How your brain's executive function works -- and how to improve it | Sabine Doebel

Summary

Joanna Pietrulewicz, a cognitive scientist, discusses the concept of executive function—the ability to consciously control thoughts, emotions, and actions—and its impact on various aspects of life. She challenges the notion that brain training apps can enhance executive function broadly, emphasizing the importance of context in its development. Through experiments like the 'dimensional change card sort' and the 'marshmallow test,' Pietrulewicz illustrates how context influences executive function, suggesting that strategies and motivation within specific situations are key to improvement.

Takeaways

• 🚗 Learning to drive is mentally exhausting because it requires a lot of executive function, which is our ability to consciously control our thoughts, emotions, and actions to achieve goals.
• 🧠 Executive function is crucial for breaking away from habit, inhibiting impulses, and planning ahead, and it's visible when things go wrong, like absentminded actions.
• 🌟 Executive function predicts various positive outcomes in life, including social skills, academic achievement, mental and physical health, financial success, and avoiding legal trouble.
• 🚫 Brain training apps and games may not improve executive function broadly because they often exercise it in narrow, non-real-world contexts.
• 🔄 The 'dimensional change card sort' is a test used to measure executive function in children, showing how they switch between sorting by shape and color.
• 👧 Young children often struggle with tasks requiring a switch in strategy, highlighting the developmental nature of executive function.
• 📈 Context significantly influences executive function; for example, children are more likely to wait for a reward if they believe their peer group also waits.
• 🤔 The marshmallow test, a measure of delay of gratification, is influenced by the context provided by the child's perceived group behavior.
• 👫 Children's preferences and strategies for self-control are shaped by the context of their social group, affecting their executive function.
• 💡 To improve executive function, focus on the context, motivation, and specific strategies that can be applied in real-life situations rather than seeking quick fixes.

Q & A

What is executive function and why is it important?

Executive function is the cognitive ability to consciously control thoughts, emotions, and actions to achieve goals. It's important because it predicts various positive outcomes such as social skills, academic achievement, mental and physical health, financial management, and even staying out of jail.

Why does the speaker say that brain training apps won't improve executive function in a broad sense?

The speaker argues that brain training apps won't improve executive function broadly because they exercise it in a narrow way, outside of real-world contexts where it's actually used.

What is the 'dimensional change card sort' and how does it relate to executive function?

The 'dimensional change card sort' is a test used to measure executive function in young children. It involves sorting cards first by one dimension (like shape) and then switching to sort by another dimension (like color), which requires the child to inhibit the initial habit and adapt to a new sorting rule.

How does the context influence executive function according to the speaker's research?

The speaker's research shows that context significantly influences executive function. For example, children in the marshmallow test were more likely to wait for a second marshmallow if they believed their group typically waited, indicating that social context and perceived group behavior can affect an individual's executive function.

What was the twist the speaker added to the classic marshmallow test?

The speaker added a twist to the marshmallow test by assigning children to a group (green or orange) and telling them which group typically waited for two marshmallows. This introduced the influence of perceived group behavior on the child's ability to delay gratification.

How did the speaker's research demonstrate that context can help improve executive function?

The research showed that children who believed their group typically waited for two marshmallows were more likely to wait themselves and preferred other kids who also liked to wait. This suggests that context, such as group identity and values, can enhance executive function by making goals more meaningful and by influencing the strategies used to achieve those goals.

What practical advice does the speaker give for improving executive function?

The speaker suggests improving executive function by changing the context to make goals more meaningful and by teaching strategies tailored to specific situations, such as learning a new language or doing homework.

Why does the speaker mention the ancient Greeks and their advice 'Know thyself'?

The speaker mentions the ancient Greeks to emphasize the importance of self-awareness, particularly understanding how context shapes behavior and using that knowledge to improve executive function.

What is the significance of the speaker's anecdote about learning to drive?

The speaker's anecdote about learning to drive illustrates the mental exhaustion that comes from using executive function, as it requires conscious control over thoughts and actions, which is a concept central to the discussion of executive function.

How does the speaker use humor in the script to engage the audience?

