Executive Function and Working Memory

Executive Functions (EF) are a set of cognitive processes that are necessary for the cognitive control of behaviour which facilitates the attainment of chosen goals. These processes enable one to plan, organise, initiate and complete tasks. If a pupil has an effective EF, they can generally manage their thoughts, attention, behaviours and emotions and learn effectively. EF can be subdivided into three principal areas:

• Shifting (flexibility in thinking, adapting to new situation and unexpected occurrences)
• Inhibition (impulse control, emotional regulation, self-control and staying on task)
• Updating (attention, following complex instructions, adapting to new material, relying on working memory)

Recent research has considered the role of EF in understanding co-occurring difficulties such as Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Dyslexia, Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), Dyscalculia and Autism. Pupils with ADHD often present with working memory difficulties in addition to the characteristic hyperactive and impulsive behaviour. These problems may negatively impact on the pupil’s performance in classroom activities and often go undetected or are mislabelled as a lack of motivation. Many pupils with literacy difficulties, along with pupils displaying the characteristics of ADHD and DCD often have a specific cognitive difficulty with memory and if this is unsupported pupils may develop poor self-esteem or ‘withdraw from learning’. 

Research literature suggests that pupils with specific literacy difficulties exhibit lower working memory performance in general, than typically developing peers. Hot executive functions refer to the self-management skills one uses in situations where emotions run high and cold executive functions operates in calmer, more rational decision-making contexts. Younger pupils or pupils with specific difficulties may often struggle with emotional regulation and may be overwhelmed by a literacy task and as a result learning cannot occur. 

EF skills help one make connections with past experiences to the present situation and support a pupil’s development in school. There is a case for whole class teaching to improve EF skills and support emotional regulation, which may be as important as supporting working memory. 

Research into EF and ‘school readiness’ indicate that relationships and learning experiences in the home environment influence the development of EF skills and early learning in school. Teachers and a positive school environment can support a pupil who has cognitive difficulties which are affected by poorly developed EF skills. Teaching the pupil metacognitive skills and strategies will help put him / her in control of his / her own learning. Self-monitoring strategies can also be explicitly taught to support EF and working memory difficulties.

By the time a pupil has reached post primary school, expectations to master many complex literacy skills rely on the use of EF skills, such as, organising, note-taking, summarising and writing tasks. 

With careful observation and professional teacher judgment a teacher can identify weaknesses within the areas of EF.  It is easier to identify the absence of EF skills, as the pupil may present with:

• Memory difficulties
• Disorganisation
• Often off topic
• Cannot seem to ‘put brakes on’ in class activities or discussions
• Poor task focus
• Trouble managing emotions or impulses
• Difficulty solving problems

There are 5 strands in EF and very often a pupil with literacy difficulties may present with an EF difficulty in any one area and therefore requires additional support and explicit teaching on how to develop these skills and manage them: 

• Planning / Prioritising Tasks (includes Task Initiation) 
• Organising and Managing Time
• Self-monitoring & Self-control (inhibition)
• Flexible Thinking (shifting)
• Working Memory (updating)

Literacy difficulties can be compounded by a weakness in a specific executive function and very often lead to pupil frustration, which suppresses self-esteem and confidence.  A weakness in Executive Function (EF) skills are genuine difficulties and when a school supports a pupil’s executive function difficulties positively, the pupil is more likely to modify his / her behaviour and improve academically.   

Working Memory is an EF which plays a key role in the difficulties experienced by many pupils with literacy difficulties. It involves acquiring, retaining, manipulating, and recalling information daily. A difficulty in working memory may present in different ways in the classroom as pupils may have very few strategies to keep information in their working memory long enough to act on it, nor can they then store this information accurately in long-term memory to use it again.

Working memory has been shown to be an important contributor to reading ability, particularly comprehension and reading fluency.  A weakness in working memory can impact significantly on a pupil’s ability to decode a word and then remember it to spell (encode) the word. This in turn impacts on writing. Throughout a pupil’s education every task that he / she undertakes relies on the working memory. 

