Executive Functioning

By: Nika, Lisa, Sarah, Alexis and Traci

Overview of Presentation
Definitions of executive function

Executive function and the brain

Population of students that have executive function disorders How does a deficit in executive functioning affect students behavior? How can we as educators help?

A Few Definitions
The executive functions are a set of processes that all have to do with managing oneself and one's resources in order to achieve a goal. It is an umbrella term for the neurologically-based skills involving mental control and self-regulation.(Cooper-Kahn & Dietzel, 2008). Executive function is the ability to selectively attend to, work with, and plan for specific information.(Tanner, 2009). Executive function is the ability to regulate ones behavior through working memory, inner speech, control of emotions and arousal levels, and analysis of problems and communication of problem solutions to others(Hallahan, Kauffman, & Pullen, 2012, p. 459).

A Few Theories
Peg Dawson, Ed. D. and Richard Guare, Ph.D.-12 separate but interrelated skills make up executive function Russell Barkley, Ph.D.-executive functions allow for self-regulation; behavioral inhibition is the primary executive function that all others evolve from Thomas Brown, Ph.D.-six clusters of cognitive functions: activation, focus, effort, emotion, memory, and action

Examples of Good Executive Functioning

Mental flexibility
Good planning Organization Self-monitoring

Examples of Executive Function Deficits

Inefficiency Disorganization Forgetfulness Difficulty understanding consequences

Executive Functions
Flexibility Goal-directed persistence Metacognition Organization Planning Regulation of affect Response inhibition Social thinking Sustained attention Task initiation Time management Working memory

Executive Function Assessment

Wisconsin Card Sorting Test(WCST): abstract reasoning and ability to shift cognitive strategies in response to environmental changes. California Verbal Learning Test-Childrens Version(CVLT-C): verbal learning and memory deficits Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning(BRIEF): behavior functioning

Executive Function Assessment(cont.)

Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System(D-KEFS): wide range of verbal and non-verbal executive functions
9 Subtests:
Trail-Making Test Verbal Fluency Design Fluency Color-Word Interference Test Sorting Test Twenty Questions Test Word Context Test Tower Test Proverbs Test

D-KEFS Color-Word Interference Word Reading Task:

Look at the words below and read them as quickly as you can without making any mistakes.

red blue green yellow blue green red green

blue red blue yellow green yellow red green

red green yellow blue green blue red blue

D-KEFS Color-Word Interference Word Reading Task:

Look at this page...the color names are printed in a different colored ink. You are to name the color of the ink that the letters are printed in not read the word.

red blue green yellow blue green red green

blue red blue yellow green yellow red green

red green yellow blue green blue red blue

D-KEFS Color-Word Interference Word Reading Task:

This time, for many of the words you are to name the color of the ink and not read the words. But if a word is inside a little box, you should read the word and not name the ink color.

red blue green yellow blue green red green

blue red blue yellow green yellow red green

red green yellow blue green blue red blue

D-KEFS Color-Word Interference Word Reading Test:

As the demand on Executive Functioning becomes greater, the number words/colors read correctly decreases. The D-KEFS Color-Word Interference Test can be used by the school psychologist to evaluate both cognitive flexibility and a students ability to inhibit unplanned, impulsive responses within the verbal modality(Swanson, 2005, p. 121). Looks at the students ability to control impulsiveness in verbal problem solving.

Executive Function and Effects on the Brain

By Lisa M. Goritz Section 2

Two Words to Remember

Hello Friends

Frontal Lobe & Cortex

The Frontal Lobe Of The Brain

The frontal lobe had a major impact on executive function. Located top front part of brain behind forehead

The Role of Frontal Lobe

The frontal lobe: continues to develop through adolescence and into adult life. Manages: Body movement, emotions, attention, motivation. Thinking functions: decision making, judgment, abstract reasoning, planning and completing tasks, working memory and meeting goals.

Cortex Of The Brain

The cortex is the site in the brain where lower level processes like sensation and perception are processed and integrated into thoughts, memories and abilities, and actions are planned and initiated. People with frontal lobe injuries have difficulty with the higher level processing that underlies executive functions. Because of its complexity, the frontal cortex develops more slowly than other parts of the brain and many executive functions do not fully develop until adolescence.

