Executive Functions in Social Context: Implications for Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Supporting Developmental Trajectories

A developmental perspective on mind wandering and its relation to goal-directed thought

Mind wandering (i.e., thoughts drifting from one topic to another, with no immediate connection to the perceptual field or the ongoing task) is a widespread cognitive phenomenon. There has been increasing research interest in mind wandering in children and adolescents. However, the developmental origins of this phenomenon remain largely unknown. In the present article, I summarize the purported cognitive mechanisms of mind wandering in adults and review the empirical findings on mind wandering and automatic memory retrieval in children and adolescents. I propose a comprehensive account of the emergence of mind wandering in early and middle childhood, covering the development of its central components identified in the adult literature: motivational and emotional processes, episodic and semantic processes, perceptual decoupling, and meta-awareness. Paying special attention to the roles of developing motivation and executive control, I then address the relationship between mind wandering and goal-directed thought in children.

Foraging and inertia: Understanding the developmental dynamics of overt visual attention

During early life, we develop the ability to choose what we focus on and what we ignore, allowing us to regulate perception and action in complex environments. But how does this change influence how we spontaneously allocate attention to real-world objects during free behaviour? Here, in this narrative review, we examine this question by considering the time dynamics of spontaneous overt visual attention, and how these develop through early life. Even in early childhood, visual attention shifts occur both periodically and aperiodically. These reorientations become more internally controlled as development progresses. Increasingly with age, attention states also develop self-sustaining attractor dynamics, known as attention inertia, in which the longer an attention episode lasts, the more the likelihood increases of its continuing. These self-sustaining dynamics are driven by amplificatory interactions between engagement, comprehension, and distractibility. We consider why experimental measures show decline in sustained attention over time, while real-world visual attention often demonstrates the opposite pattern. Finally, we discuss multi-stable attention states, where both hypo-arousal (mind-wandering) and hyper-arousal (fragmentary attention) may also show self-sustaining attractor dynamics driven by moment-by-moment amplificatory child-environment interactions; and we consider possible applications of this work, and future directions.

Cognitive abilities in a sample of young Swedish children

Cognitive abilities are closely related to social emotional competences (SEC). These abilities are important foundations in order to adapt to school, interact with peers and adults, as well as to navigate the wider socio-cultural context in which one develops. Further, young children are also acquiring and deepening their language and preliteracy skills which are important for later academic learning. Central to cognitive abilities are the processes that enable deliberate and goal-oriented actions, which fall under the conceptual umbrella of executive functions (EFs). In this study, we applied a conceptually broad perspective to examine cognitive abilities, preliteracy and SEC in preschool aged children. Children were participants in an intervention trial of the preschool edition of Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS®) conducted in preschools located in three municipalities within a large city in Sweden. Pre-test data were used to examine cognitive abilities and SEC in this sample of Swedish 4 to 5-year-old children (N = 247). We first performed an exploratory factor analysis including the wide range of examined abilities, and found that measures of abilities typically viewed as SEC, did not group with measures of preliteracy skills and abilities typically considered as EFs. Second, we performed confirmatory factor analyses on remaining relevant indicators of cognitive abilities, which indicated a two-factor model best fit the data, with one factor involving inhibitory control and one factor involving more complex and high-demanding skills (working memory, cognitive flexibility, and preliteracy skills). Results indicated that more complex EFs and preliteracy skills were closely linked, and can be differentiated from inhibitory control, already in the preschool years. Findings also point to the importance of including a broad range of cognitive abilities (e.g., pre-literacy skills) in order to gain a nuanced description of possible interrelations between cognitive and social emotional development. Furthermore, this study contributes to the theoretical discussion on EF structure during childhood, and provides a sound empirical rationale for the further development of early interventions that consider young children's executive functions and preliteracy skills.

The power of cultural habits: The role of effortless control in delaying gratification

What factors lead children to delay gratification, holding out for larger rewards later instead of taking smaller rewards now? Traditionally, delay of gratification has been associated with effortful control and willpower. However, we propose that delay of gratification may be partially supported by effortless control employed through habits shaped within sociocultural contexts. Specifically, in sociocultural contexts where waiting is rewarding and socially valued, children are more likely to wait for larger, delayed rewards and to form associations between these contexts and waiting for rewards. These acquired habits enable waiting for rewards without requiring substantial cognitive effort. Based on this novel framework, we reconsider why childhood delay of gratification predicts life outcomes, and the role of cognitive, social, and cultural factors.

