Executive functions develop during the first years of life and determine future learning and personal development. Executive dysfunction is related to various neurodevelopmental disorders, so its study is of great interest for intervention in children with neurotypical development and in those who have suffered a neurodevelopmental disorder. The Handbook of Research on Neurocognitive Development of Executive Functions and Implications for Intervention offers updated research on executive functions and their implication in psychoeducational intervention. It establishes a multidisciplinary context to discuss both intervention experience and research results in different areas of knowledge. Covering topics such as childhood inhibitory processing, mindfulness interventions, and language development, this major reference work is an excellent resource for psychologists, medical professionals, researchers, academicians, educators, and students.

Planning. Attention. Memory. Self-regulation. These and other core cognitive and behavioral operations of daily life comprise what we know as executive functioning (EF). But despite all we know, the concept has engendered multiple, often conflicting definitions and its components are sometimes loosely defined and poorly understood. The Handbook of Executive Functioning cuts through the confusion, analyzing both the whole and its parts in comprehensive, practical detail for scholar and clinician alike. Background chapters examine influential models of EF, tour the brain geography of the executive system and pose salient developmental questions. A section on practical implications relates early deficits in executive functioning to ADD and other disorders in children and considers autism and later-life dementias from an EF standpoint. Further chapters weigh the merits of widely used instruments for assessing executive functioning and review interventions for its enhancement, with special emphasis on children and adolescents. Featured in the Handbook: The development of hot and cool executive function in childhood and adolescence. A review of the use of executive function tasks in externalizing and internalizing disorders. Executive functioning as a mediator of age-related cognitive decline in adults. Treatment integrity in interventions that target executive function. Supporting and strengthening working memory in the classroom to enhance executive functioning. The Handbook of Executive Functioning is an essential resource for researchers, scientist-practitioners and graduate students in clinical child, school and educational psychology; child and adolescent psychiatry; neurobiology; developmental psychology; rehabilitation medicine/therapy and social work.

Executive Function: Development Across the Life Span presents perspectives from leading researchers and theorists on the development of executive function from infancy to late adulthood and the factors that shape its growth and decline. Executive function is the set of higher-order cognitive processes involved in regulating attention, thoughts, and actions. Relative to other cognitive domains, its development is slow and decline begins early in late adulthood. As such, it is particularly sensitive to variations in environments and experiences, and there is growing evidence that it is susceptible to intervention – important because of its link to a wide range of important life outcomes. The volume is made up of four sections. It begins with an overview of executive function’s typical development across the lifespan, providing a foundation for the remainder of the volume. The second section presents insights into mechanisms of executive function, as provided by a variety of methodological approaches. The third and fourth sections review the current research evidence on specific factors that shape executive function’s development, focusing on normative (e.g., bilingualism, physical activity, cognitive training) and clinically relevant (e.g., substance use, neurodegenerative disease) developmental pathways.

Executive Functions in Children's Everyday Lives captures the diversity and complexity of the executive system that underlies children's everyday life experiences. Acquisition of executive functions, such as interpreting communication cues and the perspectives of others, is foundational to and a function of children's early social and communicative competencies. From the soccer field to the classroom, executive functions support children's strategic thinking and control of their environment. Knowing about executive functions and how this system of cognitive resources emerges in young children is important in understanding children's development. Recent research points to the importance of also considering environmental influences on the executive system. This book is unique in its focus on how experiences in children's early lives influence and are influenced by executive functions. Viewing executive functions through this broad lens is critical for professionals who intervene when children's access to executive functions is less than optimal. This book addresses a wide range of topics, including the neurological basis of executive functions in young children, the assessment of children's executive functions, theoretical and historical conceptions of executive functions, the relations between executive functions and theory of mind, multilingualism, early school transitions, and the relationship of executive functions to Autism and ADHD. This volume will be useful to professionals in applied psychology, undergraduate and graduate students, and social science and applied researchers.

Executive dysfunction occurs in many clinical conditions and has significant impact on multiple facets of life. This book summarizes executive function and dysfunction for practitioners, researchers and educators, covering lifespan development, assessment, impact and interventions. Drawing together clinical, neurobiological and developmental viewpoints, the authors summarize the latest research findings in practical and applied terms, and review conceptual approaches to assessing and identifying executive function and dysfunction. Several chapters are devoted to practical aspects of executive dysfunction, including research-based treatment strategies, educational implications, forensic cautions and intervention resources. Executive dysfunction in ADHD, LD, MR, autism, mood disorders, epilepsy, cancer and TBI is covered, with test performance, neuroimaging and clinical presentation for these clinical conditions. The book concludes with anticipation of future work in the field. This is a key reference for medical, psychological and educational professionals who work with children, adolescents and young adults in clinical and educational settings.

Developmental changes in cognitive abilities in childhood have long been of interest to researchers across many fields, including behavioral sciences, communications, education, and medicine. With the publication of research findings showing individual differences in the development of children's learning skills has come the realization that models, methodologies, and analysis approaches that include consideration of individual differences are needed. It has brought an increase in research collaborations among experts in different fields who bring different approaches together in studies of cognitive abilities. This work has yielded a growing body of knowledge about how children with normal abilities and those with developmental disorders learn, gain skills in social competency, develop decision making and planning abilities, and acquire language skills and the skills needed for reading and writing. More recently, researchers have sought to use this body of knowledge as a basis for the early identification of children at risk for cognitive delays and for the development and evaluation of intervention approaches. The chapters in this book review literature in five areas of cognition, and provide theory- and research-based information on the applications of research findings and intervention approaches. Throughout the chapters, information on the interactions of different cognitive abilities and the role of individual differences in development that influences development assessments is included.

This groundbreaking volume, now revised and updated, has given thousands of educators and clinicians a deeper understanding of executive function (EF) processes in typically developing children and those with learning difficulties and developmental disabilities. The book elucidates how PreK?12 students develop such key capacities as goal setting, organization, cognitive flexibility, working memory, and self-monitoring. Leading experts in education, neuroscience, and psychology explore the links between EF and academic performance and present practical applications for assessment and instruction. Exemplary practices for supporting students with EF difficulties in particular content areas--reading, writing, and math--are reviewed. ÿ New to This Edition *Expanded coverage of reading--chapters on recent fMRI research findings; working memory and reading; and self-regulation and reading comprehension. *Chapter on early childhood. *Chapter on embedding EF strategies in the curriculum *Updated throughout with a decade's worth of significant advances in research, theory, and educational best practices. ÿ See also Meltzer's authored book Promoting Executive Function in the Classroom, which provides easy-to-implement assessment tools, teaching techniques and activities, and planning aids. ÿ