Executive Functions in Children's Everyday Lives: A Handbook for Professionals in Applied Psychology

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
• 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.

Key Features:

• Focuses on children's environment and the influence of the environment on the executive system.
• Discusses differences in multilingual children and children with learning, attention, and social communication disorders.
• Geared toward applied psychologists interested in early intervention.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to Executive Functions in Young Children Maureen Hoskyn, Grace Iarocci, and Arlene R. Young Part One: Executive Functions and Children's Development
2. Executive Functioning: A Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective Katie Knapp and J. Bruce Morton
3. Assessing Executive Functions in Young Children Arlene R. Young, Mandeep K. Gurm, and Katherine A. O'Donnell
4. Sports as a Metaphor for Understanding the Development of Executive Function and Mis-function Jacob A. Burack, Colin Campbell, Oriane Landry, and Mariëtte Huizinga
5. Executive Functioning Helps Children Think About and Learn About Others' Mental States Jeannette E. Benson and Mark A. Sabbagh
6. Parenting and Young Children's Executive Function Development Annie Bernier, Diane St-Laurent, Célia Matte-Gagné, Tristan Milot, Stuart I. Hammond, and Jeremy I. M. Carpendale
7. Transition to School: Executive Function, Emergent Academic Skills, and Early School Achievement Ulrich Müller, Michael Miller, Sarah Hutchison, and Kayla Ten Eycke Part Two: Diversity in the Development of Executive Functions
8. The Bilingual Advantage: Evidence and Alternative Views J. Bruce Morton and Stephanie M. Carlson
9. Executive Functions and Plurilingualism in Young Children Maureen Hoskyn
10. Executive Functions and the Developing Social Competence of Children with ASD Grace Iarocci and Emily Gardiner
11. The Assessment of Executive Functions in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Performance-Based Measures Versus Ratings of Behavior Maggie E. Toplak, Richard F. West, and Keith E. Stanovich

"This well-organized collection will serve as an excellent source of the latest scientific information about executive function, and the contributors articulate valuable insights and implications of this information for professionals who work with children and their families."
- Philip David Zelazo, PhD, Nancy M. and John E. Lindahl, Professor, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota

"An invaluable tool for researchers and clinicians - this compilation of the latest findings in the field of executive functions provides a guide for translating research findings in this area to practical applications, from assessment to treatment."
- Nancy Garon, PhD, Associate Professor, Psychology Department, Mount Allison University