Developmental science and executive function
Open accessAbstract
Executive function abilities, including working memory, inhibitory control, and the flexible volitional shifting of the focus of attention, provide a foundation for reflection on experience, reasoning, and the purposeful regulation of behavior. These abilities and their underlying neurobiology, however, are inherently malleable and influenced by characteristics of individuals and contexts. Implications of this malleability for research on the development of executive function in early childhood, for the prospect that these abilities can be fostered and promoted by specific types of activities, and for issues relating to the reliable and valid measurement of executive function are considered.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Each of these domains (psychopathology, social competence, emotional reactivity, academic achievement) is supported by memory and executive function processes.
“Each of these domains is supported by memory and EF processes (38)”
From Long-term effects of institutional rearing, foster care, and brain activity on memory and executive functioning (2019) · cites this paper as [38]
The Abstract (page not provided) describes working memory as part of executive function and says these skills help regulate emotions and contribute to doing well in school. The EF and self-regulation section (page not provided) discusses emotional reactivity as a predictor of later executive function, rather than establishing that reactivity is supported by it. The passages do not establish the claimed support for psychopathology or social competence. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredEFs are primarily mediated by prefrontal cortical function, but are also subject to modulation by neurotransmission inputs of dopamine, noradrenaline, serotonin, and acetylcholine.
“While EFs are primarily mediated by prefrontal cortical function, they are also subject to modulation by neurotransmission inputs of dopamine, noradrenaline, serotonin, and acetylcholine.”
From Naturalistic fNIRS assessment reveals decline in executive function and altered prefrontal activation following social media use in college students (2025) · cites this paper as [9]
The relationship between specific aspects of EF and distinct regions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is well-established.
“The relationship between specific aspects of EF and distinct regions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is well-established.”
From Naturalistic fNIRS assessment reveals decline in executive function and altered prefrontal activation following social media use in college students (2025) · cites this paper as [9]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Diamond, A. (2013) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750 · Cited by 13,268 · see citing works
Handbook of self-regulation: research, theory, and applications
(2005) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.42-3719 · Cited by 3,644 · see citing works
Biobehavioral responses to stress in females: Tend-and-befriend, not fight-or-flight.
Taylor, S. E., Klein, L. C., Lewis, B. P., Gruenewald, T. L., Gurung, R. A. R., & Updegraff, J. A. (2000) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.107.3.411 · Cited by 3,308 · see citing works
Stress signalling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and function
Arnsten, A. F. T. (2009) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2648 · Cited by 3,299 · see citing works
Interventions shown to aid executive function development in children 4 to 12 years old
Diamond, A., & Lee, K. (2011) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1204529 · Cited by 2,901 · see citing works
Cole, P. M., Martin, S. E., & Dennis, T. A. (2004) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00673.x · Cited by 2,013 · see citing works
Is working memory training effective? A meta-analytic review
Melby-Lervåg, M., & Hulme, C. (2013) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0028228 · Cited by 1,782 · see citing works
Developmentally Sensitive Measures of Executive Function in Preschool Children
Carlson, S. M. (2005) · Developmental Neuropsychology · doi:10.1207/s15326942dn2802_3 · Cited by 1,638 · see citing works
Training and plasticity of working memory
Klingberg, T. (2010) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2010.05.002 · Cited by 1,585 · see citing works
Research on attention networks as a model for the integration of psychological science.
Posner, M. I., & Rothbart, M. K. (2007) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085516 · Cited by 1,569 · see citing works
School Readiness and Self-Regulation: A Developmental Psychobiological Approach
Blair, C., & Raver, C. C. (2015) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015221 · Cited by 1,240 · cited 2× · see citing works
“…have implications for all of the research directions discussed here, including construct differentiation, the relation of stress to EF, the use of research on EF as a basis for educational practice (Blair & Raver, 2015), and the measurement of EF (Willoughby, Holochwost, Blanton, & Blair, 2014).”