Tests Used For Executive Function

MRI CT Scans How Are Problems with Executive Function Identified?
There is no single test or even battery of tests that identifies all of the different features of executive function. Educators, psychologists, speech-language pathologists, and others use a variety of tests to identify problems. Careful observation and trial teaching are invaluable in identifying and better understanding weaknesses in this area.

Fun Test Time

Get a sheet of paper out!!!

Test Used for Executive Function

In one minute, how many animals can you think of that start with the letter "S"?

Tests Used For Executive Function (cont.)

Shark Seal Swan Salamander Squirrel Salmon Snail Skunk Starling Seagull Stork Serpent

Psych and Developmental disorders

Executive function deficits are associated with a number of psychiatric and developmental disorders including: Obsessive-compulsive disorder Tourette's syndrome Depression Schizophrenia Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder Autisim

Anti-Social

Anti-social Behavior
Executive function deficits also appear to play a role in antisocial behavior. Chronic heavy users of drugs and alcohol show impairments on tests of executive function. Some of these deficits appear to result from heavy substance use, but there is also evidence suggesting that problems with executive functions may contribute to the development of substance use disorders.

Damage To The Brain

Damage to the frontal lobe or the cells that send information to the frontal lobes may result in decline function. In the case of an injury to the fontal lobe such as stroke or head injury there may be a sudden loss of functions from this area of the brain.

Impact of Stroke

Alzheimers/Dementia

Dementia/Alzheimer's
Slow progressive decline, cause frontal dementia. Decline in thinking. Some days executive function may be better or worse. The way the brain forms tangles in executive function will have an interference with memory, attention span, inappropriate responses.

Picture of Dementia/Normal

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

ADHD
Five years ago, most parents and teachers of students with ADHD didn't have a clue that a child's academic success was contingent upon strong executive skills. Parents and educators realize that deficits in critical cognitive skills known as executive functions (EF) are slower to mature in many children with ADHD

ADHD Cont.
In 2007, researchers made a startling discovery: the brains of students with ADHD mature three years more slowly than their peers. This helps explain why their executive skills are delayed. Two years later, scientists found that the part of the brain that enables students to work on "boring tasks" such as school work has a reduced number of dopamine receptors and transporters. Which is why students with ADHD have the capability to play video games for hours vs doing homework.

ADHD MRI
MRI and CT to look at differences of the brain for children with ADHD. Right frontal lobe is smaller with children with ADHD.

ADHD
Basal Ganglia has been believed to be responsible for ADHD.

Autism

Autism
The brains of children with autism have far more neurons in the prefrontal cortex than the brains of kids without autism, finds a new study that could advance research into the disorder. If there is an excess number of neurons, there must be a negative consequence to that in the way the brain becomes wired or organized.

Autism Study
In a small, preliminary study, researchers examined postmortem brain tissue from seven boys with autism and six boys without autism who were aged 2 to 16 when they died. The children with autism had on average 67 percent more neurons -- a type of brain cell and a fundamental building block of the nervous system -- than boys without autism of a similar age.

Tourettes

Tourettes
The Tourettes brain shows alterations in the white-matter connections that allow different brain areas to communicate with one another. Brain scans also revealed changes in activity as indicated by blood flow when people with Tourette syndrome performed an executive function task.

Tourettes
Researchers found that changes in the frontal cortex of the Tourettes brain, the region most often linked to executive function, are strongly linked to levels of tic severity and executive task performance.

The End

Alexis TurnPart 4
Executive Functioning Processes (Students frequently succeed in problem -Planning solving and conceptual reasoning, but may have -Organizing difficulty initiating work, shifting strategies, self-Prioritizing monitoring and selecting appropriate work) -Shifting -Memorizing -Checking

School
First-graders are assigned increasingly challenging homework, and the literacy expectations have risen to include the ability to write simple book reports. At the middle and high school levels, complex multistep projects are assigned that require weeks of independent research in multiple domains and involve numerous executive function processes, including setting goals, planning, prioritizing, accessing working memory, and shifting mindsets. Many students may therefore be required to complete academic tasks that are developmentally and cognitively too challenging.

