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6.5 Shifting: switching attentional focus within working memory
Objectives: A. Understand that Shifting is an executive function confined to working memory. B. Appreciate Shifting for its mysterious nature and unique features, including that the collaborative presence of the other two core EF components is prerequisite. C. Identify common classroom behaviours that reflect Shifting and school readiness. The third component of the three-component model of executive function is Shifting, our ability to switch our focus of attention within wo

Dylan Smith
Dec 15, 20255 min read
6.4 Inhibition: suppressing automatic responses
Objectives: A. Define “prepotent response.” B. Understand that the core component of EF known as Inhibition emerges to allow voluntary control of complex rule-bound behaviour between 3 and 4 years of age. C. Appreciate that prepotent behaviour is a source of much challenge for children in early educational settings. D. Identify common classroom behaviours that reflect Inhibition and school readiness. In the previous chapter, we learned that inhibition has many faces. Typical

Dylan Smith
Dec 12, 20254 min read
6.3 Updating: refreshing and manipulating working memory contents
Objectives: A. Understand that the core component of executive function known as “Updating” is a higher-order aspect of working memory. B. Appreciate that Updating refers to the monitoring and flexible refreshing of goal-oriented information in working memory, as well as the purposeful manipulation of that information. C. Identify common classroom behaviours that reflect Updating and school readiness. Earlier in this chapter, we defined Updating as the ability to monitor, rep

Dylan Smith
Dec 9, 20253 min read
6.2 Executive functions emerge in early childhood
Objectives: A. Understand that EFs differentiate early in life and are evident in child behaviour. B. Appreciate that new measurement tools and a surge of research during the 1990s began improving our understanding of how EFs develop and prepare children for school. At age 6, most children are still mustering full attention to tie their shoelaces. But only a few years later, many of them will be able to tie a shoe while balancing on the other leg and maintaining eye contact a

Dylan Smith
Dec 1, 20254 min read
5.1 Active sensing engages a world full of rhythms
Natural behaviour frequently involves the need to look for task-relevant information. The function of attention is to facilitate this process by enhancing sensory signals from objects that match our goals. Objects that are selected are more likely to enter into conscious awareness, be remembered, and be acted upon. – Yu et al., 2023 Objectives: A. Learn how animals purposefully apply rhythmic motor movements to detect and track biologically relevant sensory rhythms. B. Apply

Dylan Smith
Nov 23, 20256 min read
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