Executive Function and Self-Regulation

Executive function and self-regulation skills are mental processes that enable us to focus attention, plan, solve problems, and complete multiple tasks, much like managing air traffic control at a busy airport where various planes must take off and land on multiple runways. The brain uses these skills to shift focus, set priorities, and control impulses.

When children have opportunities to develop executive function and self-regulation skills, both individuals and society benefit throughout their lives. These skills are essential for learning and development, promote positive behavior, and enable us to make healthy choices for ourselves and our families.

Executive function and self-regulation skills rely on three types of brain functions: working memory, mental flexibility, and self-control. These functions are interconnected and essential for the successful use of executive function skills, as they work in coordination.
• Working memory regulates our ability to retain and process bits of information for a short period.
• Mental flexibility helps us switch attention as required by different demands or apply different rules in different situations.
• Self-control enables us to set priorities and resist impulsive actions or responses.

Children are not born with these skills—they are born with the potential to develop them. Some children need more support to develop these skills. In environments where children lack support from adults and their surroundings or are exposed to toxic stress, their skill development may be seriously delayed or impaired.
Toxic stress, resulting from environments marked by neglect or violence, can hinder brain development and executive function skills in children.

A key societal responsibility is to support children at home, within early care and education programs, and in the environments they frequently encounter.

A supportive developmental environment provides children with the “scaffolding” they need to practice essential skills until they can perform them independently.
Adults can foster children’s executive function development by establishing routines, modeling social behavior, and creating and strengthening supportive, reliable relationships.

It’s also crucial for children to develop these skills through activities that encourage creative play and social connections, teach them how to manage stress, include physical exercise, and gradually give children the ability to direct their actions as adult supervision decreases.

Prepared based on the publication from Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child.

For the full version, see:
Activities Guide: Enhancing and Practicing Executive Function Skills with Children from Infancy to Adolescence: https://bit.ly/3wsHrsZ