School Continued
Many of these students may have been successful in early elementary school, where the focus has been on developing isolated skills . (e.g., decoding, spelling, math facts, and computation). They begin to experience academic difficulties in the upper grades when they are required to integrate many skills in order to complete complex, open-ended tasks independently (e.g., reading comprehension, summarizing, math problem solving, essay writing).

Executive Functioning Difficulties

Their strong conceptual reasoning abilities may not match their output and productivity because of their difficulties organizing and prioritizing numerous details. Info may become clogged or stuck, so they cannot initiate new tasks or shift flexibility. Difficulties emerge as the academic curriculum becomes more complex and conceptually demanding. Students are required to synthesize and organize large amounts of info.

Affects Learning & Strategies

Difficulty planning a project Trouble comprehending how much time a project with take to complete Struggles to tell a story or communicating details in sequence Difficulty retaining information while doing something with it. i.e. remembering a phone number while dialing Take step-by-step approaches Use tools like time organizers, computers or watches with alarms Visual schedules and review them a few times a day Ask for written directions with oral instructions Plan and structure transition times and shifts in activites Create checklists, estimating how long tasks will take

Independent studying, homework, and long-term projects

Challenging for many students with learning disabilities as they advance to the higher grades. Tasks are highly dependent on executive function processes and require students to plan ahead, predict outcomes, and set long-term goals. Self-regulation and self-monitoring are critical to create independence. Independent projects are particularly challenging for students with weak executive function processes, as they involve several aspects of organization, including time management, sequencing information, acquiring the materials and information needed to complete tasks, bringing tasks to completion, and remembering to submit them in time to earn credit (Meltzer).

Test taking
Places demands on a students ability to plan and execute specific responses on demand. Students with learning disabilities frequently struggle to perform appropriately on tests and cannot easily show what they know (Meltzer & Montague, 1995; Scruggs & Mastropieri, 1995). They may not: listen to cues from teachers, easily understand the format of textbooks and may not recognize sidebars, diagrams, or tables of contents as tools for organizing and prioritizing information, use cues from the classroom and from print to predict possible questions on upcoming tests and to plan potential responses. Many students with learning disabilities do not easily manage their time, struggle to identify the most important information for studying, and do not prioritize their tasks.

The bottom line

The brain continued to mature and develop connections well into adulthood, and a persons executive abilities are shaped by both physical changes in the brain and by life experiences, in the classroom and in the world at large. Early attention to developing efficient skills in this areas can be very helpful and frequent reassurance and explicit feedback are strongly recommended (National Center for Learning Disabilities, 2008).

Bibliography
Cooper-Kahn, J., & Dietzel, L. (2008). What is executive functioning?. Retrieved from http://www.ldonline.org/article/29122/ Decaire, M. (2006). Executive functioning assessment in psychoeducational domains. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/psychoed/executive-functioning-assessment-in-psychoeducational-domains Hallahan, D., Kauffman, J., & Pullen, P. (2012). Exceptional learners: An introduction to special education. (12 ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Horowitz, S. H. (2007, March 1). Executive functioning and learning disabilities. Retrieved from www.ncld.org/ld-basics/ld-aampexecutive-functioning/basic-ef-facts/executive-functioning-and-learning-disabilities LearningWorks for Kids. (2007). What are executive functions?. Retrieved from http://learningworksforkids.com/executive.html McCloskey, G. (2008). Assessment of executive functions. Retrieved from http://www.ahionline.com/SchoolPsychHandouts2008/AtlanticCity/McCloskey.pdf National Center for Learning Disabilities. (2008). Executive function fact sheet. Retrieved from www.ldonline.org/article/24880/?theme=print Swanson, J. (2005). The delis-kaplan executive function system: A review. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 20(1/2), 117128. doi: 10.1177/0829573506295469 Tanner, J. (2009, July 10). What is executive function?. Retrieved from http://www.brainybehavior.com/blog/2009/07/what-isexecutive-function/