Types of Executive Function Skills

• Response Inhibition: The capacity to think before you act – this ability to resist the urge to say or do something allows us the time to evaluate a situation and how our behavior might impact it. In the young child, waiting for a short period without being disruptive is an example of response inhibition, while in the adolescent, it would be demonstrated by accepting a referee’s call without an argument.

• Working Memory: The ability to hold information in memory while performing complex tasks. It incorporates the ability to draw on past learning or experience to apply to the situation at hand or to project into the future. A young child, for example, can hold in mind and follow 1‐2 step directions, while the middle school child can remember the expectations of multiple teachers.

• Emotional Control: The ability to manage emotions to achieve goals, complete tasks, or control and direct behavior. A young child with this skill can recover from disappointment quickly. A teenager can manage the anxiety of a game or test and still perform.

• Sustained Attention: The capacity to maintain attention to a situation or task despite distractibility, fatigue, or boredom. Completing a 5‐minute chore with occasional supervision is an example of sustained attention in the younger child. The teenager can attend to homework, with short breaks for one to two hours.

• Task Initiation: The ability to begin projects without undue procrastination efficiently or timely. A young child can start a chore or assignment right after instructions are given. A high school student does not wait until the last minute to begin a project.

• Planning/Prioritization: The ability to create a roadmap to reach a goal or to complete a task. It also involves being able to make decisions about what’s important to focus on and what’s not important. A young child, with coaching, can think of options to settle a peer conflict. A teenager can formulate a plan to get a job.

• Organization: The ability to create and maintain systems to keep track of information or materials. A young child can, with a reminder, put toys in a designated place. An adolescent can organize and locate sports equipment.

• Time Management: The capacity to estimate how much time one has, how to allocate it, and how to stay within time limits and deadlines. It also involves a sense that time is important. A young child can complete a short job within a time limit set by an adult. A high school student can establish a schedule to meet task deadlines.

• Goal‐directed Persistence: The capacity to have a goal, follow through to the completion of the goal, and not be put off by or distracted by competing interests. A first grader can complete a job to get to recess. A teenager can earn and save money over time to buy something of importance.

• Flexibility: The ability to revise plans in the face of obstacles, setbacks, new information, or mistakes. It relates to an adaptability to changing conditions. A young child can adjust to a change in plans without major distress. A high school student can accept an alternative such as a different job when the first choice is unavailable.

• Metacognition: The ability to stand back and take a birds‐eye view of oneself in a situation. It is an ability to observe how you solve problems. It also includes self‐monitoring and self‐evaluative skills (e.g., asking yourself, “How am I doing? or How did I do?”). A young child can change behavior is response to feedback from an adult. A teenager can monitor and critique her performance and improve it by observing others who are more skilled.

• Stress Tolerance: the ability to thrive in stressful situations and to cope with uncertainty, change, and performance demands.