Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Overview
Definitions Developmental Aspects Assessment Process Assessment Techniques
Executive Functions
1. Set of thinking skills to select and achieve goals or
Roadmap; priorities Keeping track of information How much time; how to allocate it; sense of time Hold information in mind; draw upon past experience Self-monitoring and self-evaluative skills
Executive Functions
2. Set of regulatory skills to guide our behavior
Response inhibition
Ability to begin task in a timely fashion Adaptability to changing conditions Manage emotions; control and direct behavior
Executive Functions
Producing disability (Denckla, 2007)
Plan
Organize
Write
Edit
Revise
synaptic linkages:
change
developmental in nature. Cultural change points (e.g., educational transitions 1st grade, junior high school) can serve to highlight executive function maturational delays or significant deficiencies. Intra-individually, all executive functions do not develop evenly. Inter-individually, there is also great variation relative to chronological age.
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Attention Deficit Disorders (ADD, ADHD) Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) Affective/Mood Disorders Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
directions, teaching items, examiner cueing of attention and performance) usually reduces the impact of executive control processes on performance of tasks thought to assess intelligence
control capacities
Developed for adult and clinical population Require the use of other skills (language,
memory) Ecological validity
Informal assessment (interviews; rating scales) should be conducted prior to formal assessment
Case History/Interview
Can child plan tasks, complete homework, follow daily routines on his/her own or with supervision?
Work Samples
Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions (BRIEF) Executive Skills Questionnaire for Parents/Teachers and Brown ADD Scales for Children and Adolescents P-T: 3-5/6-12 y.; Self: 8-12/12-18 y. Conners-3 P-T: 6-18 y.; Self 8-18 y. Conners Comprehensive Behavior Rating Scales (Conners Child Behavior Checklist (CBC) P-T: 1 1/2-5/6-18 y.; Self: 11-18 y. Behavior Assessment System for Children, 2nd Ed. (BASC2) P-T: 2-5/6-11/12-21 y.; Self: 8-11/12-21/18-25 y. CBRS) P-T: 6-18 y.; Self: 8-18 y. Students (Dawson & Guare, 2010) P-T: 3-5/6-18 y.; Self: 11-18 y.
Areas of Assessment
Measures of Inhibition Measures of Planning and Organization Measures of Concept Generation Measures of Reasoning Measures of Cognitive Flexibility Measures Using Feedback During Task Performance Measures of Metacognition Measures of Attention Measures of Working Memory
Measures of Inhibition
Answers questions without thinking Gives up quickly on challenging tasks Gives a quick answer then changes it Begins task without listening to all instructions
Measures of Inhibition
Tower Tests
Executive functions:
Spatial Planning Rule Learning Inhibition Establishing and Maintaining a Cognitive Set
Free Sort concept formation skills flexibility in thinking initiate problem-solving and inhibit pull to repeat the same behavior Free description express conceptual relationships Sort Recognition initiation problem perseveration problem
Measures of Reasoning
Cognitive Batteries WJIII-COG Executive Process Cluster Concept Formation shifting Planning planning Pair Cancellation sustained attention Fluid Reasoning (Gf) tasks: WJIII-COG KABC-II WISC-IV
Unable to generate multiple answers to questions Adjusts slowly to task when instructions change Cannot figure out a new approach to task when the
first approach does not work
(D-KEFS Towers)
Category Tests
Set-Shifting Tests
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) Stoop Color Word Test D-KEFS:
Trail-Making (Cond.4) Verbal Fluency (Cond.3) Design Fluency (Cond.3) Color-Word Interference (Cond.4)
(observe rules)
