A Developmental Perspective on Executive Function

By J. Best, P. H. Miller. Child Development, 2010

2,445 citations recorded by the source corpus.

This review paper examines theoretical and methodological issues in the construction of a developmental perspective on executive function (EF) in childhood and adolescence. Unlike most reviews of EF, which focus on preschoolers, this review focuses on studies that include large age ranges. It outlines the development of the foundational components of EF—inhibition, working memory, and shifting. Cognitive and neurophysiological assessments show that although EF emerges during the first few years of life, it continues to strengthen significantly throughout childhood and adolescence. The components vary somewhat in their developmental trajectories. The paper relates the findings to longstanding issues of development (e.g., developmental sequences, trajectories, and processes) and suggests research needed for constructing a developmental framework encompassing early childhood through adolescence.

Subfields: Developmental and Educational Psychology, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Statistics and Probability

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/49637661662f84a9b6950bd5cf526f4d1d22d98f

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In Developmental and Educational Psychology

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Citations in the corpus

The Relationship Between Media Multitasking and Executive Function in Early Adolescents (2014, background): “The development of executive functions follows a protracted trajectory, with adult levels of performance being reached between early adolescence and young-adulthood (e.g., Best & Miller, 2010; Huizinga et al., 2006).”
Language and Executive Functions: The Effect of Articulatory Suppression on Executive Functioning in Children (2012, background): “Executive control skills have repeatedly been found to improve gradually during childhood, with a pronounced developmental progression between 5 and 9 years of age (Best & Miller, 2010; Roebers, Röthlisberger, Cimeli, Michel, & Neuenschwander, 2011; Welsh et al., 1991).”
Relations among peer acceptance, inhibitory control, and math achievement in early adolescence (2013, background): “Inhibitory control is an executive control process that contributes to organizing, sequencing, and regulating behavior in adults as well as children and adolescents (Best & Miller, 2010; Reimers & Maylor, 2005).”
Executive functioning predicts academic achievement in middle school: A four-year longitudinal study (2016, background): “…education plans; longitudinal research; middle school Executive functioning (EF) is definable as a set of control processes that allow individuals to manage and direct their attention, thoughts, and actions to meet adaptive goals (Best & Miller, 2010; Blair & Raver, 2012; Diamond & Lee, 2011).”
Relations between Executive Function and Academic Achievement from Ages 5 to 17 in a Large, Representative National Sample (2011, background): “…during adolescence (Davidson et al., 2006; Huizinga, Dolan, & van der Molen, 2006; Huizinga & van der Molen, 2007; Luciana, Conklin, Hooper, & Yarger, 2005; Somsen, 2007, and see Romine & Reynolds, 2005 for a meta-analysis of EF developmental studies and Best & Miller, 2010, for a review).”
A Longitudinal Study of the Role of Reading Motivation in Primary Students’ Reading Comprehension: Implications for a Less Simple View of Reading (2016, neutral): “…processes such as cognitive flexibility, inhibition, and working memory, that enable individuals to manage goaldirected, complex tasks like reading (Best & Miller, 2010; Dawson & Guare, 2010; Davidson, Amso, Anderson, & Diamond, 2006; Diamond, 2013; Miyake, Friedman, Emerson, Witzki, & Howerter,…”
Executive Function Skills, Early Mathematics, and Vocabulary in Head Start Preschool Children (2017, background): “…Zelazo, 2009) in part because of the substantial evidence that EF relates to later achievement in school-age children (Bull, Espy, & Wiebe, 2008; Duncan et al., 2007) and to critical cognitive developmental changes between 2 and 5 years of age (Best & Miller, 2010; Zelazo, Carlson, & Kesek, 2008).”
Socioeconomic status and executive function: developmental trajectories and mediation. (2015, neutral): “The protracted development of both EF performance (Albert & Steinberg, 2011; Best & Miller, 2010; Huizinga et al., 2006) and the PFC (Gogtay, Giedd, Lusk, Hayashi, Greenstein, Vaituzis, Nugent, Herman, Clasen, Toga, Rapoport & Thompson, 2004; Shaw, Kabani, Lerch, Eckstrand, Lenroot, Gogtay,…”