The speaker uses humor by sharing relatable and amusing scenarios, such as pouring orange juice on cereal or missing a meeting while scrolling on Facebook, to make the topic of executive function more engaging and to illustrate the concept of absentmindedness.

Outlines

00:00

🚗 Understanding Executive Function Through Driving

The speaker, a cognitive scientist, confesses to having recently learned how to drive, an experience that was mentally exhausting due to the heavy use of executive function. Executive function is described as the ability to consciously control thoughts, emotions, and actions to achieve goals, such as learning to drive. It is also the cognitive process we rely on to break habits, inhibit impulses, and plan ahead. The speaker humorously illustrates lapses in executive function with everyday examples like pouring orange juice on cereal. Research indicates that executive function is predictive of various positive outcomes in life, including social skills, academic success, and even staying out of jail. Despite the popularity of brain-training apps and games, the speaker argues that these methods are ineffective for broad improvement because they lack real-world context. Instead, understanding how context influences executive function is crucial for meaningful improvement.

05:02

🌟 The Power of Context on Executive Function

The speaker emphasizes the importance of context in enhancing executive function through a study involving children and the 'dimensional change card sort' task. This task measures a child's ability to switch sorting criteria, which is challenging for young kids and indicative of executive function. The speaker then shares a modified marshmallow test where children's delay of gratification is influenced by the perceived behavior of a peer group they are told they belong to. The study shows that children are more likely to wait for a second marshmallow if they believe their group typically waits. Furthermore, the speaker finds that children who believe their group waits tend to prefer peers who also wait, suggesting that context not only influences behavior but also shapes values. The speaker concludes by advising that to improve executive function, one should consider the context and use strategies that are relevant to the situation, rather than seeking quick fixes.

Keywords

💡Executive Function

Executive function refers to the cognitive processes that enable us to control our thoughts, emotions, and actions deliberately to achieve goals. In the video, it is highlighted as a critical skill for tasks like learning to drive, which requires conscious decision-making and breaking away from habits. The speaker uses her experience learning to drive to illustrate the mental exhaustion that comes from using executive function intensively.

💡Cognitive Scientist

A cognitive scientist is a professional who studies the mental processes underlying behavior, including how we perceive, think, remember, and learn. The speaker, a cognitive scientist, provides her expertise to explain executive function and its role in our daily lives, lending credibility to her discussion on the topic.

💡Absentmindedness

Absentmindedness is a state of being forgetful or distracted, often due to a lapse in attention. The video uses common examples, like pouring orange juice on cereal by mistake, to explain how absentmindedness is actually a lapse in executive function, where our conscious control over actions falters.

💡Self-improvement

Self-improvement encompasses efforts to enhance one's knowledge, skills, or personal well-being. The video addresses the misconception that executive function can be improved through narrow means like brain-training apps, suggesting instead that context and real-world application are crucial for genuine improvement.

💡Brain-training

Brain-training refers to exercises or activities designed to enhance cognitive functions, often through the use of apps or games. The speaker argues that while these may improve performance within the training context, they do not necessarily translate to improved executive function in broader, real-world scenarios.

💡Dimensional Change Card Sort

The 'Dimensional Change Card Sort' is a test used to measure executive function in children, as mentioned in the video. It involves sorting cards first by one dimension (like color) and then switching to another (like shape), challenging the child to override a formed habit, which is a key aspect of executive function.

💡Delay of Gratification

Delay of gratification is the ability to resist the temptation for an immediate reward in favor of a larger reward later. The classic marshmallow test described in the video is an experiment that measures this skill, which requires significant executive function to manage impulses and plan for future rewards.

💡Context

Context is the setting in which an event occurs, which can influence how we perceive and react to that event. The speaker emphasizes that context greatly affects executive function, using the marshmallow test as an example where children's waiting behavior was influenced by the perceived behavior of their group.

💡Motivation

Motivation is the internal or external factors that drive individuals to take action. In the video, it is suggested that being part of a group with shared goals can increase motivation, which in turn can enhance the use of executive function to achieve those goals.

💡Strategies

Strategies are plans or methods designed to achieve a specific goal or outcome. The speaker advises using strategies to improve executive function in specific contexts, like using the strategy of removing distractions to help focus on a task, which is directly related to enhancing executive function.

