Introduction
Executive function (EF) is the mental capacity to plan, organize, and control one’s behavior to achieve a goal. According to studies, this skill develops during the preschool years (Friedman et al., 2014). It has recently been suggested that studies of EF should take into account the significance of social interaction. These skills comprise a set of essential mental abilities, including self-control, flexible thinking, and working memory (Diamond, 2013). They are comprised of three components: working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility.
Effective executive functioning is the result of the interplay of these three processes. The successful execution of most tasks also necessitates the coordinated use of these three aspects of executive function. The development of one’s intellectual and social potential relies heavily on the aforementioned EF skills (Segundo-Marcos et al., 2022).
Skills like memory, attention, impulse control, and the ability to plan are laid the groundwork for throughout infancy and early childhood. Nonetheless, the maturation of the entire spectrum of executive function skills persists throughout the teenage years. This paper aims to provide and describe evidence for the development of executive function in children while considering its importance in life.
Background
The effects of EF are not limited to the mind but are also felt in the realms of emotion and behavior. Emotional growth occurs during vulnerable times, such as the transition from middle childhood to adolescence (Hewitt, 2016). Environmental factors, however, which may ultimately have a harmful or beneficial impact on a person’s behavior throughout their lifetime, determine this sensitive phase. The first year of life is a critical period during which emotional competence undergoes significant changes.
At three to five months, the earliest signs of emotional skill development can be observed (Heck et al., 2018). Following that, a cascading set of events occurs, resulting in the development of more complex emotional capacities, including the ability to comprehend or regulate emotions, as well as social skills (Leman et al., 2019). During this developmental phase, children acquire the skills necessary to articulate and categorize their feelings and emotions, as well as to use these as a reference point for controlling their behavior.
The rapidity with which children acquire EF during childhood poses a challenge in tracing their development, with some evidence suggesting that growth may be erratic and occur in bursts rather than a steady, regular stream. Furthermore, it appears that EF components could display distinct developmental trajectories, further increasing the complexity of the domains (Claire, 2020).
Given that frontal lobe systems are crucial to executive function, it stands to reason that when the prefrontal cortex undergoes neurophysiological changes, so too would these abilities show functional improvements that can be correlated with those changes. The frontal lobes continue to mature even after we reach maturity. The hypothesis that the frontal lobes do not fully develop until late adulthood has been disproven (Leman et al., 2019). Examples include the activation of the prefrontal cortex in infancy, as demonstrated by neuroimaging research, and the functional developmental changes on EF tests across childhood, as observed in neuropsychological studies.
Importance of EFs in Everyday Life
Executive function skills in children are important in everyday life. Success in learning to self-regulate and use executive functioning skills is beneficial not only to the individual but to society. Children who have developed strong executive function skills are better able to remember and follow complex instructions, think critically before acting, adapt to rule changes, solve problems methodically, and manage multiple tasks simultaneously (Claire, 2020).
The result is a more educated populace that is ready to take on the problems of the modern world. The skills teach children how to work together, take charge, set and achieve goals, think critically, be flexible, and be in tune with their own and others’ emotions (Leman et al., 2019). The result is reduced crime, stronger communities, and increased social harmony, benefiting the greater good of society.
People who are strong in their executive functions are better able to take care of themselves and their families, from making healthy food and exercise decisions to standing firm against peer pressure to use drugs or engage in sexual activity without protection. An optimal stress response can be maintained through the use of biological systems and coping mechanisms, both of which are primed by a well-tuned executive function (Segundo-Marcos et al., 2022).
A healthier population, a more productive workforce, and lower healthcare expenses are the results for society as a whole. Children who have developed strong executive function skills exhibit better attention spans, improved information recall, and better impulse regulation (Claire, 2020). These abilities play a crucial role in young children’s learning and development because they support youngsters in controlling their behavior, and they have a direct correlation to both academic and social success.
The Development of EF in Children
For a child to cultivate EFs, they will need to acquire a set of cognitive skills that will enable them to organize and process information. These skills also help control their impulses, make decisions after considering all relevant factors, and modify their actions accordingly (Diamond, 2013). Therefore, EFs help children develop the kind of engaged, proactive, and reflective mindset that is vital to the success of any educational endeavor.
