Executive Function (Frontiers of Developmental Science)

by Sandra A. Wiebe

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Author: Sandra A. Wiebe

Publisher: Routledge

Hardcover:
ISBN 10: 9781138655546
ISBN 13: 978-1138655546

Executive Function: Development Across the Life Span presents perspectives from leading researchers and theorists on the development of executive function from infancy to late adulthood and the factors that shape its growth and decline. Executive function is the set of higher-order cognitive processes involved in regulating attention, thoughts, and actions. Relative to other cognitive domains, its development is slow and decline begins early in late adulthood. As such, it is particularly sensitive to variations in environments and experiences, and there is growing evidence that it is susceptible to intervention – important because of its link to a wide range of important life outcomes.

The volume is made up of four sections. It begins with an overview of executive function’s typical development across the lifespan, providing a foundation for the remainder of the volume. The second section presents insights into mechanisms of executive function, as provided by a variety of methodological approaches. The third and fourth sections review the current research evidence on specific factors that shape executive function’s development, focusing on normative (e.g., bilingualism, physical activity, cognitive training) and clinically relevant (e.g., substance use, neurodegenerative disease) developmental pathways.

Review

‘This volume makes a superlative addition to the growing corpus of research on executive function. By bringing together chapters on executive function across the life span and placing them in social, cultural, and clinical contexts, this volume is likely to spark interest and innovative thinking among researchers, undergraduate and graduate students, and practitioners.’ - Cybele Raver, New York University, USA

‘A fantastic state-of-the-art compilation about the development of executive function provided by a careful selection of experts from around the world. A book to keep within reach of those interested in this central aspect of human development!’ - M. Rosario (Charo) Rueda, University of Granada, Spain

‘This compendium serves as an introduction to research on executive functions, the set of basic cognitive processes that support goal-directed behavior. It is likely to be the broadest overview to date on this topic, covering a range of ages, populations, and approaches. Collectively, the chapters examine how executive functioning changes from infancy through old age, and how it is affected by environmental influences and various disorders. A variety of methods are featured, including behavioral, neuroimaging, and genetic research, as well as computational modeling. The chapters are brief and clearly written, and point the interested reader to the primary literature for more in-depth coverage of these topics.’ - Silvia Bunge, University of California, Berkeley, USA

About the Author

Sandra A. Wiebe is a developmental cognitive scientist who studies executive function in childhood. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute at the University of Alberta, Canada.

Julia Karbach is a developmental psychologist who studies neurocognitive development and plasticity across the life span. She is a Professor at the Department of Psychology at the University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany.