ABSTRACT
The interest and attention devoted to executive functions has grown steadily in the
last several decades. The concept and definitions of executive functions and their
association with certain disorders such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and overall
cognitive, social, emotional, and behavioral functioning are important knowledge areas
for those working in education, health, and mental health-related fields. It is particularly
important for providers to have an understanding of the basic issues related to assessment
and remediation of executive dysfunction. This article briefly addresses the background,
current definitions, research, and some intervention options associated with executive
functions. The intent is to present a foundation for encouraging additional research
on the issues relevant to this important topic.
KEYWORDS
Autism spectrum disorders - executive functions - cognition - remediation
REFERENCES
- 1 Pennington B F.
The working memory function of the prefrontal cortices: implications for developmental
and individual differences in cognition. In: Haith MM, Benson JR, Roberts R, Pennington BF The Development of Future Oriented
Processes. Chicago, IL; University of Chicago Press 1994: 243-289
- 2
Pennington B F, Ozonoff S.
Executive functions and developmental psychopathology.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry.
1996;
37
51-87
- 3 Lyon G R, Krasnegor N. Attention, Memory, and Executive Function. Baltimore, MD;
Brookes 1996
- 4 Gioia G A, Isquith P K, Guy S C.
Assessment of executive functions in children with neurological impairment. In: Simeonsson RJ, Rosenthal SL Psychological and Developmental Assessment. New
York, NY; Guilford Press 2001: 317-356
- 5
Rylander G.
Personality changes after operations of the frontal lobes.
Acta Psychiat et Neurol Scand.
1939;
20(suppl)
327
- 6
Harlow J M.
Recovery from the passage of an iron bar through the head.
Pub Mass Medical Soc.
1868;
2
327-347
- 7 Bianchi L. The Mechanism of the Brain and the Function of the Frontal Lobes. Edinburgh,
UK; Livingstone 1922
- 8 Brickner R M.
An interpretation of frontal lobe function based upon the study of a case of partial
bilateral frontal lobectomy. In: Orton ST, Fulton JF, Davis TK Localization of Function in the Cerebral Cortex. Baltimore,
MD; Williams Wilkins 1934: 259-351
- 9
Goldstein K.
The mental changes due to frontal lobe damage.
J Psychol.
1941;
17
187-208
- 10
Hebb D O.
Intelligence in man after large removals of cerebral tissue: report of four left frontal
lobe cases.
J Gen Psychol.
1939;
21
73-87
- 11
Hebb D O.
Man's frontal lobes: a critical review.
Arch Neurol Psychiatry.
1945;
54
10-24
- 12 Fuster J M. The Prefrontal Cortex: Anatomy, Physiology and Neuropsychology of the
Frontal Lobe. 2nd ed. New York, NY; Raven 1989
- 13 Kolb B, Wishaw I Q. Fundamentals of Human Neuropsychology. New York, NY; WH Fremont
1990
- 14
Cattell R.
Theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence: a critical experiment.
J Educ Psychol.
1963;
54
1-22
- 15 Carroll J. Human Cognitive Abilities: A Survey of Factor Analytical Studies. New
York, NY; Cambridge University Press 1993
- 16 Duncan J.
Attention, intelligence, and the frontal lobes. In: Gazzaniga MS The Cognitive Neurosciences. Cambridge, MA; MIT Press 1995: 721-733
- 17 Pennington B F.
Dimensions of executive functions in normal and abnormal development. In: Krasnegor N, Lyon GR, Goldman-Rakic PS Development of the Prefrontal Cortex:
Evolution, Neurobiology, and Behavior. Baltimore, MD; Brookes 1997: 265-281
- 18 Vygotsky L. Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA; MIT Press 1962
- 19 Luria A R.
The Role of Speech in the Regulation of Normal and Abnormal Behavior. Tizard J, trans. New York, NY; Liveright 1962
- 20 Milner B.
Some effects of frontal lobectomy in man. In: Warren J, Akert K The Frontal Granular Cortex and Behavior. New York, NY; McGraw
Hill 1964: 601-618
- 21
Reitan R M.
Validity of the trail making test as an indicator of organic brain damage.
Percept Mot Skills.
1958;
8
271-276
- 22 Shallice T. From Neuropsychology to Mental Structure. Cambridge, UK; Cambridge
University Press 1988
- 23
Welsh M C, Pennington B F, Ozonoff S, Rouse B, McCabe EBR.
Neuropsychology of early-treated phenylketonuria: specific executive function deficits.
