What is Executive Function?
Executive Function is not a diagnosis or an assessment of whether we have the skills to be a CEO someday. Executive Function is the work our brain does behind the scenes to put our intent into action. Imagine for a moment that you’d like to copy a beautiful painting you saw in a gallery. How would you do it?
Your answer likely focused on how you might try to copy the strokes or get the color right. Before you do any of that, you’ll have to stop walking around the gallery. You’ll need to get out some paint, a paintbrush, and some paper or a canvas. Did you think about how to sequence those steps or did you just know? That’s your Executive Function at work.
You might have decided to take a photo of the painting so you could remember the details. That’s Executive Function too: the planning function that enables you to be future oriented and do something now to facilitate a later step in the process. In short, Executive Functions are the steps in a task that we never think about. When they work properly they are automatic. When they don’t we see people who we know CAN do something being unable to actually get it done.
Imagine for a moment that you are an amazing artist who can perfectly copy the painting from the gallery. You plan to copy this painting, but you continue walking around the gallery looking at other paintings because your brain didn’t tell you to stop. Perhaps your art teacher is with you and tells you to return to the painting you’re going to copy. Your brain tells you to stop walking, stop thinking about pizza, look at the teacher, listen to her words, and start walking toward the painting. It doesn’t tell you to hold what she said in working memory and keep focusing on it, so you walk past the painting toward the pizza place. You’re having a series of Executive Function breakdowns. You are capable of painting the picture, but you don’t.
There are multiple theories of Executive Function that categorize these processes in different ways. The BRIEF, a test used to assess Executive Function, gives scores in 8 domains of Executive Function divided into 2 broad categories. Behavioral Regulation includes the functions of Inhibiting, Shifting, and Emotional Control. Metacognition includes the functions of Initiate, Working Memory, Plan/Organize, Organization of Materials, and Monitor. And if that isn’t complex enough, George McCloskey, PhD, author of Assessment and Intervention for Executive Function Difficulties, lists 33 distinct Executive Functions.
People with deficits in Executive Function are often described as more capable than their work product suggests. “She can solve the math problems. If she would apply herself she wouldn’t be failing math.” or “Sometimes he can clean his room, and sometimes he can’t. Is he just not trying?” They also may make frequent social errors, as their brains don’t self monitor, inhibit, shift, or control emotion efficiently enough for them to follow along with others in a group activity. They are often diagnosed with ADHD or Learning Disabilities.
Executive Function breakdowns can also be the result of a deficit in Executive Skills. Imagine, for example, that you suffered a traumatic brain injury and have no working memory. Your teacher might need to give you a piece of paper telling you to paint the picture or record a reminder on your phone that you can access when you forget what you’re doing (if your Executive Functions tell you to). In order to know whether a problem is an Executive Function breakdown or an Executive Skills deficit, you’ll need to examine whether the person can perform the function if the conditions are designed to maximize success (classroom accommodations are in place, for example).
Treating Executive Function difficulties involves rehearsing these functions to the point of automaticity under the guidance of a Therapist or Special Educator. If you have concerns about your child’s Executive Function or your own and would like to know more, call us at 240-242-5185. We are also offering an Executive Function Workgroup for parents looking to strengthen their child’s Executive Function. The next group will be meeting online for 4 sessions in November/December. Click here to find out more about workshops and groups.