Influence of competition on motor inhibitory control: Evidence from a go/no-go task

The present experiment examined how individuals' motor response execution and inhibition - as measured by a Go/No-Go (GNG) task - is modulated by social influence arising from competition. We found that participants in a competition group responded significantly faster to frequently occurring Go stimuli than those in a control group, while no between-group difference in accuracy was found. This indicates that competition leads participants to favor a response strategy of maximizing the speed of prepotent motor response execution without sacrificing accuracy. In addition, participants in the competition group committed significantly more errors to infrequently occurring No-Go stimuli than those in the control group. Together, these findings suggest that competition speeds up prepotent motor response execution, which comes at the cost of reduced prepotent response inhibition. Furthermore, increased errors in prepotent response inhibition due to competition correlated positively with self-reported trait competitiveness and trait motor impulsivity, identifying the link between personality traits and competition-induced attenuation of inhibition efficiency. Our signal detection analysis revealed that these behavioral effects can be attributed to a combination of a pronounced tendency to respond in general to both Go stimuli and No-Go stimuli, as evidenced by increased response bias (C), and reduced discrimination of No-Go stimuli from Go stimuli, as indexed by decreased sensitivity (d'). Our experiment offers novel insights into how motor control is modulated by engaging in competition.

Child's Externalizing and Internalizing Problems and Caregiver Strain: Mediation of Child's Executive Functions

The aim of the study is to explore the role of child's executive functions in the relation between child's externalizing and internalizing problems and caregiver strain in early school age children. The caregiver strain refers to providing nurture and care for a dependent family member. A sample includes 175 caregiver-child dyads and 36 school teachers. Participants completed the Family Strain Index which measures caregiver strain or burden (caregivers), the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire which measures child's externalizing and internalizing problems (teachers), and behavioral tasks that measure executive functions (children). Using structural equation modelling, the analysis resulted in a full mediation of the child's externalizing problems on the caregiver strain by child's executive functions. However, the association of child's internalizing problems with caregiver strain has not been confirmed. These results indicate that better child's executive functions buffer the negative effect of child's externalizing problems on caregiver perceived burden. Based on these results, we can suggest that interventions should be focused on programmes to improve the child's executive functions in the family and educational context, along with caregiver training aimed at providing emotional and social support, or individual therapy.

From childhood maltreatment to intimate partner violence perpetration: A prospective longitudinal examination of the roles of executive functioning and self-esteem

BACKGROUND

Previous research has found that childhood maltreatment predicts increased risk for violence and partner violence and there is some evidence for poorer executive functioning and low self-esteem. To date, there have been no longitudinal studies that have examined the extent to which executive functioning and self-esteem play a role in the relationship between child maltreatment and intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration.

METHODS

This study aims to fill this gap by utilizing data from a prospective longitudinal study of children with documented court cases of abuse and neglect (ages 0-11 years) from a metropolitan county area in the Midwest (during the years 1967-1971) and demographically matched controls. Both maltreated individuals and matched controls were followed up and assessed over several waves of the study in young and middle adulthood. At mean age 39 years, inhibition and cognitive control were evaluated, while cognitive flexibility and nonverbal reasoning were assessed at mean age 41. Self-esteem was also assessed at mean age 41. Physical IPV perpetration was evaluated at age 47 using two different scoring strategies in separate models: the number of acts and variety of acts, ensuring avoidance of potential score skewness.

RESULTS

Childhood maltreatment predicted lower executive functioning and self-esteem, and both independently predicted intimate partner violence perpetration. Lower executive functioning and self-esteem mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and physical IPV perpetration in midlife, irrespective of the scoring method.

CONCLUSION

Findings suggest that executive functioning and self-esteem play a role in the cycle of violence. Implications and suggestions for future directions are discussed.

