Content area
Full Text
This special issue on executive functions (EFs) contains seven articles from five countries (Ecuador, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and three continents (North and South America and Europe). EFs (also called executive control or cognitive control) refer to a family of top-down processes needed when you have to concentrate and pay attention, when "going on automatic" or relying on instinct or intuition would be ill-advised, insufficient, or impossible (Diamond, 2006, 2013; Espy, 2004; Hughes, 2005; Jacques & Marcovitch, 2010; Miller & Cohen, 2001; Zelazo, Carlson, & Kesek, 2008). Using EFs is effortful; it is easier to continue doing what you have been doing than to change or to put thought into what to do next, and it is easier to give into temptation than to resist it.
There is general agreement that there are three core executive functions (EFs): inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility (Miyake, Emerson, & Freidman, 2000; Diamond, 2013; Lehto, Juujärvi, Kooistra, & Pulkkinen, 2003; Logue & Gould, 2013). From these, higher-order EFs are built, such as reasoning, problem-solving, and planning (Collins & Koechlin, 2012; Lunt et al., 2012).
Inhibitory Control
Inhibitory control (or inhibition) consists of the ability to control one's attention, behavior, thoughts, and emotions to override a strong internal predisposition or external lure, and instead do what is more appropriate or needed (Diamond, 2013; Levy & Wagner, 2011; Macdonald, Beauchamp, Crigan, & Anderson, 2013; Simpson et al., 2012; van den Wildenberg et al., 2010; Watson & Bell, 2013; Wiebe, Sheffield, & Espy, 2012). Having the presence of mind to wait before speaking or acting so we give a considered response rather than an impulsive one, can save us from making fools of ourselves and help us demonstrate the best of which we are capable. Self-control is the aspect of inhibitory control that involves resisting temptations and not acting impulsively. The temptation resisted might be to indulge in pleasures when one should not (e.g., eating sweets if you are trying to lose weight), to overindulge, or to stray from the straight and narrow (e.g., to cheat or steal). Alternatively, the temptation might be to impulsively react (e.g., reflexively striking back at someone who has hurt your feelings) or to do or take what...