title: Context in the development of executive functions in children.
abstract: Assessments of and interventions for executive functions have occupied a central role for neuropsychologists working with children with acquired brain injuries during the past three decades. More recently, awareness has grown about the role that executive functions play for all children and the significant impact they have on behavior and performance in home, school, and community settings. This article posits that demonstration of these functions in a real-world context is the standard by which assessment and intervention strategies should be judged. I then propose that contextually based interventions offer the best probability for meeting this standard. Support for this position is provided by the educational and behavioral literature on learning and transfer and by the neuroscience literature on pattern recognition and embodied cognition.
authors.affiliation: a Seacoast Mental Health Center , Portsmouth , New Hampshire.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guare
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009042:Motivation; D012656:Self-Help Devices
keywords: context; embodied cognition; environmental support; executive functions; motivation; training; transfer of learning