The science of intelligence
What is executive function?
Short answer
Executive functions are the mental control skills that let you hold goals in mind, switch between tasks and stop yourself from acting on autopilot. A 2000 study by Miyake and colleagues found three that are related but separable: updating, shifting and inhibition. Diamond names the core three as inhibition, working memory and cognitive flexibility.
Want your own number? The test is 25 visual puzzles, about 12 minutes, no sign-up.
The control skills of the mind
Executive functions are the skills you use to manage your own thinking: keeping a goal in mind, noticing when a plan has stopped working, switching to a new one, and holding back the response that comes first but is wrong. They are less about what you know and more about how you direct what you know.
Miyake's three: unity and diversity
In a 2000 study, Akira Miyake and colleagues gave a battery of tasks to 137 college students and looked at three often-proposed executive functions (Miyake et al., 2000):
- Shifting between mental sets or tasks.
- Updating and monitoring the information held in mind.
- Inhibition of dominant, automatic responses.
The three were moderately correlated with one another but clearly separable, a pattern the authors called the "unity and diversity" of executive functions (Miyake et al., 2000). Unity means they share something, so a person strong in one tends to be somewhat strong in the others. Diversity means each still does its own job.
Try one · Quantitative Reasoning
Which number comes next?
11, 52, 13, 50, 15, ?
Tap the option you think is right, or show the answer.
Show the answer
The next number is 48 (option 6).
How to solve it
- The gaps jump around, so look at every other number.
- The 1st, 3rd, 5th numbers (11, 13, 15) go up by 2 each time.
- The 2nd, 4th, 6th numbers (52, 50) go down by 2 each time.
- The missing number continues the second series: 50 - 2 = 48.
That was 1 puzzle. The full test has 25.
Diamond's core executive functions
Adele Diamond's 2013 review describes the core executive functions in closely matching terms: inhibition (which includes self-control and interference control), working memory, and cognitive flexibility (Diamond, 2013).
| Miyake et al. (2000) | Diamond (2013) | Everyday example |
|---|---|---|
| Updating | Working memory | Keeping a running total while shopping |
| Shifting | Cognitive flexibility | Changing approach when a puzzle rule stops fitting |
| Inhibition | Inhibition (self-control, interference control) | Ignoring a tempting wrong answer that looks almost right |
The pairings are close rather than exact, since the two frameworks come from different research traditions. The examples are ours, to make the terms concrete.
How executive function relates to IQ
The clearest bridge is working memory, which appears in both lists. A reanalysis of 14 data sets found a median correlation of .72 between working memory capacity and fluid reasoning (Kane et al., 2005), while a separate meta-analysis put the correlation with general intelligence at .479 (Ackerman et al., 2005). A 2023 network analysis suggested a working memory and attentional control complex may sit near the center of the broad abilities measured by intelligence tests (McGrew et al., 2023).
Beyond working memory, the picture is less settled. Diamond's review lists the relation between executive functions and fluid intelligence among the open controversies in the field (Diamond, 2013). It would be wrong to say that executive function and IQ are the same thing, and equally wrong to say they are unrelated. For the reasoning side, see fluid intelligence and what intelligence is.
What gets in the way
Executive functions are sensitive to your current state. Diamond notes that stress, lack of sleep, loneliness or lack of exercise each impair them (Diamond, 2013). That has a practical side for anyone taking a reasoning test: a tired or stressed brain is a poor sample of what you can usually do. The preparation guide covers the basics.
Can you train it?
The most studied form of executive training is working memory training, and the results are sobering. A 2016 meta-analysis concluded that it produces short-term, specific effects that do not generalize to real-world cognitive skills (Melby-Lervåg et al., 2016). More on the evidence is in working memory and can you raise your intelligence. Processing speed, a related but separate ability, is covered in processing speed.
Sources
- Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Emerson, M. J., Witzki, A. H., Howerter, A., & Wager, T. D. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex "frontal lobe" tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41(1), 49-100. doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1999.0734
- Diamond, A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135-168. doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750
- Kane, M. J., Hambrick, D. Z., & Conway, A. R. A. (2005). Working memory capacity and fluid intelligence are strongly related constructs: Comment on Ackerman, Beier, and Boyle (2005). Psychological Bulletin, 131(1), 66-71. doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.131.1.66
- Ackerman, P. L., Beier, M. E., & Boyle, M. O. (2005). Working memory and intelligence: The same or different constructs? Psychological Bulletin, 131(1), 30-60. doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.131.1.30
- McGrew, K. S., Schneider, W. J., Decker, S. L., & Bulut, O. (2023). A psychometric network analysis of CHC intelligence measures. Journal of Intelligence, 11(1), 19. doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence11010019
- Melby-Lervåg, M., Redick, T. S., & Hulme, C. (2016). Working memory training does not improve performance on measures of intelligence or other measures of "far transfer." Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11(4), 512-534. doi.org/10.1177/1745691616635612