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

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

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

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

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

[The third in a series of 3 posts re sensory integration, from my book Ready to Learn. ] Objectives: A. Understand that during development, sensory dominance can persist in guiding task-related behavioural responses but that sensory systems are continually calibrating one another. B. Understand that with typical experience, children gradually learn to integrate suitable/available sensory inputs to optimize task responses with adult level proficiency. C. Appreciate that sensor

[The second in a series of 3 excerpts re sensory integration from my book, Ready to Learn. ]   Objectives: A. Learn that animal and human studies reveal that immature perceivers often rely on a dominant sensory input to guide task-related behaviour. B. Understand that sensory dominance in a particular context can change as part of normal development.   When a perceiver in a multisensory task must decide upon a task-appropriate action, experience routinely assigns a weighted r

[The first in a series of 3 excerpts re sensory integration from my book, Ready to Learn. ] Objectives: A. Distinguish two examples of independent sensory function in animals. B. Appreciate the sophistication of multisensory interactions in humans but also understand that independent sensory function is sometimes observed, and most often in children. C. Define “sensory dominance.” Independent sensory function is often observed in animals. In the spirit of developmental psycho