💡Know Thyself

The ancient Greek aphorism 'Know thyself' is referenced to stress the importance of self-awareness in improving executive function. Understanding how one's behavior is shaped by context and using that knowledge to devise strategies for self-improvement is a key takeaway from the video.

Highlights

The speaker confesses to having recently learned how to drive, highlighting the mental exhaustion that comes with learning new skills.

Executive function is described as the ability to consciously control thoughts, emotions, and actions to achieve goals.

Executive function is crucial for breaking away from habit, inhibiting impulses, and planning ahead.

Lapses in executive function can lead to common absentminded mistakes like pouring orange juice on cereal.

Executive function predicts positive outcomes in social skills, academic achievement, and mental and physical health.

The speaker challenges the idea that brain training apps can broadly improve executive function.

Executive function improvement through brain training is limited because it's exercised outside real-world contexts.

The 'dimensional change card sort' is introduced as a test for measuring executive function in children.

Young children struggle with the 'dimensional change card sort', showing the challenge of switching between habits.

The speaker emphasizes that real-world executive function requires more than just switching between simple tasks.

Success in real-world situations depends on motivation, peer influence, and the strategies used.

The marshmallow test is used to measure delay of gratification and requires executive function.

Kids' waiting times in the marshmallow test are influenced by the perceived behavior of their peer group.

Children who believe their group waited for two marshmallows are more likely to wait themselves.

Kids who believe their group waited tend to prefer other kids who also like to wait for things.

Children likely use executive function to generate strategies to help themselves wait in the marshmallow test.

The context in which executive function is used significantly impacts its effectiveness.

To improve executive function, one should consider the context and make goals more meaningful.

The speaker concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding how context shapes behavior for self-improvement.

Transcripts

Transcriber: Leslie Gauthier Reviewer: Joanna Pietrulewicz

So I have a confession to make.

I only recently learned how to drive.

And it was really hard.

Now, this wasn't an older brain thing.

Do you remember what it was like when you first learned how to drive?

When every decision you made was so conscious and deliberate?

I'd come home from my lessons completely wiped out mentally.

Now, as a cognitive scientist I know that this is because I was using

a lot of something called executive function.

Executive function is our amazing ability to consciously control our thoughts,

emotions and actions

in order to achieve goals ...

like learning how to drive.

It's what we use when we need to break away from habit,

inhibit our impulses and plan ahead.

But we can see it most clearly when things go wrong.

Like, have you ever accidentally poured orange juice on your cereal?

(Laughter)

Or, ever start scrolling on Facebook

and suddenly realize you've missed a meeting?

(Laughter)

Or maybe this one's more familiar:

Ever plan to stop at the store on the way home from work

and then drive all the way home instead on autopilot?

(Laughter)

These things happen to everyone.

And we usually call it absentmindedness,

but what's really happening

is we're experiencing a lapse in executive function.

So we use executive function every day in all aspects of our lives.

And over the past 30 years,

researchers have found that it predicts all kinds of good things

in childhood and beyond,

like social skills, academic achievement, mental and physical health,

making money, saving money

and even staying out of jail.

Sounds great, doesn't it?

So it's no surprise

that researchers like me are so interested in understanding it

and figuring out ways to improve it.

But lately, executive function has become a huge self-improvement buzzword.

People think you can improve it through brain-training iPhone apps

and computer games,

or by practicing it in a specific way, like playing chess.

And researchers are trying to train it in the lab

in the hopes of improving it and other things related to it,

like intelligence.

Well, I'm here to tell you

that this way of thinking about executive function is all wrong.

Brain training won't improve executive function in a broad sense

because it involves exercising it in a narrow way,

outside of the real-world contexts in which we actually use it.

So you can master that executive function app on your phone,

but that's not going to help you stop pouring OJ on your Cheeerios twice a week.

(Laughter)

If you really want to improve your executive function

in a way that matters for your life,

you have to understand how it's influenced by context.

Let me show you what I mean.

There's a great test that we use in the lab

to measure executive function in young children

called the "dimensional change card sort."

In this task, kids have to sort cards in one way --

like by shape --

over and over until they build up a habit.