BackgroundMethodSelf-citationTools of the Mind: The Vygotskian Approach to Early Childhood Education
Leong, D. J., & Bodrova, E. (1995) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 1,118 · see citing works
Is working memory training effective?
Shipstead, Z., Redick, T. S., & Engle, R. W. (2012) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0027473 · Cited by 1,101 · see citing works
Inverted-U dopamine D1 receptor actions on prefrontal neurons engaged in working memory
Vijayraghavan, S., Wang, M., Birnbaum, S. G., Williams, G. V., & Arnsten, A. F. T. (2007) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn1846 · Cited by 1,013 · see citing works
Promoting Academic and Social-Emotional School Readiness: The Head Start REDI Program
Bierman, K. L., Domitrovich, C. E., Nix, R. L., Gest, S. D., Welsh, J. A., Greenberg, M. T., Blair, C., Nelson, K. E., & Gill, S. (2008) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01227.x · Cited by 884 · see citing works
Self-citationWiebe, S. A., Espy, K. A., & Charak, D. (2008) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.44.2.575 · Cited by 829 · see citing works
II. NIH TOOLBOX COGNITION BATTERY (CB): MEASURING EXECUTIVE FUNCTION AND ATTENTION
Zelazo, P. D., Anderson, J. E., Richler, J., Wallner-Allen, K., Beaumont, J. L., & Weintraub, S. (2013) · Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development · doi:10.1111/mono.12032 · Cited by 823 · see citing works
Raver, C. C., Jones, S. M., Li-Grining, C., Zhai, F., Bub, K., & Pressler, E. (2011) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01561.x · Cited by 754 · see citing works
Childhood poverty, chronic stress, and adult working memory
Evans, G. W., & Schamberg, M. A. (2009) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0811910106 · Cited by 724 · see citing works
Weiland, C., & Yoshikawa, H. (2013) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/cdev.12099 · Cited by 701 · see citing works
Executive function and theory of mind: Stability and prediction from ages 2 to 3.
Carlson, S. M., Mandell, D. J., & Williams, L. (2004) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.40.6.1105 · Cited by 684 · see citing works
A multimethodological analysis of cumulative risk and allostatic load among rural children
Evans, G. W. (2003) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.39.5.924 · Cited by 624 · see citing works
Cognitive gains in 7-month-old bilingual infants
Kovács, Á. M., & Mehler, J. (2009) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0811323106 · Cited by 616 · see citing works
Blair, C., Granger, D. A., Willoughby, M., Mills-Koonce, R., Cox, M., Greenberg, M. T., Kivlighan, K. T., Fortunato, C. K., & the FLP Investigators (2011) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01643.x · Cited by 579 · see citing works
Self-citationJacob, R., & Parkinson, J. (2015) · Review of Educational Research · doi:10.3102/0034654314561338 · Cited by 538 · see citing works
Attitudes and evaluations: a social cognitive neuroscience perspective
Cunningham, W. A., & Zelazo, P. D. (2007) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2006.12.005 · Cited by 525 · see citing works
Methodology of frontal and executive function
Rieger, M. (1999) · Zeitschrift für Neuropsychologie · doi:10.1024//1016-264x.10.2.123 · Cited by 483 · see citing works
Stress-induced prefrontal reorganization and executive dysfunction in rodents
Holmes, A., & Wellman, C. L. (2009) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2008.11.005 · Cited by 469 · see citing works
Blair, C., & Raver, C. C. (2014) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0112393 · Cited by 391 · see citing works
Self-citationAllan, N. P., Hume, L. E., Allan, D. M., Farrington, A. L., & Lonigan, C. J. (2014) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0037493 · Cited by 385 · see citing works
Anatomy of the Prefrontal Cortex
Fuster, J. M. (2008) · The Prefrontal Cortex · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-373644-4.00002-5 · Cited by 364 · see citing works
Cumulative risk, maternal responsiveness, and allostatic load among young adolescents.
