Executive Functions in Children’s Everyday Lives

Executive Functions in Children's Everyday Lives captures the diversity and complexity of the executive system that underlies children's everyday life experiences. Acquisition of executive functions, such as interpreting communication cues and the perspectives of others, is foundational to and a function of children's early social and communicative competencies. From the soccer field to the classroom, executive functions support children's strategic thinking and control of their environment. Knowing about executive functions and how this system of cognitive resources emerges in young children is important in understanding children's development. Recent research points to the importance of also considering environmental influences on the executive system. This book is unique in its focus on how experiences in children's early lives influence and are influenced by executive functions. Viewing executive functions through this broad lens is critical for professionals who intervene when children's access to executive functions is less than optimal. This book addresses a wide range of topics, including the neurological basis of executive functions in young children, the assessment of children's executive functions, theoretical and historical conceptions of executive functions, the relations between executive functions and theory of mind, multilingualism, early school transitions, and the relationship of executive functions to Autism and ADHD. This volume will be useful to professionals in applied psychology, undergraduate and graduate students, and social science and applied researchers.

1. Introduction to Executive Functions in Young ChildrenMaureen Hoskyn, Grace Iarocci, and Arlene R. YoungPart One: Executive Functions and Children's Development2. Executive Functioning: A Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience PerspectiveKatie Knapp and J. Bruce Morton3. Assessing Executive Functions in Young ChildrenArlene R. Young, Mandeep K. Gurm, and Katherine A. O'Donnell4. Sports as a Metaphor for Understanding the Development of Executive Function and Mis-functionJacob A. Burack, Colin Campbell, Oriane Landry, and Mari?tte Huizinga5. Executive Functioning Helps Children Think About and Learn About Others' Mental StatesJeannette E. Benson and Mark A. Sabbagh6. Parenting and Young Children's Executive Function DevelopmentAnnie Bernier, Diane St-Laurent, C?lia Matte-Gagn?, Tristan Milot, Stuart I. Hammond, and Jeremy I. M. Carpendale7. Transition to School: Executive Function, Emergent Academic Skills, and Early School AchievementUlrich M?ller, Michael Miller, Sarah Hutchison, and Kayla Ten EyckePart Two: Diversity in the Development of Executive Functions8. The Bilingual Advantage: Evidence and Alternative ViewsJ. Bruce Morton and Stephanie M. Carlson9. Executive Functions and Plurilingualism in Young ChildrenMaureen Hoskyn10. Executive Functions and the Developing Social Competence of Children with ASDGrace Iarocci and Emily Gardiner11. The Assessment of Executive Functions in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Performance-Based Measures Versus Ratings of BehaviorMaggie E. Toplak, Richard F. West, and Keith E. Stanovich