Before a child can learn to their potential, he or she must be able to sit still, listen, and follow instructions. Those skills require executive function–the self-conscious exercise of will and self-control. Philip Zelazo and Stephanie Carlson, both faculty in the Institute of Child Development, each lead research into the cognitive development of executive function among young children. Their discoveries are helping identify which children might need extra support getting ready for the classroom and how executive function might be trained.
Find out more in “Ready, set, learn,” found in the Summer 2010 issue of Connect.