memory updating, and to some extent set shifting; the relation to inhibiting was stronger than the relations to the other EFs or IQ. Growth models indicated that attention problems were quite stable in this age range, and it was the initial levels of problems, rather than their changes across time, that predicted later EFs. These results support the hypothesis that attention problems primarily reflect difficulties with response inhibition.     

Does adolescent risk taking imply weak executive function? A prospective study of relations between working memory performance,impulsivity, and risk taking in early adolescence

Studies of brain development suggest that the increase in risk taking observed during adolescence may be due to insufficient prefrontal executive function compared to a more rapidly developing subcortical motivation system. We examined executive function as assessed by working memory ability in a community sample of youth (n = 387, ages 10 to 12 at baseline) in three annual assessments to determine its relation to two forms of impulsivity (sensation seeking and acting without thinking) and a wide range of risk and externalizing behavior. Using structural equation modeling, we tested a model in which differential activation of the dorsal and ventral striatum produces imbalance in the function of these brain regions. For youth high in sensation seeking, both regions were predicted to develop with age. However, for youth high in the tendency to act without thinking, the ventral striatum was expected to dominate. The model predicted that working memory ability would exhibit (1) early weakness in youth high in acting without thinking but (2) growing strength in those high in sensation seeking. In addition, it predicted that (3) acting without thinking would be more strongly related to risk and externalizing behavior than sensation seeking. Finally, it predicted that (4) controlling for acting without thinking, sensation seeking would predict later increases in risky and externalizing behavior. All four of these predictions were confirmed. The results indicate that the rise in sensation seeking that occurs during adolescence is not accompanied by a deficit in executive function and therefore requires different intervention strategies from those for youth whose impulsivity is characterized by early signs of acting without thinking.     

Identification and Description of New Tests of Executive Functioning in Children

The understanding of executive functioning in pediatric neuropsychological evaluation is of clinical significance, yet there are few developmentally appropriate executive function measures that have been adequately normed in this population. The present study provides normative data, collected on a sample of 89 normal children from ages 7-12, for several measures thought to be appropriate for assessing executive functioning in children. Executive function measures were selected and/or modified to be developmentally appropriate, to tap less complex and integrative aspects of executive function, and to assess fundamental working memory (Self-Ordered Pointing: Delayed Alternation/Non-alternation) and inhibitory control (Developmental Stroop tasks: Go/No Go) dimensions of executive functioning. The results supported the potential utility of these measures in assessing those abilities in children.     

认知年老化与执行衰退假说

在认知年老化领域,执行衰退假说是近年来新兴的一种理论。执行衰退假说在理论上具有很强的吸引力,但在实证研究中却存在很多困难,如执行功能的可分离性问题,执行功能测量的信度和效度问题,以及执行功能与加工速度的关系问题。目前,该领域研究的焦点是：在行为学水平上,控制一般性因素（加工速度）后,执行功能是否仍对认知年老化起重要的中介作用;在神经水平上,执行（额叶）功能随龄的变化情况,以及在认知年老化过程中,额叶在大脑功能重组中扮演的角色。最终实现对认知年老化的理解,需要将认知功能与大脑结构联系起来;既看到广泛存在的共同的基本机制,又不能忽略不同认知结构的选择性变化。     

The interplay between early social interaction,language and executive function development in deaf and hearing infants

In this article, we review the influence of early social interaction on the development of executive function and language in infants. We first define social interaction, executive function and language and show how they are related in infant development. Studies of children born deaf are used to illustrate this connection because they represent cases where there has been a disruption to early social interaction and the development of intersubjectivity. Unlike other groups, the disturbance to development is known to be largely environmental rather than neuro-biological. This enables us to more accurately tease apart those impacts on EF that are associated with social interaction and language, since the potential confounds of disordered cognitive development are largely controlled for. The review offers a unifying model for how social, cognitive and linguistic development work together in early human development.