A Dynamical Reconceptualization of Executive-Function Development
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21786396 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sammy Perone (0000-0002-2350-3976, Washington State University, corresponding author), Vanessa R Simmering (0000-0002-7559-1736, Madison, Wisconsin), Aaron T Buss (0000-0001-6937-4834, University of Tennessee at Knoxville) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 1198-1208 |
| Publication date | 2021-11-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Perspectives on Psychological Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1745-6916 • E-ISSN: 1745-6924 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1745691620966792 |
| PMID | 33593126 |
| OpenAlex | W3129972140 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 63 |
Executive function plays a foundational role in everyday behaviors across the life span. The theoretical understanding of executive-function development, however, is still a work in progress. Doebel proposed that executive-function development reflects skills using control in the service of behavior—using mental content such as knowledge and beliefs to guide behavior in a context-specific fashion. This liberating view contrasts with modular views of executive function. This new view resembles some older dynamic-systems concepts that long ago proposed that behavior reflects the assembly of multiple pieces in context. We dig into this resemblance and evaluate what else dynamic-systems theory adds to the understanding of executive-function development. We describe core dynamic-systems concepts and apply them to executive function—as conceptualized by Doebel—and through this lens explain the multilevel nature of goal-directed behavior and how a capacity to behave in a goal-directed fashion across contexts emerges over development. We then describe a dynamic systems model of goal-directed behavior during childhood and, finally, address broader theoretical implications of dynamic-systems theory and propose new translational implications for fostering children’s capacity to behave in a goal-directed fashion across everyday contexts
Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Cognitive science · Epistemology · Everyday life · Child and Animal Learning Development · Early Childhood Education and Development · Educational and Psychological Assessments · Neuroscience · Psychology
Working memory development
The effects of reward on children’s Stroop performance
Links between socioeconomic position and cognitive and behavioral regulation in adolescence
Memory Contributions to the Development of Cognitive Flexibility in Childhood
Bidirectional relationships between emotion understanding and executive functions in young children
Improving executive function during toddlerhood
Reliability of a child self-regulation measure within intensive longitudinal designs
The tourist metasafety framework (TMF)
Socioeconomic Status and Childhood Executive Function
A Dynamic Systems Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action
Focus on variability
Working Memory Training Does Not Improve Performance on Measures of Intelligence or Other Measures of “Far Transfer”
The Promise of Dynamic Systems Approaches for an Integrated Account of Human Development
An age-related dissociation between knowing rules and using them
Relating Effortful Control, Executive Function, and False Belief Understanding to Emerging Math and Literacy Ability in Kindergarten
Conclusions about interventions, programs, and approaches for improving executive functions that appear justified and those that, despite much hype, do not
The dynamics of embodiment
Development as a dynamic system
The Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS)
A gradient of childhood self-control predicts health, wealth, and public safety
Rethinking Executive Function and Its Development
Executive function
Relations between inhibitory control and the development of academic skills in preschool and kindergarten
The Dynamic Development of Gender Variability
The Unity and Diversity of Executive Functions and Their Contributions to Complex “Frontal Lobe” Tasks
A meta-analysis of the experimental evidence on the near- and far-transfer effects among children's executive function skills
| Citations per year | 2.25 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Highly cited | No |