A Developmental Perspective on Executive Function

Best, John R; Miller, Patricia H

doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01499.x

Cited by 2,692Developmental and Educational NeuropsychologyNeural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesChild and Animal Learning Development

A Developmental Perspective on Executive Function

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Best, John R, Miller, Patricia H·2010·Child Development

DOI 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01499.xPMC PMC3058827

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Abstract

This review article examines theoretical and methodological issues in the construction of a developmental perspective on executive function (EF) in childhood and adolescence. Unlike most reviews of EF, which focus on preschoolers, this review focuses on studies that include large age ranges. It outlines the development of the foundational components of EF—inhibition, working memory, and shifting. Cognitive and neurophysiological assessments show that although EF emerges during the first few years of life, it continues to strengthen significantly throughout childhood and adolescence. The components vary somewhat in their developmental trajectories. The article relates the findings to long-standing issues of development (e.g., developmental sequences, trajectories, and processes) and suggests research needed for constructing a developmental framework encompassing early childhood through adolescence.

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Working memory (specifically updating and monitoring), attention, and emotional control coalesce into executive function.
“WM—specifically updating and monitoring—attention, and emotional control coalesce into EF (Roth et al., 2005; Best & Miller, 2010), and are all are strained by overused social media.”
From The Relationship Between TikTok Usage and Executive Function Is Mediated by Problematic Social Media Use (2025) · cites this paper as Best & Miller, 2010
In “Theoretical and Methodological Challenges” (page not provided), the paper identifies information updating and monitoring (working memory) as a foundational executive function and discusses the anterior attention system’s role in regulating other brain networks. It does not identify emotional control as one of the foundational functions; its discussion of socioemotional influences in “Inhibition” does not establish that part of the claimed grouping. The social-media assertion follows the citation and is not judged here. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Frontal lobe capacity for internally guided behavior, working memory, and organizational skills does not reach full adult functional capacity until mid to late adolescence.
“the frontal lobe capacity for internally guided behavior, working memory, and organizational skills do not reach full adult functional capacity until mid to late adolescence.8, 9, 10, 11, 12”
From A role for synaptic plasticity in the adolescent development of executive function (2013) · cites this paper as [12]
The Working Memory section (page not provided) reports improvement through adolescence, with performance on some demanding tasks continuing to improve into adulthood. The Theoretical and Methodological Challenges section (page not provided) says the prefrontal cortex matures later in adolescence. These passages support prolonged development, but not a single mid-to-late-adolescent point of full adult functional capacity for all three named abilities, particularly internally guided behavior and organizational skills. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Complex inhibitory control tasks require integration of multiple cognitive processes including working memory, so simple tasks may more purely reflect inhibitory control.
“Given that complex inhibitory control tasks require the integration of multiple cognitive processes, including working memory, simple tasks may more purely reflect inhibitory control (Best & Miller, 2010).”
From Inhibitory control and working memory in post-institutionalized children (2013) · cites this paper as Best & Miller, 2010
Under typical family rearing conditions, inhibitory control and working memory emerge in the first year of life and develop rapidly over early childhood.
“Under typical family rearing conditions, inhibitory control and working memory emerge in the first year of life and develop rapidly over the course of early childhood (Best & Miller, 2010; Garon, Bryson, & Smith, 2008; Hughes, 2011; Rueda, Posner, & Rothbart, 2005).”
From Inhibitory control and working memory in post-institutionalized children (2013) · cites this paper as Best & Miller, 2010
Inhibitory control develops rapidly during the preschool years and typically continues to improve into middle childhood.
“Inhibitory control develops rapidly during the preschool years and typically continues to improve into middle childhood (Kray et al., 2009, 2012; Best and Miller, 2010).”
From Executive control training from middle childhood to adolescence (2014) · cites this paper as Best and Miller, 2010

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Relations between executive function and academic achievement from ages 5 to 17 in a large, representative national sample.
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“EF skills strengthen significantly throughout childhood and adolescence and can be influenced by environmental enrichment (Best & Miller, 2010; M. C. Davidson, Amso, Anderson, & Diamond, 2006).”
Background
II. NIH TOOLBOX COGNITION BATTERY (CB): MEASURING EXECUTIVE FUNCTION AND ATTENTION
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Assessing executive function in adolescence: A scoping review of existing measures and their psychometric robustness.
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The neural architecture of executive functions is established by middle childhood
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“One view is that EFs are dissociable in early childhood with inhibition showing improvement during the pre-school years and less change later on, whereas WM and cognitive flexibility follow a more gradual linear improvement throughout development (Best & Miller, 2010).”
Background
Training and asymmetrical transfer effects of working memory and inhibitory control in primary school children
Liu, H., Qi, Y., Zhang, H., Liang, Y., Lu, L., Zhou, J., Zhang, T., & Yu, X. (2023) · Journal of Experimental Child Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2022.105603 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
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“WM—specifically updating and monitoring—attention, and emotional control coalesce into EF (Roth et al., 2005; Best & Miller, 2010), and are all are strained by overused social media.”
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“…and (b) school-aged children’s executive functioning/cognitive control abilities also follow different developmental trajectories (Best et al., 2009; Best & Miller, 2010), with working memory and inhibitory control reflecting unique executive functions in early childhood (Lerner & Lonigan, 2014)…”
Background
Evidence from formal logical reasoning reveals that the language of thought is not natural language
Kean, H., Fung, A., Jaggers, P., Chen, J., Rule, J. S., Benn, Y., Tenenbaum, J. B., Piantadosi, S. T., Varley, R. A., & Fedorenko, E. (2026) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2520095123 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
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“In academic contexts, activation-regulating functions help students organize tasks, focus attention, and persist despite challenges, all of which are critical for academic performance [4].”
Developing Functional Network Connectivity of the Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex Mediates Externalizing Psychopathology in Adolescents with Child Neglect
Silveira, S., Boney, S., Tapert, S. F., & Mishra, J. (2021) · doi:10.1101/2021.01.29.21250544

Authors: Best, J. R., & Miller, P. H.
Affiliations: University of Georgia (US)
Corresponding author: Miller, Patricia H
ORCID: Best, John R
Venue: Child Development
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published: 2010-11-01
Volume: 81
Issue: 6
Pages: 1641-1660
ISSN: 0009-3920 (ISSN-L)
1467-8624
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01499.x
PMC: PMC3058827
OpenAlex: W1685870920
Cited by: 2,692
References: 105
Citations by year: 2026: 315 · 2025: 214 · 2024: 221 · 2023: 260 · 2022: 210 · 2021: 254 · 2020: 229 · 2019: 165 · 2018: 171 · 2017: 145 · 2016: 117 · 2015: 131 · 2014: 107 · 2013: 65 · 2012: 60
FWCI: 3.94
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: green
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Licence: academic.oup.com/pages/standard-publication-reuse-rights (vor)
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor, 14 d)
Locations: Child Development (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01HL087923)
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01 DK70922-01, R01DK070922)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
Keywords: executive function, developmental trajectories, inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility, childhood, adolescence, early childhood, neurophysiological assessment, cognitive assessment, developmental sequence
MeSH terms: Adolescent, Age Factors, Child, Child Development, Cognition, Humans, Inhibition, Psychological, Memory, Short-Term, Neuropsychological Tests, Stress, Psychological, Adolescent Development, Executive Function

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A Developmental Perspective on Executive Function

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