Strengthening Executive Function in Children
What is executive function and can it really apply to our youth? Executive function and self-regulation skills are the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully. Just as an air traffic control system at a busy airport safely manages the arrivals and departures of many aircraft on multiple runways, the brain needs this skill set to filter distractions, prioritize tasks, set and achieve goals, and control impulses (Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University).
Executive function is a set of skills that allow people to control their behavior and direct it toward longer-term goals, rather than doing what is automatic or easiest to accomplish. These skills are exercised when children pause and reflect before reacting, according to researchers. (Carlson, S. M., & Zelazo, P. D., & Faja, S. (2013). Executive function. In P. D. Zelazo (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of developmental psychology, Vol. 1: Body and mind (pp. 706-743). New York: Oxford University Press.)
This process sounds easier said than done, but in truth there are a few simple steps to connect this concept to the youth in your everyday life!
Alyssa Meuwissen, Search Institute Intern and Doctoral Candidate Institute for Child Development, University of Minnesota article titled "Strengthening Executive Function in Children: Tips for Parents and Practitioners" lays out a nice strategy to incorporate some of these ideas and concepts. She states there are three components of executive function:
- Working Memory is the capacity to hold and work with multiple pieces of information simultaneously.
- Cognitive Flexibility is the capacity to easily switch between different ways of thinking, such as changing behavior to fit different situations or seeing something from a different perspective.
- Inhibitory Control is the capacity to interrupt an automatic response, control the body, and resist distractions in order to do what is advantageous in the long run.
Meuwissen provides suggestions and examples of how executive function is clearly found in our everyday life with youth:
- Executive function skills are used constantly in daily life. Examples include calming yourself down instead of yelling and throwing things when you're upset, continuing to work on your math homework even when it's frustrating, remembering to raise your hand rather than blurt out an answer in class, and waiting until after dinner to eat your dessert.
- Executive function can also help children get along better with others, because they are able to see things from other people's points of view and control their emotions and actions. Executive function skills have also been shown to predict long-term developmental outcomes.
- Reducing the executive function demands on children, such as giving one direction at a time or removing desirable distractions from the immediate vicinity, can allow children to practice their developing executive function skills successfully.
Meuwissen continues on to suggest adults can help children's executive functions increase by keeping in mind the acronym SOAR.
Support imagination
We must provide opportunities for youth to step out of the current situation or moment. Giving them a chance to ask "what if" questions allows them to take a step away from the current situation and look at it from a different angle. Remember the old adage of you don't know where a person has been unless you walk in their shoes? How many of us push our youth to think about other's point of view or way of life? Encouraging youth to think beyond their current situation opens the door for many great conversations and supports awareness.
Offer choices within limits
Choices are important for youth to work on their decision making skills. Providing limits within their choices create a framework to process different scenarios. In our family we consistently offer choices when there are decisions to be made which affect everyone. Our technique is to have at least three options and each person gets to state their opinion on the choices then we put it to a vote. Meuwissen's example is, rather than telling the child what he or she is going to eat for breakfast (no choice) or asking the child what he or she wants for breakfast (unlimited choice), you might ask if your child wants cereal, oatmeal, or eggs.
Assist reflection
Reflection is the key to understanding. Taking time to stop and let the youth articulate back, or predicting the future of a current situation, is a lifelong skill every youth can benefit from. The big picture concept is hard for many youth to grasp but as the caring adults we are, we have to provide opportunities to have these conversations. The ability to foresee or predict logical consequences is a skill which, if practiced, can be a strong tool within a youth's tool box.
Raise activity levels
Meuwissen suggests getting heart rates up to increase blood flow to the brain, which is important for brain development, including the parts of the brain used for executive function.
Through 4-H project work either in our community clubs, school enrichment, SPIN clubs, or summer camps the SOAR concept is at the forefront of how we work with youth. Executive function seems a given in positive youth development which is the foundation of 4-H programs. Yet as adults we need to be consciously aware of our modeling of these concepts and have a strong understanding of them.
The Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University states: Providing the support that children need to build these skills at home, in early care and education programs, and in other settings they experience regularly is one of society's most important responsibilities. Growth-promoting environments such as 4-H programs provide children with "scaffolding" that helps them practice necessary skills before they must perform them alone.