EF vs. IQ? Why Can't We All Just Get Along?

People are always trying to pit EF against IQ, but given the choice wouldn't it be better to be strong in both areas? EF is executive function, which can be divided into two parts:

(1) ‘‘metacognitive executive functions”: problem solving, planning, concept formation, strategy development and implementation, controlling attention, working memory, and the like; that is, executive functions as they are usually understood in contemporary neuroscience; and (2) ‘‘emotional/ motivational executive functions”: coordinating cognition and emotion/motivation (that is, fulfilling biological needs according to some existing conditions). The first one depends on the dorsolateral prefrontal areas, whereas the second one is associated with orbitofrontal and medial frontal areas. _abstract_via_KevinMcGrew

Executive functions are frontal lobe controlled and highly heritable, although recent special curricula to train EF--using dramatic play and games--has been developed.

...kids in both traditional and experimental classrooms were given a battery of EF tests following two years of preschool. The tests were very difficult cognitive challenges that require kids to inhibit their automatic responses. The EF-trained children outperformed the traditionally educated kids on every single test. In fact, the differences were so dramatic after one year that some school officials opted out of the experiment to give all the kids the benefit of EF training.

But there's more. Psychologist Clancy Blair of Pennsylvania State University has shown that preschoolers with sharper executive capability also outperform their more traditional peers in basic skills, especially mathematics, when they hit kindergarten. In other words, as counterintuitive as it seems, early exposure to dramatic play and cognitive games better prepares kids for mastery of traditional academics. _Newsweek_via_GeniusBlog

The difference between the more heritable part of EF and the more trainable part of EF may lie in the difference between the two types of EF: 1. metacognitive, and 2. emotional/motivational. The metacognitive EF is located in the dorsolateral pre-frontal lobes and is perhaps less trainable than the emotional/motivational EF located in different parts of the frontal lobe (orbitofrontal and medial frontal).

IQ is also extremely important to high performance, but IQ without EF is not nearly so potent as the two combined.

...the parts of the brain's so-called executive function, which is linked to math ability in preschoolers, are "working memory" and "inhibitory control." Working memory is the ability to keep information or rules in mind while performing mental tasks. For instance, when children first learn arithmetic, they have to keep the rules of addition in mind when they add numbers together....Researchers found that a child whose IQ and executive functioning were both above average was three times more likely to succeed in math than a kid who simply had a high IQ.

...some tests of executive function can be used as training tools. A "backward digit span" test is a case in point: Person A recites a string of numbers, like 3, 6, 10, and person B has to respond with the same string, only in reverse order: 10, 6, 3. This task requires one to restrain his or her automatic inclination to mimic person A (inhibitory control), but also requires keeping the actual numbers in mind (working memory).

"Preschool curricula that focus on development of these skills and self-regulation are needed in a big way," [Clancy] Blair says. "There is a federal push to learn our numbers, our letters and our words, but a focus on the content, without a focus on the skills required to use that content, will end up with children being left behind." _SciAm

All of which brings us to the conclusions from a recent SciAm Mind article looking at "the roots of genius."

University of Pennsylvania psychologists Angela Duckworth and Martin Seligman examined final grades of 164 eighth-grade students, along with their admission to (or rejection from) a prestigious high school. By such measures, the researchers determined that scholarly success was more than twice as dependent on assessments of self-discipline as on IQ. What is more, they reported in 2005, students with more self-discipline—a willingness to sacrifice short-term pleasure for long-term gain—were more likely than those lacking this skill to improve their grades during the school year. A high IQ, on the other hand, did not predict a climb in grades.

A 2007 study by Neubauer’s team of 90 adult tournament chess players similarly shows that practice and experience are more important to expertise than general intelligence is, although the latter is related to chess-playing ability. _SciAmMind

Executive Function is closely related to "Emotional Intelligence" in its emotional/motivational component, and is closely related to IQ in its metacognitive component. Kevin McGrew points out that that temporal processing/mental time-keeping (related to IQ) is related to the dorsolateral pre-frontal brain--just like the metacognitive EF!

Short term memory is also linked to both IQ and EF. Recent training to improve short term memory also had the effect of raising IQ scores!

Given all that information, one can easily understand the critical importance of early childhood training and environment. A high IQ can be very helpful in many fields, but a strong EF will always be very helpful, and will augment a high IQ if both are present. The focus for the early education of children should be on developing a strong EF, while allowing the child to explore in an active, hands-on manner. Development of emotions, motivations, cognitive skills, social skills, and a sense of efficacy and competence should be carried out simultaneously.

Update: For those who believe that all young children have ADD/ADHD and despair of ever teaching their child to pay attention, there is hope in research:

Inspired by skills training of monkeys, Michael Posner and Mary Rothbart at the University of Oregon have developed a five-day computer-based attention-training program for young children. After the training, six-year-olds show a pattern of activity in the anterior cingulate — a banana-shaped brain region that is ground zero for executive attention — similar to that of adults, along with a slight IQ boost and a marked gain in executive attention. _Source_and_Abstract

Take home message:

Strong improvement in executive attention and intelligence was found from ages 4 to 6 years. Both 4- and 6-year-olds showed more mature performance after the training than did the control groups....Overall, our data suggest that the executive attention network appears to develop under strong genetic control, but that it is subject to educational interventions during development. _Posner, Rothbart

In other words, the critical window for teaching EF to children is very close to the age 4 to 6 time period.

H/T Joanne Jacobs