Evans, G. W., Kim, P., Ting, A. H., Tesher, H. B., & Shannis, D. (2007) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.43.2.341 · Cited by 355 · see citing works
Raver, C. C., Jones, S. M., Li-Grining, C., Zhai, F., Metzger, M. W., & Solomon, B. (2009) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0015302 · Cited by 325 · see citing works
Strengthening school readiness for Head Start children: Evaluation of a self-regulation intervention
Schmitt, S. A., McClelland, M. M., Tominey, S. L., & Acock, A. C. (2014) · Early Childhood Research Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2014.08.001 · Cited by 304 · see citing works
Allostasis and allostatic load in the context of poverty in early childhood
Blair, C., Raver, C. C., Granger, D. A., Mills-Koonce, R., Hibel, L. C., & The Family Life Project Key Investigators (2011) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579411000344 · Cited by 240 · see citing works
Self-citationImplications of Infant Cognition for Executive Functions at Age 11
Rose, S. A., Feldman, J. F., & Jankowski, J. J. (2012) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797612444902 · Cited by 182 · see citing works
The Prefrontal Cortex and Flexible Behavior
Barbas, H., & Zikopoulos, B. (2007) · The Neuroscientist · doi:10.1177/1073858407301369 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
Kuhn, L., Willoughby, M. T., Wilbourn, M. P., Vernon‐Feagans, L., Blair, C., & The Family Life Project Key Investigators (2014) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/cdev.12249 · Cited by 175 · see citing works
Self-citationUrsache, A., The Family Life Project Investigators, Blair, C., Stifter, C., & Voegtline, K. (2013) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0027728 · Cited by 151 · see citing works
Self-citationExecutive Functions: Formative Versus Reflective Measurement
Willoughby, M. T., Holochwost, S. J., Blanton, Z. E., & Blair, C. (2014) · Measurement Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives · doi:10.1080/15366367.2014.929453 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Self-citationWilloughby, M. T., Family Life Project Investigators, Pek, J., & Blair, C. B. (2013) · Psychological Assessment · doi:10.1037/a0031747 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Self-citation5. Self-regulation by the medial frontal cortex: Limbic representation of motive set-points
Luu, P., & Tucker, D. M. (2004) · Advances in Consciousness Research · doi:10.1075/aicr.54.07luu · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Schickedanz J Dickinson D Opening the world of learning 2005 Pearson Iowa City, IA
- Wilson S Farran D Experimental evaluation of the Tools of the Mind curriculum 8 3 2012 Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness Spring Conference Washington, DC
Cited by
Sorted by citations
A canonical trajectory of executive function maturation from adolescence to adulthood
Tervo-Clemmens, B., Calabro, F. J., Parr, A. C., Fedor, J., Foran, W., & Luna, B. (2023) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-023-42540-8 · Cited by 241 · see citing works
Wade, M., Fox, N. A., Zeanah, C. H., & Nelson, C. A. (2019) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1809145116 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Memory and executive functioning in 12‐year‐old children with a history of institutional rearing
Bick, J., Zeanah, C. H., Fox, N. A., & Nelson, C. A. (2018) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/cdev.12952 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
McKenna, R., Rushe, T., & Woodcock, K. A. (2017) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2017.00154 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Aitken, A., Jounghani, A. R., Carbonell, L. M., Tadeo, D., Kumar, A., Crawford, S., Bowden, A. K., & Hosseini, S. M. H. (2025) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-025-20844-7 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
“These PFC areas are intricately connected to various brain regions, including other cortical areas and structures associated with emotional reactivity, attention control, and stress response 9,16 .”
Influential
- Authors
- Blair, C.
- Affiliations
- New York University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Blair, Clancy
- ORCID
- Blair, Clancy
- Venue
- Current Directions in Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2016-02
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 3-7
- ISSN
- 0963-7214 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-8721
- PMC
- PMC4789148
- OpenAlex
- W2324183210
- Cited by
- 271
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 40 · 2021: 41 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 6
- FWCI
- 32.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Current Directions in Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P01HD039667, R01HD051502)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Keywords
- executive function, working memory, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, early childhood development, neuroplasticity, assessment validity and reliability, cognitive development
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
