What is Executive Function?

While most people believe IQ (Intelligence Quotient) is key to success, numerous studies have refuted this and turned their focus to the importance of executive function, also known as self-regulatory skills. It is not difficult to imagine a student with high IQ, but with poor organisation and inhibitory skills, failing to excel academically. Obviously, success is not solely determined by IQ.

Executive function encompasses a set of cognitive processes that enable conscious control of thoughts and actions to guide goal-directed behaviours. It is not a unitary trait, but a set of multiple cognitive capacities that act in a coordinated way. The best example for understanding the role of executive function is to think of it is a conductor of an orchestra, who sets the appropriate tempo, provides a steady musical pulse, and ensures all the performers follow the same metrical rhythm.

Recently, researchers have become fascinated with the unique yet diverse role of executive function in learning, social interaction, behavioural and emotional control, and explored how it correlates with various tasks and different settings. A distinction has recently been made between two types of executive function: Cool and hot executive function. The former is a series of self-regulatory skills that are not dependent on emotions, including working memory, inhibition, and flexibility. The latter is involved in self-regulation skills that are guided by our emotions (Poon, 2020). Research shows that cool executive function is related to learning effectiveness, whilst hot executive function is closely related to behavioural and emotional control (Ahmed et al., 2019; Cortés Pascual et al., 2019; O’Toole et al., 2020; Poon, 2018; Zelazo et al., 2016). Executive function skills have frequently been found to be atypical in students with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (Poon et al., 2021), reading difficulties (Kapa & Plante, 2015; Poon & Ho, 2016), and autistic spectrum disorders (Craig et al., 2016). The symptoms include difficulties in planning, remembering, and organising tasks.