What's Next? Advances and Challenges in Understanding How Environmental Predictability Shapes the Development of Cognitive Control

Forming predictions about what will happen next in the world happens early in development, without instruction, and across species. Some environments support more accurate predictions. These more predictable environments also support what appear to be positive developmental trajectories, including increases in cognitive control over thoughts and actions. Such consequences of predictable environments have broad-reaching implications for society and have been explained across ecological, psychological, computational, and neural frameworks. However, many challenges remain in understanding the effects of environmental predictability, including adaptive responses to unpredictable environments and the mechanisms underlying the effects of predictable environments on developmental trajectories. Future work addressing different dimensions of predictability -- across time scales, locations, actions, people, and outcomes -- and their interactions will advance the ability to understand, predict, and support developmental trajectories.

The trajectory of maternal perinatal depressive symptoms predicts executive function in early childhood

BACKGROUND

Perinatal maternal depression may affect fetal neurodevelopment directly or indirectly via exposures such as smoking, alcohol, or antidepressant use. The relative contribution of these risk factors on child executive function (EF) has not been explored systematically.

METHODS

A prospective pregnancy cohort of 197 women and their children was studied to determine whether maternal depression diagnosis and the trajectory of maternal depressive symptoms (MDSs) from early pregnancy to 12 months postpartum predicts child EF at age 4 (measured using the preschool age psychiatric assessment, NEPSY-II, and Shape School task) using latent growth curve modeling. Indirect effects of smoking, alcohol, and antidepressant use were also formally tested.

RESULTS

Increasing maternal perinatal depressive symptoms over time predicted more inattentive symptoms, poorer switching, and motor inhibition, but not cognitive inhibition. When adjusted for multiple comparison, and after accounting for maternal cognition and education, the association with child inattentive symptoms remained significant. However, diagnosed depression did not predict child EF outcomes. Prenatal exposure to smoking, alcohol, and antidepressants also did not mediate pathways from depressive symptoms to EF outcomes. Our findings were limited by sample size and statistical power to detect outcome effects of smaller effect size.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that increasing MDSs over the perinatal period is associated with poorer EF outcomes in children at age 4 - independent of prenatal smoking, drinking, or antidepressant use. Depressive chronicity, severity, and postpartum influences may play crucial roles in determining childhood outcomes of EF.

Mommy, Can I Play Outside? How Urban Design Influences Parental Attitudes on Play

Although play results in physical, social, and cognitive benefits, there is a consensus that children's opportunities to play have been reduced, particularly for those who live in urban environments. What are the barriers to play, and how can we mitigate them? This review examines a critical factor in play opportunities: parents as the decision-makers with regard to children's play. Using perspectives from psychology, urban design, and cognitive science, we analyze the relationships between the design of built environments, parental attitudes and beliefs, and parental decisions on allowing children to play. For example, can a new implementation of children-centered urban design change parents' skeptical attitude toward play? By drawing from global studies, we chart (1) the three key beliefs of parents regarding play and built environments: play should benefit learning, be safe, and match the child's competence and (2) the design principles that can foster these beliefs: learning, social, and progressive challenge designs. By making the link between parents, urban design, and play explicit, this paper aims to inform parents, educators, policymakers, urban planners, and architects on the evidence-based measures for creating and increasing opportunities to play.

Why doesn't executive function training improve academic achievement? Rethinking individual differences, relevance, and engagement from a contextual framework

Performance on lab assessments of executive functions predicts academic achievement and other positive life outcomes. A primary goal of research on executive functions has been to design interventions that improve outcomes like academic achievement by improving executive functions. These interventions typically involve extensive practice on abstract lab-based tasks and lead to improvements on these practiced tasks. However, interventions rarely improve performance on non-practiced tasks and rarely benefit outcomes like academic achievement. Contemporary frameworks of executive function development suggest that executive functions develop and are engaged within personal, social, historical, and cultural contexts. Abstract lab-based tasks do not well-capture the real-world contexts that require executive functions and should not be expected to provide generalized benefits outside of the lab. We propose a perspective for understanding individual differences in performance on executive function assessments that focuses on contextual influences on executive functions. We extend this contextual approach to training executive function engagement, rather than training executive functions directly. First, interventions should incorporate task content that is contextually relevant to the targeted outcome. Second, interventions should encourage engaging executive functions through reinforcement and contextual relevance, which may better translate to real-world outcomes than training executive functions directly. While such individualized executive functions interventions do not address systemic factors that greatly impact outcomes like academic achievement, given the extensive resources devoted to improving executive functions, we hypothesize that interventions designed to encourage children's engagement of executive functions hold more promise for impacting real-world outcomes than interventions designed to improve executive function capacities.

