Nature, neurophysiological mechanisms and developmental changes of executive functions

The paper presents an overview of basic issues related to executive functions, the phenomenon being the center of interest to psychologists at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, discussed from the historical, neurophysiological and ontogenetic perspectives. It gives basic information about the history of research on the executive functions and their neurophysiological correlates. At fi rst, the research focused on the function of the frontal cortex, which was thought to organize intellectual activity in adults with damage to that part of the brain. Studies in the ontogenetic paradigm have helped to explain the genesis of the executive functions, their complex nature, developmental changes and critical periods. They have also contributed to determining the relationship between the executive functions and other cognitive processes, such as theories of mind, or emotional processes, and to revealing the environmental conditions. The paper describes the complex nature of the executive functions, indicating the fixed components: inhibition, flexibility, working memory and planning, and presents psychological testing methods, pointing out the most commonly used techniques. The authors refer both to foreign and Polish authors studying groups of participants developing normally or with disorders in different periods of development, and they note the cognitive and the practical aspects of research on the executive functions.

Managing emotions? Executive functions and emotional development

Recent interest in the executive functions has resulted in intensive research on the relation between these and other aspects of functioning, especially language and theory of mind. However, there are relatively few studies of the relation between the executive functions and emotional development, despite the fact that the executive functions are supposed to regulate not only thoughts and behaviour but also emotions (Best et al. 2009).
The paper presents a review of research on the relations between the executive functions and two aspects of the emotional development: emotion regulation and emotion understanding. The emotion regulation seems to be closely connected with the executive functions; in some contexts, these two constructs become undistinguishable, especially where the hot executive functions are concerned (Zelazo & Cunningham 2007). As we consider the cool aspect of the executive functions, research suggests that inhibition and cognitive flexibility may play a role in the emotion regulation. Similarly, inhibition and cognitive flexibility, together with working memory, seem to be related to the emotion understanding.
Finally, the paper quotes results suggesting a modifying influence of emotions on the executive functioning. Analysis of the mutual relations between the executive functioning and the emotional development has helped to elaborate the model of the relations between the control and the understanding in the domains of cognition and emotions (Leerkes et al. 2008).

External and internal language control of activity

The paper discusses the relationship between language, cognition and behavior. It shows language as an external activator (the control function of speech) and an internal organizer of thoughts (private speech, inner speech). A. Luria’s research on the control function of speech has been continued in the study of the understanding of directives; L.S. Vygotsky’s concept of forms of speech has resulted in the imaginative research on private speech conducted since the 1980s, revealing the specifi city of private speech and the important part it plays in development, while studies of inner speech have helped to explain the role of language in thinking. Research on the executive functions allows us to track links between higher cognitive processes and language. It turns out that language and communication skills and vocabulary not only correlate with the developmental level of the executive functions, but are a good predictor of their development.

Cool vs hot executive functions, language and children’s understanding of their own vs others’ mental states

The main purpose of this study has been to verify a hypothesis based on the assumptions of the theories by Russell (1998) and Zelazo et al. (2005), concerning the relation between the development of executive functions (EF) and theory of mind (ToM). It was hypothesized that the level of the hot EF compared to the cool EF would be more strongly connected with children’s understanding of their own mental states than those of others. In the analysis of relationships between selected aspects of the EF and ToM, the level of language development was also considered. The study covered forty-four 3- and 4-year-olds, using false-belief tasks in their “unexpected contents” version (Gopnik & Astington, 1988) as the measures of ToM development, with one question requiring the attribution of a false belief to somebody else, and another question requiring the recognition of one’s own previous belief as false. The cool EF were measured with a version of the Bear-Dragon task (Reed et al., 1984), and the hot EF with the Children’s Gambling Task (Kerr, Zelazo, 2004). Language development was assessed with the Picture Vocabulary Test (OTS-R; Haman et al., 2011). It appeared that children’s understanding of their own mental states in both age groups was related only to the cool EF, while their understanding of other people’s mental states correlated marginally with the cool EF only in 4-year-olds. The level of the hot EF was not connected signifi cantly with any aspect of ToM. Regression analysis revealed that the cool aspect of the EF was a signifi cant language-independent predictor of the understanding of one’s own mental states in 4-year-olds, but not in 3-year-olds. The results are at variance with the predictions based on the theory by Zelazo et al., but consistent with those drawn from Russell’s theory, according to which self-consciousness and self-refl ection underlie the relationship between the EF and ToM.

The effect of cognitive reserve on the level of executive functions in old age

Old age is characterized by an age-related cognitive decline. The role of executive functions in this process has recently been indicated. The population of elderly people, however, is not homogenous in terms of intellectual functioning. This diversity may be explained by evoking the notion of cognitive reserve which posits that elderly people have different levels of resources enabling them to compensate for the negative changes. The level of the cognitive reserve is related to the level of the executive functions.
This study analyzes the relationship between the levels of three components of the executive functions: flexibility, working memory and planning, and educational, cultural or physical activities carried out throughout life. The results show that educational and cultural activities are important to working memory, while planning is additionally helped by physical activity. Further, some components of the executive functions are more infl uenced by activity before retirement, while others are more affected by activity after retirement.

A competent tutor. The importance of executive functions to peer tutoring

The paper presents research on the relationship between different components and aspects of executive functions and the tutor’s behaviors and strategies used during peer tutoring. The research involved 23 pairs of six-year-old children. The tutors’ task was to teach their peers the rules of a board game. There was a signifi cant correlation between the level of the executive functions and the tutor’s behaviors and strategies which supported the student during the tutoring. Significant components of the executive functions included shifting attention, inhibition, working memory and the cool aspect of the executive functions. The tutors applying various strategies (Outside the role, Initiator, Partner, Coordinator) differed signifi cantly in their levels of the executive functions, and especially in the planning component.

Recenzja: Eduardo Marti, Cyntia Rodriguez (red.). 2012, After Piaget. New Brunswick (USA), London (UK): Transaction Publishers

W dniach 15-17 maja 2013 w Krakowie odbyły się międzynarodowe warsztaty dotyczące dwujęzyczności i kontroli poznawczej (ang. International Workshop on Bilingulism and Cognitive Control) zorganizowane przez Langustę, Laboratorium Psychologii Języka i Dwujęzyczności Instytutu Psychologii Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego. Spotkanie naukowe miało miejsce w Domu Gościnnym Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego w Przegorzałach, które znajdują się w Lasku Wolskim w krakowskiej dzielnicy Zwierzyniec. Spiritus movens warsztatów była Zofia Wodniecka (Uniwersytet Jagielloński), kierownik Langusty i badaczka dwujęzyczności. Organizatorkami, poza wspomnianą Zofią Wodniecką, były: Susan C. Bobb (Georg-August University Göttingen, Niemcy) oraz Judtih F. Kroll (Pennsylvania State University, USA).