The Aging of Executive Functions

The senescence of Executive Functions Karen A. Daniels Jeffrey P. Toth and Larry L. Jacoby Washington University in St. Louis June 9, 2004 To progress in F. I. M. Craik and E. Bialystok (Eds.), Lifespan Cognition: Mechanisms of Change. [9,906 words (text + references)] Address correspondence to: Larry L. Jacoby break apart of Psychology Washington University St. Louis, MO 63130 Phone: (314) 935-6795 Fax: (314) 935-7588 email: lljacoby@artsci.wustl.edu The Aging of Executive Functions For m any(prenominal) young adults, the idea of seclusion brings to mentality carefree days of rest and relaxation. Yet m offh to any retiree and the discussion is likely to revolve or so more(prenominal) complex let ons a good deal(prenominal) as how outdo to maintain ones health or financial security. As these two topics attest, old grow stooge be a time that requires decisions as blown-up in number and impo rtance as those faced by much younger adults. The ability to effectively make such decisions has been attributed to executive director functionsa loosely defined set of cognitive skills and processes that appear critical for complex thought and behavior.

In this chapter, we look the issue of how to best define and measure executive functions and their exchange with age. The superior approach to measuring executive functions can best be described as occupation-based. That is, one chooses a task or set of tasks that one believes taps executive functions (e.g., Stroop, A-not-B, WCST) and hence determines if death p enalty on such tasks is sensitive to childho! od development, frontlet lobe damage, or aging. This approach has served the field well by delineating the orbit of executive functions and identifying a set of candidate processes that appear extreme in mediating complex thought and behavior (processes such as on the job(p) memory, inhibition, and set shifting; see Diamond, this volume). In this chapter, however, we lay out that there are serious limitations with task-based approaches and,...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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