Working memory is like our mental filing cabinet, and it involves the following processes working simultaneously: 

• Receiving information via senses
• Encoding information whereby the brain holds this in the short-term memory and decides how best to store it
• Storing information whereby the brain manipulates the information and transfers it from the short-term to the long-term memory. This can take seconds, hours or months depending on the working memory capacity (this can be helped if there are opportunities for repetition or rehearsal)
• Recalling information refers to the information you initially received and can retrieve accurately, as it has been stored in your long-term memory

In the classroom, it is important for teachers when planning and delivering lessons, to be mindful of the pupil’s working memory capacity. The average 5-year-old pupil can hold 1 item in memory and the average 7-year-old pupil 2 items. This needs to be considered when planning each lesson and consideration also needs to be given to the negative impact of:

• Distractions (extraneous noise, pupils’ chatting, pupil movement, mobile phone messages / notifications from post primary pupils), causing a pupil to lose his / her place, forget instructions and restart tasks
• The presentation of too much information which exceeds working memory capacity (verbal or printed) - causing a pupil to feel overwhelmed, to abandon the task or to act out

Pupils with working memory difficulties may only be able to recall and manipulate a very small amount of information at a time, before their working memory capacity is overwhelmed. Working memory difficulties also impact upon the retrieval and storage of information in long-term memory, as working memory helps the brain to organise new information for long-term storage and searches long-term memory to retrieve the required information. The working memory difficulties experienced by pupils with literacy difficulties are likely to leave them struggling to cope with many of the demands of classroom activities, thereby reducing their access to the learning opportunities provided and creating anxiety and a frequent sense of failure.

Processing speed describes the fluency with which the brain receives, understands, and responds to information. Not everyone thinks at the same pace.  A pupil with slow processing speed may struggle to follow lessons and complete tasks. Working memory is linked to the speed at which information is processed, so it is common to see difficulties with working memory coupled with a slower rate of processing information.

• Find ways to provide increased processing time, for example leave time between instructions / information to allow a pupil time to process what has been heard
• Speak slowly and use simple terms. Repeat key words and phrases
• Allow ‘thinking time’ when posing questions orally. A pupil with processing difficulties may not respond immediately even though he / she knows the answer
• Give shorter activities to enable the pupil to master the concepts whilst avoiding the frustration of not being able to finish all the assigned work
• Give extra time to complete classwork and tests. Agree with the pupil a discrete way for him / her to let you know if more help is needed. Encourage the pupil to tell you when an instruction is not understood, verbally or using a discrete signal like a traffic light system to ask for help 

Printable-Traffic lights (say how you feel about the work)

• Be aware that timed tasks may be a source of anxiety for some pupils with speed of processing difficulties

A review of cognitive science and evidence-based practice, lead to some key teaching principles that should be considered, to ensure procedures and scaffolds are in place for all pupils, whilst supporting pupils with EF and working memory difficulties:

1. Begin a lesson with a concise review of previous learning
2. Present new material in small steps with pupil practice after every step
3. Ask many questions and check the response of all pupils
4. Provide models
5. Guide pupil practice
6. Check for pupil understanding
7. Obtain a high success rate
8. Provide scaffolds for difficult tasks
9. Require and monitor independent practice
10. Engage pupils in weekly / monthly reviews

It is important to identify pupils with EF and working memory difficulties from an early stage, as cognitive processes may develop as classroom strategies, resources and materials are adjusted to facilitate the pupil’s learning. It is possible to improve the retention of information in working memory by teaching strategies which facilitate this:

• Develop metacognition - the pupil understands what helps him / her to remember information
• The pupil is actively involved in new learning by using all his / her senses
• Encourage pupil verbal rehearsal (to keep information in the working memory)
• Give clear and correct information to avoid building up incorrect memory trace
• Reduce memory load by chunking information (for example, spelling sequences in two or more chunks)
• Introduce strategies based on patterns (using onset and rime to teach spelling patterns)
• Ensuring new knowledge is linked to previous learning
• Use different techniques if information is beyond memory capacity, for example, mnemonics:

Printable Resource: Mnemonics for Post Primary Pupils (Topic - Based)

• Provide opportunities to practise, this enables the pupil to apply the strategies he / she has learned, to new situations
• Use assistive technology to scaffold reading and writing activities - this can reduce the heavy load on working memory