Executive function may stem from schooling rather than innate cognition

Executive Functions – The top-down process in which the human mind controls behavior and regulates thoughts and behavior has been studied for a long time using a standard set of tools, and these assessments are included in national and international child development norms.

a New research of Children In the school environment listed and in the school environment not yet in school, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesraises questions about some of the assumptions underlying the way psychologists and cognitive science scholars think about these processes.

Instead of defining the innate fundamental features of human cognition, executive functions that appear to have been captured in assessments may depend on the impact of formal schooling.

This study, “Cultural Construction of “Executive Functions”,” tested children in the Kunen region of Africa, spanning countries in Namibia and Angola, as well as the children in the UK and Bolivia. Rural children in Kunen who had either formal or formal schooling were very different from the so-called executive function tests from school peers or from the sample of “typical” western schools.

“Almost all developmental research is done about children living in the world of school,” says Joseph Henrich, professor of Ruth Moore at the Institute for Culture, Cognition and Culture in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, who oversees the research.

Referring to Kunen, he said, “We went to places where we were doing natural experiments where there were communities without schools or communities with schools. This allows us to compare cognitive development in children.

“What’s taken as a very generalized thing called “executive features” is actually really specific to the set of skills needed to navigate the school and school world. ”

Testing ongoing Henrich’s executive function often involves exercises such as memorizing a list of unconnected words. However, children with little or no formal schooling may not recognize these words as such lists do not occur in the environment.

However, researchers argued that the innate cognitive function of children who are not officially in school is intact. They were simply applied in different ways.

“In the population we work for, people are very good at remembering cows,” he said. “They can see the herds, they can tell the number of cows, they can name the cows. If you show them the cow face, they can tell you who their owner is.

It’s not that there is no executive function, the researchers explained. Instead, we need to realize that what we’ve been measuring is not overall control.

“We need to rethink how we approach it. Human PsychologyHenrich said, and much of what is considered normal cognitive development is actually a product of formal education.

Ivan Klupin, the lead author of the paper and former postdoc at Henrich’s lab, states, “The term “executive function” refers to a set of culture-specific abilities and temperament.”

“The capabilities these tasks require are universal, but inherent to some cultures and suggest that they are potentially linked to formal schooling or other facilities and experiences in urbanized societies,” says Klupin, who is currently at the London School of Economics and co-oversees a field study with Arizona State University.

The findings suggest a reexamination of terms such as “executive function” and a more accurate understanding of what these are.

“You can use this term”Executive Features“To refer to fundamental universal capabilities,” Klupin said. However, “If so, a suite of universal and culture-specific abilities measured by typical EF tasks requires a different term.”

This story is courtesy Harvard GazetteHarvard University’s official newspaper. Visit for additional university news harvard.edu.