And then they're asked to switch

and sort the same cards in another way,

like by color.

Now, really young kids struggle with this.

Three- and four-year-olds will usually keep sorting the cards in the old way

no matter how many times you remind them of what they should be doing.

(Video) Woman: If it's blue, put it here. If it's red, put it here.

Here's a blue one.

OK, so now we're going to play a different game.

We're not going to play the color game anymore.

Now we're going to play the shape game,

and in the shape game,

all the stars go here and all the trucks go here, OK?

Stars go here, trucks go here.

Where do the stars go?

And where do the trucks go?

Excellent.

OK, stars go here, trucks go here.

Here's a truck.

(Laughter)

Stars go here, trucks go here.

Here's a star.

(Laughter)

SB: So it's really compelling,

and it's really obvious when she fails to use her executive function.

But here's the thing:

we could train her on this task and others like it

and eventually she'd improve,

but does that mean

that she would've improved her executive function outside of the lab?

No, because in the real world, she'll need to use executive function

to do a lot more than switching between shape and color.

She'll need to switch from adding to multiplying

or from playing to tidying up

or from thinking about her own feelings to thinking about her friend.

And success in real-world situations depends on things

like how motivated you are and what your peers are doing.

And it also depends on the strategies that you execute

when you're using executive function in a particular situation.

So what I'm saying is that context really matters.

Now let me give you an example from my research.

I recently brought in a bunch of kids to do the classic marshmallow test,

which is a measure of delay of gratification

that also likely requires a lot of executive function.

So you may have heard about this test,

but basically, kids are given a choice.

They can have one marshmallow right away,

or if they can wait for me to go to the other room

and get more marshmallows,

they can have two instead.

Now, most kids really want that second marshmallow,

but the key question is: How long can they wait?

(Laughter)

Now, I added a twist to look at the effects of context.

I told each kid that they were in a group,

like the green group,

and I even gave them a green T-shirt to wear.

And I said, "Your group waited for two marshmallows,

and this other group, the orange group,

did not."

Or I said the opposite:

"Your group didn't wait for two marshmallows

and this other group did."

And then I left the kid alone in the room

and I watched on a webcam to see how long they waited.

(Laughter)

So what I found was that kids who believed

that their group waited for two marshmallows

were themselves more likely to wait.

So they were influenced by a peer group that they'd never even met.

(Laughter)

Pretty cool, isn't it?

Well, so with this result I still didn't know

if they were just copying their group or if it was something deeper than that.

So I brought in some more kids,

and after the marshmallow test, I showed them pictures of pairs of kids,

and I told them, "One of these kids likes to have things right away,

like cookies and stickers.

And the other kid likes to wait

so that they can have more of these things."

And then I asked them,

"Which one of these two kids do you like more

and who would you want to play with?"

And what I found was that kids who believed that their group waited

tended to prefer other kids who liked to wait for things.

So learning what their group did made them value waiting more.

And not only that,

these kids likely used executive function

to generate strategies to help themselves wait,

like sitting on their hands or turning away from the marshmallow

or singing a song to distract themselves.

(Laughter)

So what this all shows is just how much context matters.

It's not that these kids had good executive function or bad,

it's that the context helped them use it better.

So what does this mean for you and for your kids?

Well, let's say that you want to learn Spanish.

You could try changing your context

and surrounding yourself with other people who also want to learn,

and even better if these are people that you really like.

That way you'll be more motivated to use executive function.

Or let's say that you want to help your child do better on her math homework.

You could teach her strategies to use executive function

in that particular context,

like putting her phone away before she starts studying

or planning to reward herself after studying for an hour.

Now, I don't want to make it sound like context is everything.

Executive function is really complex, and it's shaped by numerous factors.

But what I want you to remember

is if you want to improve your executive function

in some aspect of your life,

don't look for quick fixes.

Think about the context

and how you can make your goals matter more to you,

and how you can use strategies

to help yourself in that particular situation.

I think the ancient Greeks said it best when they said, "Know thyself."

And a key part of this is knowing how context shapes your behavior

and how you can use that knowledge to change for the better.

Thank you.

(Applause)