Executive Functioning

Challenges:
Strategies for
Academic Success
 Lesson Outcomes

01 Define Executive Function.

Discuss its challenges and strategies in

02 connection to Academic Performances
 What is Executive Function?
Merriam Webster
the group of complex mental processes and cognitive abilities (such as working
memory, impulse inhibition, and reasoning) that control the skills (such as organizing
tasks, remembering details, managing time, and solving problems) required for goal-
directed behavior.

Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University

Executive function and self-regulation skills are the mental processes that enable us to
plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully.
 What is Executive Function?
Dawson and Guare, 2012
These higher-order thinking skills as executive functioning skills which encompass a
broad range of skills including time management, planning, task initiation, emotional
control, response inhibition, and sustained attention.

Bandura, 1991; CAST, 2020; Frye & Shapiro, 2020; Sandars & Cleary, 2011
Individuals are responsible for driving their own learning successes or failures through
the regulation of their own thoughts, actions, and in controlling factors in the
surrounding environment.
Executive function and self-regulation skills depend on three types of brain
function: working memory, mental flexibility, and self-control

Working Memory Mental Flexibilty Organization

·governs our ability to helps us to sustain or
retain and manipulate shift attention in
distinct pieces of response to different
information over short demands or to apply
periods of time. different rules in different
settings.
·enables us to set
priorities and resist
impulsive actions or
responses.
 Children aren’t born with
these skills—they are born
with the potential to
develop them.
 What Is Executive
Dysfunction?
Executive dysfunction is when you have problems
with your executive function skills.
 What Causes Executive Dysfunction?
Experts aren't sure what causes executive
dysfunction, but they have linked it to a few
conditions that affect your brain function, such as:

• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

(ADHD)
• Autism spectrum disorder
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
 What Causes Executive Dysfunction?
Experts aren't sure what causes executive
dysfunction, but they have linked it to a few
conditions that affect your brain function, such as:

• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

(ADHD)
• Autism spectrum disorder
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
 Organizing, prioritizing, and initiating tasks

People with deficits in this area of executive functioning have difficulty

getting materials organized, distinguishing between relevant and non-
relevant information, anticipating and planning for future events,
estimating the time needed to complete tasks, and simply getting started
on a task.
 Focusing, maintaining, and shifting attention:

People who are easily distracted miss important information. They are
distracted not only by things around them but also by their own thoughts.
They have difficulty shifting attention when necessary and can get stuck
on a thought, thinking only about that topic.
 Regulating alertness, sustaining effort, and processing speed:

People who have a hard time regulating alertness may become drowsy
when they have to sit still and be quiet in order to listen or read material
that they find boring. It is not that they are over-tired; they simply cannot
sustain alertness unless they are actively engaged. In addition, the speed
at which they take in and understand information can affect performance.
 Managing frustrations and regulating emotions:

People with impairments in this area of executive functioning may have a

very low tolerance for frustration, such as when they don’t how to do a
task. They can also be extremely sensitive to criticism. Difficult emotions
can quickly become overwhelming and emotional reactions may be very
intense.
 Using working memory and accessing recall:

Working memory helps an individual hold information long enough to use

it in the short term, focus on a task, and remember what to do next. If
people have impairments in working memory, they may have trouble
remembering and following directions, memorizing and recalling facts or
spelling words, computing problems in their head, or retrieving information
from memory when they need it.
 Monitoring and self-regulating action:

When people have deficits in the ability to regulate their behavior, it can
significantly impede social relationships. If people have difficulty inhibiting
behavior, they may react impulsively without thought to the context of the
situation, or they may over-focus on the reactions of others by becoming
too inhibited and withdrawn in interactions.
 To Improve Time Management:
Create checklists, and estimate how long each task will take.
Break long assignments into chunks, and assign times for completing each one.
Use calendars to keep track of long-term assignments, due dates, chores, and activities.
Write the due date on the top of each assignment.
To better manage your space and keep
things from getting lost:
Organize your workspace.
Donate things you don't need to reduce clutter.
Schedule a weekly time to clean and organize your workspace.
Make a designated space for everything you own.
 To improve work habits (Planning):
Make a checklist for getting through assignments. For example, a student's checklist
could include items such as: get out pencil and paper; put name on paper; put due date
on paper; read directions; etc.

Meet with a teacher or supervisor regularly to review your work and troubleshoot
problems.

Find an executive function coach or tutor who can help you improve the way you plan
and carry out tasks.
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