Condition 2 Category Fluency Say as many animals/ boys names as you can Condition 3 Category Switching Switching back and forth between fruits and furniture
Set-Shifting Tests
Measures of Metacognition
either knows an answer or does not May not realize that he does not understand task Not aware that more than one strategy may be necessary Does not check work
Measures of Metacognition
Measures of Attention
Rushes through Asks frequently when the testing will be over Easily drawn off tasks by minor distractions Irrelevant talking during subtests
Measures of Attention
Measures of Selective, Focused, and Sustained
Attention
Test for Everyday Attention for Children Subtests of working memory and processing speed
Asks to have questions repeated Remembers either the beginning or the end of a
Subtests of working memory Subtests requiring adherence to specific rules Subtests requiring holding previous
information in mind (D-KEFS: Sorting; Fluency tasks)
5-12 years 5-12 years 3-12 years 3-12 years 8-89 years 2-80+ years 4-80+ years 5-12 years 3-12 years 5+ years 8+ years 8+ years 8-89 years 8-89 years 16-89 years 8-89 years 3-6 years 5-6 years 6-18 years 6 years 3-18 years 3-16 years 5-12 years 5-12 years 3+ years 2-85+ years 5-17 years 2-80+ years 6-17 years
NEPSY/NEPSY- II: Auditory Attention and Response Set (Part B) Stroop Tests Trail-making Tests Wisconsin Card Sorting Test Non-verbal: D-KEFS: Design Fluency (Conditions 1&2) NEPSY/NEPSY -II: Design Fluency Verbal: D-KEFS: Verbal Fluency (Conditions 1&2) NESPY: Verbal Fluency Test WJIII COG: Retrieval Fluency CAS: Expressive Attention Number Detection Receptive Attention D-KEFS: Color-Word Interference Test NEPSY/NEPSY- II: Auditory Attention and Response Set Visual Attention (NESPY only) WISC-IV: Coding Symbol Search WJIII COG: Auditory Attention CAS: Number Detection Receptive Attention NEPSY/NEPSY-II: Auditory Attention and Response Set Visual Attention (NEPSY only) WISC-IV: Cancellation WJIII COG: Pair Cancellation Category Tests Wisconsin Card Sorting Test D-KEFS: 20 Questions WJIII COG: Analysis-Synthesis Concept Formation Visual-Auditory Learning KABC-II: Word Order SB5: Delayed Response Block Span Memory for Sentences Last Word WISC-IV: WMI Tests WISC-IV Integrated: Arithmetic Process Approach Digit Span: Backward Letter-Number Sequencing Process Approach Spatial Span WJIII COG: Working Memory Cluster WRAML-2: Symbolic Working Memory Verbal Working Memory
5-12 years 8+ years 8+ years 6.5-89 years 8-89 years 5-12 years 8-89 years 3-12 years 2-80+ years 5-17 years 8-89 years 5-16 years 3-12 years 6-17 years 2-80+ years 5-17 years 5-16 years 3-12 years 6-17 years 2-80+ years 5+ years 6.5-89 years 8-89 years 2-80+ years 3-18 years 2-85+ years
References
Alloway, T.P. (2011). Improving Working Memory: Supporting Students Learning. London, UK: SAGE publications, Ltd. Cox, A.J. (2007). No Mind Left Behind: Understanding and fostering executive control the eight essential brain skills every child needs to thrive. New York, NY: The Penguin Group. Dawson, P., & Guare, R. (2010). Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents. New York, NY: The Guilford Press. Dawson, P., & Guare, R. (2009). Smart but Scattered. New York, NY: The Guilford Press. Gathercole, S.E., & Alloway, T.P. (2008). Working Memory & Learning: A practical guide for teachers. London, UK: SAGE publications, Ltd. McCloskey, G. Perkins, L.A., & Divner, B.V. (2009). Assessment and intervention for executive function difficulties. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Meltzer, L. (Ed.). (2007). Executive Function in Education: From theory to practice. New York, NY: The Guilford Press. Meltzer, L. (2010). What Works for Special-needs Learners: Promoting executive function in the classroom. New York, NY: The Guilford Press. Miller, D.C. (2007). Essentials of School Neuropsychological Assessment. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.