What is Executive Function (EF)?

Definitions

Numerous definitions of EF exist, from psychologists, behavioural analysts, cognitive behavioural therapists etc. For the sake of this project, I am choosing to use definitions given by educators to make it easier for myself and also to ensure that the definitions have specific relevance to HE.

Paula Moraine M.Ed author of Helping Students Take Control of Everyday Executive Functions: The Attention Fix defines EF as:

“Executive functions are the functions of our brain that control attention and behaviour”

Moraine, P Helping Students Take Control of Everyday Executive Functions (2012)

However, I prefer Moraine’s personal working definition of EF:

“… we use our executive functions to express how we think, what we feel, and what we do in relation to the world around us. The way to a working definition of attention could be through understanding how we use our attention in our thinking, how we use our attention in relation to our feelings, and how we use our attention in our actions.”

Moraine, P. Helping Students Take Control of Everyday Executive Functions (2012)

List of Executive Functions

Executive Function in Education

Essentially, all of these functions are necessary for anyone student undertaking a project, from students to project managers. In terms of education it is my personal experience that in education, teachers are far more concerned with the what of learning than the how. Much more time was given to explaining what I was supposed to be learning and very little time is given to teaching me techniques for learning it. Children, in particular, are given little variation in terms of learning techniques when they are at school, and this results in young people and adults who have a minimal understanding of their own optimal learning strategies (Meltzer et al, 2007). I had not even heard of the term EF until I was diagnosed with my chronic illness at 21, and was struggling to explain difficulties I was having with planning activities that I had previously had no issue with.

EFs “develop slowly, reaching maturity only after nearly three decades.” (Moraine, 2012). This means that if the how of learning is not illustrated very early on in a child’s education, their development of EFs in terms of learning will likely be underdeveloped. Leading to Executive Dysfunction (EDF) e.g.: poor time management, lack of planning, procrastination and a subsequent loss of self-esteem as students struggle to manage tasks in the classroom and beyond.

“…a large gap separates the skills and strategies taught in school from the executive function processes needed for success there and in the workplace. Both these settings now require individuals to take greater responsibility for their independent learning and to organize and integrate an ever-changing body of information that is available through the Internet and other web-based media.”

Meltzer, L Executive Function in Education: from Theory to Practice (2007)

In people who have learning difficulties, mental health difficulties, chronic illness or disabilities or who are neurodivergent EDF becomes a serious barrier to learning that in my experience goes unnoticed, particularly in Higher Education (HE). For example, it is widely recognised that dyslexic people may need extra help or alternative teaching and learning methodologies when it comes to reading and writing, but it is not noted that EDF can often come as a “package deal” with people who are neurodivergent (Meltzer et al 2007). Consequently, support is hyper-focussed on this aspect of their learning difficulty (the what), while their EDF (the how) remains a puzzle to be solved. Additionally, EDF can be very isolating, and students who are already disabled may have negative self-esteem as a result of ableism they may have experienced from teachers. This lack of understanding around EDF could lead disabled students, in particular, to isolate further and blame themselves for their procrastination behaviours or poor time management. Negative self-image is a major contributor to EDF, procrastination in particular (Steel 2007) & (Fridén 2020).

Worth noting at this point is that I do not necessarily agree with the term EDF, as describing anyone let alone people who are already disabled as ‘dysfunctional’ feels highly ableist to me. However, for lack of better terminology at this point, and also for consistency with the texts I am referencing, I have decided to continue using it.

The EDF Family

Understanding how EDF manifests is crucial to providing support for students who experience it. Difficulties with EF are closely related to self-regulation, the conscious and non-conscious processes that enable individuals to guide their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours purposefully (Kelley et al., 2019). Our ability to self-regulate directly impacts how well we use our EF skills and apply them to tasks that need to be done (Fridén, 2020). If a student is procrastinating, it means that their ability to self-regulate, to monitor their behaviour in the present in relation to their long-term goals, is impaired or has failed altogether. They are experiencing self-regulation failure. Specific EFs that relate to self-regulation failure are:

• Inhibition  – the ability to control one’s behaviour and override a strong temptation to do something if it interferes with a long term goal.
• Updating– (aka working memory) the ability to keep information in mind and work with it despite distractions or other factors demanding attention.
• Shifting – (aka cognitive flexibility) the ability to switch between tasks and perspectives and maintain focus.

(See my blog Memes, Infographics and Twitter threads for a more comprehensive breakdown of self-regulation failure.)

In short, procrastination is a form of self-regulation failure, which is closely related EDF (Fridén 2020). Although my project does centre on procrastination, the wider understanding of this behaviour encompasses other traits consistent with EF/EDF (time-management, goal setting, organisation, planning), and that is why I think it is important to address them all in my project moving forward. Gaining a better understanding of one kind of EDF, could potentially have a domino effect for other kinds when I am conducting my research and teaching.

Cultural Contributions

Bibliography

Moraine, P., 2012. Helping students take control of everyday executive functions. Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Meltzer, L., 2018. Executive Function In Education: From Theory To Practice. 2nd ed. New York, London: The Guilford Press.

Kelley, N. J., Gallucci, A., Riva, P., Romero Lauro, L. J., & Schmeichel, B. J. (2019). Stimulating self-regulation: A review of non-invasive brain stimulation studies of goal-directed behaviour. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 12(337), 1–20. doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00337

Fridén, I., 2020 Procrastination as a Form of Self-Regulation Failure. [online] Available at:
<https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1446687/FULLTEXT01.pdf>

Executive function image 2: https://www.learningsuccessblog.com/8-key-executive-functions-infograph

Executive function image 1:https://ldaamerica.org/info/the-reading-brain-executive-function-hard-at-work/

Roos, E. L., Beuchamp, G. K., Flannery, J., Fisher, A. P. (2017) ‘Cultural Contributions to Childhood Executive Function’, Journal of Cognition and Culture, ed Mikkola, C.