Although EF development begins at an early age and continues throughout life, the years between the ages of 8 and 12 are especially important (Claire, 2020). This is due to changes related to the maturation of neural networks involving the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Understanding the processes involved in EF development and identifying the elements that may contribute to children’s development is crucial due to the importance of EFs for children’s cognitive and social functioning.
Children’s capacities to learn, read, write, and carry out mathematical calculations are built upon the foundation of effective executive functioning. These include working memory, cognitive self-control, and attentional skills. These abilities help children learn, focus, recall, and plan, enabling them to gain a firm grasp of the material they are studying in class (Geronimi et al., 2020). With these abilities, children would be able to study and thrive in school, rather than just surviving it. Statistics show that children with better working memory, inhibition, and attention make greater progress in arithmetic, language, and literacy during the preschool years compared to their counterparts who have fewer of these executive skills (Zelazo et al., 2003).
The Cognitive Complexity and Control (CCC) theory suggests that as children age, they can design and apply increasingly complicated rules to problem resolution. It postulates that throughout childhood, multiple developmental transitions are associated with changes in executive function, and that for each, a general process is recapitulated (Zelazo et al., 2003). When children reach a certain developmental milestone, they gain a rule system of a certain level of complexity.
Early academic success and children’s emotional, social, and moral growth are linked to their ability to use their executive functions. These abilities are seen as a fundamental requirement for learning and socialization. Therefore, executive processes such as task completion, problem resolution, information organization, and behavior planning are crucial enablers in social interactions (Garon et al., 2008). Furthermore, a child’s relational context is crucial to the growth of their executive functions. Significant discoveries have been made in the previous two decades on the growth of children’s executive functions (Garon et al., 2008).
Results from studies of preschoolers’ EF development suggest that attentional capacity development provides a cornerstone for the acquisition of EF skills and may be the source of shared variance underlying different EF abilities (Garon et al., 2008). One of the first steps in any activity with a purpose is developing the ability to tune out distractions and concentrate on the work at hand (Garon et al., 2008). Mounting evidence suggests that paying attention controls sensory processing, namely by increasing the importance of target-relevant information and decreasing that of irrelevant details.
On the other hand, although empirical investigations have had varied results, it has been discovered that inhibitory control significantly improves during middle and late childhood. Friedman et al. (2014), for example, discovered evidence of developmental changes in executive control in kids aged 6.5-12.5 years. Their findings suggest that interference induced by concurrently engaging the right and wrong responses during middle and late childhood is more easily resolved.
These results support the findings of earlier studies using flanker tasks, which suggest an improvement in executive control at present. In contrast, Lund et al. (2020) observed no differences in executive control beyond the age of 8 years in a cross-sectional trial comparing different age groups. These results suggest that conflict resolution involving incongruent flankers remains consistent after this age. It is a well-known fact that cognitive flexibility (the ability to switch between rules) increases during childhood.
Inhibition is a fundamental executive function that is crucial during the childhood to adolescence developmental stages. One of the most difficult skills a child needs to master is the ability to ignore the myriad of distractions that can be found in any given context (Friedman et al., 2014). While this is an important skill, it is rarely taught as such in schools. This is unexpected because better inhibition in childhood has been linked to numerous beneficial outcomes, including higher educational attainment, lower rates of substance abuse and criminal behavior as adults, and improved health (Geronimi et al., 2020).
Not only do people vary in their ability to restrain themselves, but inhibition also undergoes natural shifts as they grow older. Performance on inhibition tasks improves throughout childhood and into middle or late adolescence, according to studies using a range of tasks (Hewitt, 2016). Inhibitory control is related to other cognitive skills, including working memory, language, and self-regulation, that develop normally.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the paper confirms the development and importance of executive functions in children. EFs are evidenced by their basic components—working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility—whose combined use is necessary for completing most tasks. Good executive functioning is the result of these three processes working together. These skills are also observable in children’s academic performance (reading, writing, and math) and are crucial for general learning, focus, memory, and study planning.
References
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