Child Dev.
1990;
61
1697-1713
- 24 Wechsler W. Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. 4th ed. WISC-IV Manual. San
Antonio, TX; Psychological Corporation 2003: 167
- 25
Cohen J D, Servan-Schreiber D.
Context, cortex, and dopamine: a connectionist approach to behavior and biology in
schizophrenia.
Psychol Rev.
1992;
99
45-77
- 26 Greenberg L M, Kindschi C L. TOVA Clinical Guide. Los Alamitos, CA; Universal Attention
Disorders 1996
- 27 Gioia G A, Isquith P K, Guy S C, Kenworthy L. Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive
Function. Odessa, FL; Psychological Assessment Services 2000
- 28 Delis D C, Kaplan E F, Kramer J H. Delis-Kaplan Executive Functional Scales (D-KEFS). San
Antonio, TX; Psychological Corporation 2001
- 29 Korkman M, Kirk U, Kemp S. NEPSY: A Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment. San
Antonio, TX; Psychological Corporation 1998
- 30
Ozonoff S, Strayer D L, McMahon W M, Filloux F.
Executive function abilities in autism: an information processing approach.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry.
1994;
35
1015-1031
- 31
Fischer M, Barkley R A, Edelbrock C S, Smallish L.
The adolescent outcome of hyperactive children diagnosed by research criteria: II.
Academic, attentional and neuropsychological status.
J Consult Clin Psychol.
1990;
58
580-588
- 32
Weyandt L L, Willis W G.
Executive functions in school-aged children: potential efficacy of tasks in discriminating
clinical groups.
Dev Neuropsychol.
1994;
10
27-38
- 33 Barkley R A. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Handbook for Diagnosis
and Treatment. 2nd ed. New York, NY; The Guilford Press 1998
- 34
Moffitt T E, Silva P A.
Self-reported delinquency, neuropsychological deficit, and history of attention deficit
disorder.
J Abnorm Child Psychol.
1988;
16
553-569
- 35
Moffitt T E, Henry B.
Neuropsychological assessment of executive functions in self-reported delinquents.
Dev Psychopathol.
1989;
1
105-118
- 36
Hurt J, Naglieri J A.
Performance of delinquent and nondelinquent males on planning, attention, simultaneous,
and successive cognitive processing tasks.
J Clin Psychol.
1992;
48
120-128
- 37
Pennington B F, Van Doorninck W J, McCabe L L, McCabe ERB.
Neuropsychological deficits in early treated phenylketonurics.
Am J Ment Defic.
1985;
89
467-474
- 38
Watkins L H, Sahakian B J, Robertson M M et al..
Executive function in Tourette's syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Psychol Med.
2005;
35
571-582
- 39 Ylvisaker M Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation: Children and Adolescents. 2nd
ed. Boston, MA; Butterworth-Heinemann 1998
- 40
Grodzinsky G M, Diamond R.
Frontal lobe functioning in boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Dev Neuropsychol.
1992;
8
427-445
- 41
Pennington B F, Groisser D, Welsh M C.
Contrasting deficits in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder versus reading disability.
Dev Psychol.
1993;
29
511-515
- 42
Bennetto L, Pennington B F, Rogers S J.
Intact and impaired memory functions in autism.
Child Dev.
1996;
67
1816-1835
- 43
Russell J, Jarrold C, Henry L.
Working memory in children with autism and with moderate learning difficulties.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry.
1996;
37
673-686
- 44
Hughes C, Russell J, Robbins T W.
Evidence for executive dysfunction in autism.
Neuropsychologia.
1994;
32
477-492
- 45
McEvoy R E, Rogers S J, Pennington B F.
Executive function and social communication deficits in young autistic children.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry.
1993;
34
563-578
- 46
Ozonoff S.
Reliability and validity of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test in studies of autism.
Neuropsychology.
1995;
9
491-500
- 47
Ozonoff S, Strayer D.
Inhibitory function in non-retarded children with autism.
J Autism Dev Disord.
1997;
27
59-77
- 48
Ozonoff S, Pennington B F, Rogers S J.
Executive function deficits in high functioning autistic individuals: relationship
to theory of mind.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry.
1991;
32
1081-1105
- 49
Prior M, Hoffmann W.
Brief report: neuropsychological testing of autistic children through an exploration
with frontal lobe tests.
J Autism Dev Disord.
1990;
20
581-590
- 50
Jarrold C, Boucher J, Smith P K.
Generativity defects in pretend play in autism.
