Executive Function and Communication

Executive function is a general operational term employed in the human and psychological sciences to refer to the product of a host of cognitive processes mediated by activity within the prefrontal cortex and underlying one’s ability to achieve goal-directed behavior. While from a practical perspective executive function operates as a multidimensional cognitive mechanism that guides behavior toward attainment of various goals, research conducted in the cognitive sciences suggests that there are various cognitive processes that operate synergistically to produce this outcome. This entry discusses the cognitive processes involved, reviews a brief history of the study of executive function, and considers clinical relevance for clinicians who work with patients with a language disorder as well as other disorders.

There is currently no single, agreed-upon definition of executive function, nor a clear and concise underlying model of how it operates. However, there are a number of cognitive processes that are understood to be involved in executive functioning. Three of these cognitive processes (sometimes referred to as the “foundational executive processes”) are inhibition, working memory, and shifting. Inhibition refers to the capacity in normal-functioning individuals to delay the initial prepotent response to an event or to stop an ongoing internal or behavioral response. Working memory refers to the ability to hold events in mind over short periods of time without the need for external clues or cues. Shifting refers to the ability to shift between mental states, tasks, or various expectations. These three cognitive processes, in turn, enable or assist in the operation of several secondary processes such as planning, analyzing, predicting, and self-regulation of affect, motivation, or arousal. Together, these cognitive processes, mediated by activity in the prefrontal cortex, give rise to the behavioral manifestations of motor control, behavioral fluency, and rule-governed behaviors that result in goal-directed outcomes.

An example of one well-known model of executive function comes from clinical psychologist Russell Barkley. In his model, prefrontal cortex functioning enables an inhibitory capacity that permits a delay in the need or decision to respond to an internal or external stimulus. This delay allows working memory to review various aspects of the context or event involved in the stimuli, to create an anticipatory set that might give rise to hindsight or foresight, and then based upon the ability to shift, activates a behavioral response that is goal directed. In accomplishing this objective, various other cognitive processes are [Page 725]activated (e.g., self-regulation, prediction, planning, reconstitution). The results manifest as relevant and goal-directed responses wherein novel or complex behavioral acts are executed with a sensitivity to response feedback, goal-directed persistence, and social appropriateness.

Also included in some, but not all, conceptions of executive function is the idea of one’s skill and appropriateness in social interactions. This social/communicative component of executive function, while not the factor most often identified in the literature, is the characteristic always mentioned by caregivers when discussing problematic behaviors of a person with disordered/damaged executive function. Often, a behavior or ability is more easily defined by what is absent or disordered in the person with damage to the cognitive processes in question. Certainly, an individual’s disordered capacity to interpret social and language cues, to understand one’s own social/communicative responsibilities, and to accurately judge another’s social, oral, and nonverbal responses are often identified as among the most challenging of all the disabilities displayed by someone with damaged executive function.

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