Recess and Lunch: Executive Functioning

What is Executive Functioning?

The term executive function (EF) describes a set of cognitive abilities that control and regulate other abilities and behaviors. Executive Functions are necessary for goal directed behavior. They include the ability to initiate and stop actions, to monitor and change behavior as needed and to plan future behavior when faced with novel tasks and situations.

Problems with Executive Control include:

short attention span

distractibility

lack of perseverance

impulse control

hyperactivity

poor time management

poor organizational skills

procrastination

poor judgment

difficulty regulating emotions

trouble learning from experience

short term memory problems

social and test anxiety

Tasks requiring concentration, retrieval of information and impulse control are often impaired. Test anxiety is common because people with executive functioning problems have difficulty activating this part of the brain under stress, even if they prepared for the test. EF problems often make the mind go blank in stressful situations.

Disorders associated with executive function problems are ADHD, Autism, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Tourette's Syndrome, Anxiety, Depression and Schizophrenia.