Br J Dev Psychol.
1996;
14
275-290
- 51 Pennington B F. The Development of Psychopathology: Nature and Nurture. New York,
NY; Guilford Press 2002
- 52
Lopez B R.
An examination of the relationship between executive function and restricted, repetitive
symptoms in high functioning individuals with autism.
Dissertation Abstracts Int.
2001;
62
555
- 53 Turner M.
Towards an executive dysfunction account of repetitive behaviour in autism. In: Russell J Autism as an Executive Disorder. London, UK; Oxford University Press
1997: 57-100
- 54
Turner M.
Repetitive behaviour in autism: a review of psychological research.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry.
1999;
40
839-849
- 55
Lovaas O I, Koegel R I, Schreibman L.
Stimulus oversensitivity in autism: a review of research.
Psychol Bull.
1979;
86
1236-1254
- 56
Bailey S L.
Stimulus overselectivity in learning disabled children.
J Appl Behav Anal.
1981;
14
239-248
- 57
Gersten R.
Stimulus overselectivity in autistic, trainable mentally retarded, and non-handicapped
children: comparative research controlling chronological (rather than mental) age.
J Abnorm Child Psychol.
1983;
11
61-75
- 58
Klin A, Jones W, Schultz R, Volkmar F, Cohen D.
Visual fixation patterns during viewing of naturalistic social situations as predictors
of social competence in individuals with autism.
Arch Gen Psychiatry.
2002;
59
809-816
- 59
Hughes C, Russell J.
Autistic children's difficulty with mental disengagement from an object: its implications
for theories of autism.
Dev Psychol.
1993;
29
498-510
- 60
Russell J, Mauthner N, Sharpe S, Tidswell T.
The “windows task” as a measure of strategic deception in preschoolers and autistic
subjects.
Br J Dev Psychol.
1991;
9
331-349
- 61
Crick N R, Dodge K A.
A review and reformulation of social information processing mechanisms in children's
social adjustment.
Psychol Bull.
1994;
115
74-101
- 62
Channon S, Charman T, Heap J, Crawford S, Rios P.
Real-life-type problem-solving in Asperger's syndrome.
J Autism Dev Disord.
2001;
31
461-469
- 63
Ozonoff S, McEvoy R E.
A longitudinal study of executive function and theory of mind development in autism.
Dev Psychopathol.
1994;
6
415-431
- 64
Ozonoff S, Cook I, Coon H et al..
Performance on Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery Subtests sensitive
to frontal lobe function in people with autistic disorder: evidence from the Collaborative
Programs of Excellence in Autism network.
J Autism Dev Disord.
2004;
34
139-150
- 65 Ozonoff S.
Components of executive function in autism and other disorders. In: Russell J Autism as an Executive Disorder. London, UK; Oxford University Press
1997: 179-211
- 66 Barkley R A.
Linkages between attention and executive functions. In: Lyon GR, Krasnegor NA Attention, Memory, and Executive Functions. Baltimore,
MD; Brookes 1996
- 67 Gray C A.
Social stories and comic strip conversations with students with Asperger's syndrome
and high-functioning autism. In: Schopler E, Mesibov GB Asperger's Syndrome or High-Functioning Autism?. New
York, NY; Plenum Press 1998: 167-198
- 68 Hyerle D. Visual tools for constructing knowledge. Alexandria, VA; Association
for Supervision and Curriculum Development 1996
- 69
Meichenbaum D H, Goodman J.
Training impulsive children to talk to themselves: a means of developing self-control.
J Abnorm Psychol.
1971;
77
115-126
- 70
Kamann M P, Wong BYL.
Inducing adaptive coping self-statements in children with learning disabilities through
self-instructive training.
J Learn Disabil.
1993;
26
630-638
- 71
Prins PJM, Hanewald GJFP.
Coping self-talk and cognitive interference in anxious children.
J Consult Clin Psychol.
1999;
67
435-439
- 72 Shure M B. I Can Problem Solve: An Interpersonal Cognitive Problem-Solving Program-Intermediate
Elementary Grades. Champaign, IL; Research Press 2001
- 73 Graham S, Harris K R. Addressing problems in attention, memory, and executive functions:
an example from self-regulated strategy development. In: Lyon GR, Krasnegor NA Attention,
Memory, and Executive Functions. Baltimore, MD; Brookes 1996
James A Calhoun
Psychology Dept., University of Vermont, 2 Colchester Ave., Burlington, VT 05405
Email: James.Calhoun@uvm.edu