Assessing Inhibitory Control in the Real World Is Virtually Possible: A Virtual Reality Demonstration

Executive functions are the key ingredient for behaviour regulation. Among them, inhibitory control is one of the main exponents of executive functions, and in the last decades, it has received a good amount of attention thanks to the development of chronometric tasks associated with paradigms that allow exploring human behaviour when the inhibitory component is needed. Among the different paradigms typically used, the Simon and flanker tasks are probably the most popular ones. These have been subjected to modifications in order to assess inhibitory control from different perspectives (e.g., in different samples or in combination with different research techniques). However, its use has been relegated to classical presentation modalities within laboratory settings. The accessibility of virtual reality (VR) technology has opened new research avenues to investigate inhibition control with a high ecological validity while retaining tightly controlled lab conditions and good measurement accuracy. We present two cutting-edge modifications of the standard Simon and flanker tasks that have been adapted to real-world settings using VR and human-like avatars as target stimuli. Our findings show that virtual reality is a credible tool for testing inhibitory control with a high degree of transferability and generalizability to the real world.

Dimensional label learning contributes to the development of executive functions

A key to understanding how the brain develops is to understand how learning can change brain function. One index of learning that takes place in early childhood involves the comprehension and production of labels describing the shape and color features of objects, a process known as dimensional label learning (DLL). DLL requires integrating auditory and visual stimuli to form a system of mappings that link label representations (e.g. "red" and "color") and visual feature representations (e.g. "red" and the hue red). Children gain expertise with these labels between the ages of 2 and 5 years, and at the same time they begin to demonstrate skills in using labels to guide cognitive function in other domains. For example, one of the hallmark measures of executive function development requires children to use verbally instructed rules to guide attention to visual dimensions. The broader impact of DLL, however, has not yet been explored. Here, we examine how the neural processes associated with the comprehension and production of labels for visual features predicts later performance on executive function tasks. Specifically, we show that left frontal cortex is activated during comprehension and production tasks at 33 months of age. Moreover, we find that neural activation in this region during label production at 33 months is associated with dimensional attention, but not spatial selective attention, at 45 months. These results shed new light on the role of label learning in developmental changes in brain and behavior. Moreover, these data suggest that dimensional label learning generalizes beyond the learned information to influence other aspects of cognition. We anticipate that these results may serve as a starting point for future work to implement label training as an intervention to influence later cognition.

Differential Predictive Effect of Self-Regulation Behavior and the Combination of Self- vs. External Regulation Behavior on Executive Dysfunctions and Emotion Regulation Difficulties, in University Students

The aim of this research was to establish linear relations (association and prediction) and inferential relations between three constructs at different levels of psychological research - executive dysfunction (microanalysis), self-regulation (molecular level), and self- vs. external regulation (molar level), in the prediction of emotion regulation difficulties. We hypothesized that personal and contextual regulatory factors would be negatively related to levels of executive dysfunction and emotion regulation difficulties; by way of complement, non-regulatory and dysregulatory personal, and contextual factors would be positively related to these same difficulties. To establish relationships, we used a retrospective, ex post facto design, where 298 university students voluntarily participated by completing standardized self-reports. Linear and structural correlational, predictive analyses were performed, as well as inferential analyses. Results were consistent and validated the proposed hypotheses, for both association and prediction. The most important result refers to the discriminant value of the five-level combination heuristic for predicting Executive Function and External (contextual) Dys-Regulation. In conclusion: (1) both personal and contextual regulation factors must be analyzed in order to better understand the variation in executive functions and emotion regulation difficulties; (2) it is important to continue connecting the different levels of the constructs referring to self-regulation, given their complementary role in the behavioral analysis of regulation difficulties.