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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Oct 21.
Published in final edited form as: Pediatrics. 2008 Apr;121(Suppl 4):S290–S310. doi: 10.1542/peds.2007-2243D

TABLE 2. Components of Executive Functions and Sample Behaviors.

Component Behaviors
Goal-directedness Establishing goal hierarchies, maintaining goals, organizing sequences, evaluating progress, using strategies
Initiation/inhibition Initiating behavior independently, self-cueing, inhibiting inappropriate behavior, constraining actions with rules
Flexibility/perseveration Generating novel possibilities, flexibly switching between guidelines, performing contingency-based revisions, strategizing
Abstract reasoning Using rule-guided thinking, forming concepts, using hierarchical and temporal relationships
Reward appraisal Evaluating reward likelihood, performing relative valuation, using reward appraisal to guide behavior
Social appraisal Understanding social norms, apprehending social cues, incorporating social information into decision-making