Executive Functions. By Tracey Tokuhama. November 2014

Executive Functions
Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D.
Harvard University, Psych 1609
Week 12, November 2014
1

Today’s focus
¤  Executive Functions
¤  Confirm definitions and characteristics
¤  Five Premises
¤  Development and Training
¤  Relationship to “self-regulation,” “emotional control,” and
“Theory of Mind”
2

Definitions and perceived
mechanisms from two perspectives:
¤  Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
¤  Adele Diamond
3

Definition (Center for the Developing
Child, 2011)
Center for the Developing Child, 2011, p.4
4

Definition (Diamond, 2013)
Diamond, 2013, p.135
5

Quick reply on chat: Benefits and
stability
¤  What are the benefits of well-developed Efs (for the
individual, for society)?
¤  Are EFs stable, or do they fluctuate (over time)? (hint:
Dynamic Skills Theory)
8

Benefits of well-developed EFs
Better:
¤  Creativity and flexibility
(Diamond video): Cognitive
flexibility
¤  Self-control: Inhibitory control
(selective attention)
¤  Discipline and perseverance
¤  Working memory
9

Stability of EFs
¤  EFs change over the lifespan
and developmental stages,
over emotional states, due to
new experiences.
¤  Dynamic Skills Theory
11

Five Key Premises (1 of 5)
1.  Executive function skills do not develop automatically
(Diamond, 2013, p.136) and take effort to mature and
improve.
12

2.  “Executive functions (EFs; e.g., reasoning, working
memory, and self-control) can be improved” (Diamond,
2012, p.335)
13

3.  “EFs need to be progressively challenged as children improve
and that repeated practice is key” (Diamond, 2012, p.335)
¤  Expertise leads to reduced use
Diamond video (mins 40-41)
14

4.  Executive function skills help lay the foundation for not
only academic achievement, but also for general well-
being.
¤  “EFs are critical for school and job success and for
mental and physical health” (Diamond, 2012, p.335)
15

Do EFs mean that “multi-tasking”
really does exist?
“As adults, our capacities to
multitask, to display self-
control, to follow multiple-step
directions even when
interrupted, and to stay
focused on what we are doing
despite ever-present
distractions are what
undergird the deliberate,
intentional, goal-directed
behavior that is required for
daily life and success at work.”
Center for the Developing Child, 2011, p.1
What appears to be multi-
tasking is really extended
working memory capacity.
Rosen, 2008.
16

“Multi-tasking does not exist”
¤  Rosen, C. (2008). The myth of multitasking. The New
Atlantis, 20, 105–110.
¤  Deprez, S., Vandenbulcke, M., Peeters, R., Emsell, L.,
Amant, F., & Sunaert, S. (2013). The functional
neuroanatomy of multitasking: Combining dual tasking
with a short term memory task. Neuropsychologia, 51(11),
2251–2260.
Diamond, 2013, p.22)
17

5.  EFs travel similar circuits as neural networks related to
emotion (involving the frontal lobes).
¤  This means that “EFs and prefrontal cortex are the first to
suffer and suffer disproportionately if you are stressed, sad,
lonely, or not physically fit” (Diamond, 2013, p.22).
Also see Arnsten, 2009, Stress signalling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and function
18

American Physiological Society, Review of Executive Function Networks, 2014
You would need to
overlap:
1.  Attention
networks +
2.  Working memory
networks +
3.  Decision-making
networks +
4.  Emotional
pathways +
5.  ?
Difficulty mapping EFs because…?
19

Quick reply on chat:
Development and training
¤  Can EFs be improved? If so, how?
20

Exercise, rehearsal and foreign
languages: In favor of EFs?
We now are able to perform brain scans of people as they improve their
executive functions by
¤  doing exercises to boost their working memory (e.g., McCabe, Roediger,
McDaniel, Balota, & Hambrick, 2010);
¤  increase inhibitory skills (e.g., Munakata, Herd, Chatham, & Depue, 2011);
and
¤  improve mental flexibility (e.g., Meltzer, 2011), all sub-elements of executive
functions.
Other studies measure how executive functions are improved as people
¤  learn a foreign language, for example. Great pioneers in this field include
Ellen Bialystok (Bialystok, 2011a; Bialystok & Feng, 2009; Bialystok &
Viswanathan, 2009; Luk, de Sa, & Bialystok, 2011; Pouin-Dubois, Blayne,
Coutya, & Bialystok, 2011), Andrew Meltzoff (Carlson & Meltzoff, 2008), and
J. Bruce Morton (2007, 2010), whose work, along with that of others (e.g.,
Rodriguez-Fornells, DeDiego Balaguer, & Münte, 2006), has established the
link between foreign languages and executive functions.
Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2014, p.21
21

Successful interventions include:
¤  “The best evidence exists for computer-based training,
traditional martial arts, and two school curricula.
¤  “Weaker evidence, though strong enough to pass peer
review, exists for aerobics, yoga, mindfulness, and other
school curricula” (Diamond, 2012, p.335)
22

Quick reply on chat: Relationship
between EFs, emotional intelligence,
self-regulation (Theory of Mind)
1.  What is the difference between
Emotional Intelligence and
Executive Functions?
2.  What is the relationship between
EFs and well-being, performance
and achievement?
3.  How are EFs, EI and Theory of
Mind (Week 14) related?
23

Self-regulation and its relationship to
EFs
¤  “A sub-area of executive functions is self-regulation. Self-
regulation and it neural substraits have been studied by
neuroscientists for some time (Tops, Boksem, Luu, & Tucker,
2010).
¤  Self-regulation is considered to be directly related to inhibitory
control and other executive functions in the brain (Berger,
2011), and is a fundamental element in school success
(Morrison, Ponitz & McClelland, 2010).”
24

Self-regulation and its relationship to EFs
¤  “According to neuroscientists, self-regulation is something
learned early in development (Rothbart, Sheese, Rueda &
Posner, 2011), that should be habituated over the life span
(Costa & Kallick, 2009), and can be improved upon through
simple biofeedback exercises (Zotev, Krueger, Phillips, Alvarez,
Simmons, Bellgowan, P., ... & Bodurka, 2011).
¤  “This means that while better learned early in life, self-
regulation can be improved upon throughout the life span.
¤  “One of the primary indicators for young learners relates and
school readiness to self-regulation (Ursache, Blair & Raver,
2012), which is also one of the key factors in long-term
academic success (Zimmerman & Schunk, 2013).”
25

How do emotional states
influence proper EFs?
¤  “Stress can make
us look like we
have
ADHD” (Diamond
video, min 25.39)
27

Quick reply on chat: What do we
need to improve the chances of
developing EFs? (Consequences
if we don’t?)
¤  What are the consequences of inadequate systems to
develop EFs?
28

Consequences of current school
systems and training programs
¤  How well do school systems and training programs enhance
EF development?
¤  Understand why a school curriculum that ignores children's
emotional, social, or physical needs may find that those unmet
needs work against achievement of academic goals
¤  Understand the potential importance of play, dance, music,
martial arts, and youth circus for the development of executive
functions.
¤  Do we have daily spaces to develop EFs in our own lives?
29

3-2-1
1.  Three things you learned.
2.  Two things you will share.
3.  One thing you will change.
30

Contact:
Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D.
Universidad de las Américas
ttokuhama@udla.edu.ec
35

Executive Functions. By Tracey Tokuhama. November 2014

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