![]() We can also choose voluntarily to ignore (or inhibit attention to) particular stimuli and attend to others based on our goal or intention. That is called exogenous, bottom-up, automatic, stimulus-driven, or involuntary attention and is driven by properties of stimuli themselves ( Posner & DiGirolamo 1998, Theeuwes 1991). A salient stimulus such as visual motion or a loud noise attracts our attention whether we want it to or not. We need such selective attention at a cocktail party when we want to screen out all but one voice. Inhibitory control of attention (interference control at the level of perception) enables us to selectively attend, focusing on what we choose and suppressing attention to other stimuli. It can also save us from making fools of ourselves. Indeed, we usually are creatures of habit and our behavior is under the control of environmental stimuli far more than we usually realize, but having the ability to exercise inhibitory control creates the possibility of change and choice. Thus, inhibitory control makes it possible for us to change and for us to choose how we react and how we behave rather than being unthinking creatures of habit. Without inhibitory control we would be at the mercy of impulses, old habits of thought or action (conditioned responses), and/or stimuli in the environment that pull us this way or that. Inhibitory control (one of the core EFs) involves being able to control one’s attention, behavior, thoughts, and/or emotions to override a strong internal predisposition or external lure, and instead do what’s more appropriate or needed. Poor EFs lead to social problems (including crime, recklessīehavior, violence, and emotional outbursts) Less dependable, and/or more likely to act on impulse Poor EFs lead to poor productivity and difficulty finding andĪ partner with poor EFs can be more difficult to get along with, People with better EFs enjoy a better quality of lifeĮFs are more important for school readiness than are IQ orĮFs predict both math and reading competence throughout the Poorer EFs are associated with obesity, overeating, substanceĬrescioni et al. The ways in which EFs are relevant to that aspect of lifeĮFs are impaired in many mental disorders, including: EFs are skills essential for mental and physical health success in school and in life and cognitive, social, and psychological development (see Table 1). From these, higher-order EFs are built such as reasoning, problem solving, and planning ( Collins & Koechlin 2012, Lunt et al. 2000): inhibition, working memory (WM), and cognitive flexibility (also called set shifting, mental flexibility, or mental set shifting and closely linked to creativity). There is general agreement that there are three core EFs (e.g., Lehto et al. Using EFs is effortful it is easier to continue doing what you have been doing than to change, it is easier to give into temptation than to resist it, and it is easier to go on “automatic pilot” than to consider what to do next. That EFs are trainable and can be improved with practice is addressed, including diverse methods tried thus far.Įxecutive functions (EFs also called executive control or cognitive control) refer to a family of top-down mental processes needed when you have to concentrate and pay attention, when going on automatic or relying on instinct or intuition would be ill-advised, insufficient, or impossible ( Burgess & Simons 2005, Espy 2004, Miller & Cohen 2001). The importance of social, emotional, and physical health for cognitive health is discussed because stress, lack of sleep, loneliness, or lack of exercise each impair EFs. Controversies are addressed (e.g., the relation between EFs and fluid intelligence, self-regulation, executive attention, and effortful control, and the relation between working memory and inhibition and attention). The developmental progression and representative measures of each are discussed. Core EFs are inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility (including creatively thinking “outside the box,” seeing anything from different perspectives, and quickly and flexibly adapting to changed circumstances). Executive functions (EFs) make possible mentally playing with ideas taking the time to think before acting meeting novel, unanticipated challenges resisting temptations and staying focused.
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