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Executive Function

Higher-order processes used to organize behavior toward goals.

Direct answer

Executive functions are higher-level processes involved in planning, decision-making, inhibition, organization, flexibility, problem solving, and persistent goal pursuit.

Mechanism

How it works

  1. 01

    Goals must be maintained while distractions and competing impulses are managed.

  2. 02

    Plans require sequencing actions and updating them when conditions change.

  3. 03

    Cognitive flexibility allows a system to abandon or revise a strategy without abandoning the goal itself.

Consequence

Why it matters

  1. 01

    A person can understand a goal while still encountering friction in organizing the path toward it.

  2. 02

    Externalizing state, constraints, and next actions can reduce the amount that must be held internally.

Search intent

Questions this page answers

3 questions
What are executive functions?
Why is task switching hard?
How do planning and inhibition interact?

Evidence

Sources

1 cited
  1. 01
    APA Dictionary: executive functionsAmerican Psychological Association

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