What are Executive Function ”cognitive control” skills and why are they so important?

Self-Control Skills

 

When there is a skill weakness in the executive function skill category it impacts learning and overall ability to achieve goals. It is important to identify in which skills group in this category is impacted in order to have a targeted equipping. Typically executive function skills are viewed as organizational and planning abilities. This skill group encompasses several mental processes that impact overall learning and social competency and is not limited to just organization and planning. We will define this skill group in detail.  In the process this will expand your understanding and assist you in improving you skill set in this area. 

Cognitive (Self) Control "Executive Function" to Build

Executive Function is a set of mental processes that have to do with managing oneself and one's resources in order to achieve a goal and involves mental control and self-regulation (Jericho, 2012);

Working memory: holding information in mind while performing tasks

Cognitive flexibility: to move freely from one situation to another and to think flexibly in order to respond appropriately to the situation (adapt)

• • helps us to sustain or shift attention in response to different demands or to apply different rules in different settings

Inhibitory control (includes self-control)  the ability to stop one’s own behavior at the appropriate time, including stopping actions and thoughts

• • enables us to set priorities and resist impulsive actions or responses

Executive skills resulting from the above three processes (Rodden, 2020) :

• attention/focus: is sustained attention is the ability to maintain attention despite distractibility, fatigue or boredom
• abstract reasoning/concept formation/saliency determination: the ability to make connections, synthesize and categorize information.
• emotional regulation/control is the process of recognizing and controlling feelings or reactions to feelings (ability to modulate emotional responses by bringing rational thought to bear on feelings)
• self-monitoring is the ability to monitor and evaluate your own performance and to measure it against some standard of what is needed or expected
• task initiation is the ability to recognize when to get started on something and begin without procrastinating
  • organization is the ability to create and maintain systems to keep track information and materials
  • planning/prioritizing the ability to create steps to reach a goal and to make decisions about what to focus

Thank you for listening please visit us at www.socialmindcenter.com for different skill notebook pages. 

Work Cited

Rodden, Janice. What is Executive Function Disorder? Additudemag. May 11, 2020; https://www.additudemag.com/what-is-executive-function-disorder-

Jericho Schools. August, 2012. Executive Functioning: A Handbook for Grades K-12; http://www.jerichoschools.org/