L5 Typical Executive Function Development Flashcards
What is executive function?
The set of processes that underline the ability to control our thought and actions
It is an effortless, top down process
Goal directed
Includes: shifting, updating and inhibition
What is updating in the working memory?
Holding important information and manipulating it in your head accordingly
Real life - mental shopping list, mental arithmetic
In the lab - digit span, spatial span
What is inhibition in the working memory?
Ignoring distracting information or suppressing unwanted responses
Real life - stopping yourself reach for the chocolate
In the lab - go/no-go task, stoop paradigm
What is cognitive flexibility in the working memory?
Responding to the same thing in different ways depending on the context
Real life - multiple passwords
In the lab - card sort test, task-switching paradigm
What age do children develop cognitive control?
First signs at 8-9 months (Piaget lion task)
Consolidated at 12 months
What is Piaget’s lions task?
Find the lion when it is moved to a new location
Use working memory and inhibition to remember where the toy was hidden and where it gets moved to
As they get older they can remember where it was hidden over a longer period of time
How do children perform on the Spin the Pots task?
Find the sticker and remember which pots have already been checked
Less errors when you get older between 2-4 years
How do they test pre-schoolers for inhibition?
Day night stroop task
Performance improves between 4.5 and 6 years
There is a struggle with inhibiting the natural response
How do they test pre-schoolers for shifting?
Dimensional change card sort
Colour game and chape game
This is even difficult for adults
Dramatic improvements between 3 and 4 years
What are the challenges and outstanding questions about the development of EF?
EF are hard to isolate from other processes
The same task can’t be used for all ages
We are still a long way from understanding what drives the changes
How does EF differ across cultures?
Motivation and Compliance
Interpersonal engagement
Contextualised vs academic thinking
Cultural notions of speed and time
Willingness to be silly
Subject-mater familiarity
What is the traditional view for the neural basis of EF?
Executive function is associated with the frontal lobes
Frontal lobe damage produces dysexecutive syndrome
What is the modern view of the neural basis of EF?
Deficits in cognitive control can occur because of:
- lesions or underdevelopment of brain structures or pathways involved in the circuits
- abnormal neurotransmitter activity within the circuits
How does grey matter develop?
Prefrontal cortex: latest to undergo synaptogenesis (2-4 years)
Synaptic pruning until early adulthood - strengthening of relevant connections
Number of brain cells do not change from birth, connections between cells increase
White matter dramatically increases, apers off in 20s
How does connectivity change during brain development?
Reduction in the number of short distance connections and increase in the number of long distance brain connections
