Executive Functioning

 Executive functioning is responsible for coordinating: 

◆ Thinking  ◆ Behaviour  ◆ Emotion  ◆ Organisation 

◆ Motivation ◆ Planning    ◆ Self-regulation in everyday life 

◆ Managing  behaviour over time in pursuit of goals.

These systems are heavily involved in: 

 ◆ Motivation  ◆ Reward anticipation  ◆ Behavioural inhibition  

   ◆ Working memory  ◆ Sustained mental effort

In ADHD people experience difficulties not because they lack knowledge or intelligence, 

but because the brain has difficulty consistently regulating: 

◆ Attention  ◆ Effort  ◆ Motivation  ◆ Emotion  ◆ Behaviour across time

◆ impairments in the ability to internally guide behaviour toward 

future goals, particularly when tasks lack:
 ◇ Immediate reward
 ◇ Urgency
 ◇ Novelty
 ◇ Emotional significance

◆ These processes allow individuals to:
 ◇ Initiate tasks
 ◇ Sustain attention
 ◇ Organise information
 ◇ Regulate emotions
 ◇ Inhibit impulses
 ◇ Adapt behaviour according to changing demands or future goals

◆ involving difficulties with:
 ◇ Inhibiting behaviour
 ◇ Regulating attention
 ◇ Managing emotions
 ◇ Sustaining motivation
 ◇ Organising behaviour across time

◆  impact:
 ◇ Occupational functioning
 ◇ Academic performance
 ◇ Relationships
 ◇ Emotional regulation
 ◇ Task completion
 ◇ Day-to-day self-management

◇ Self-Management to Time
 ◆ Estimating time accurately
 ◆ Planning ahead
 ◆ Prioritising tasks
 ◆ Meeting deadlines
 ◆ Maintaining awareness of future consequences
 ◆ Often associated with “time blindness” in ADHD

◇ Organisation and Problem Solving
 ◆ Planning complex tasks
 ◆ Sequencing information
 ◆ Holding multiple steps in mind
 ◆ Cognitive flexibility
 ◆ Managing competing demands
 ◆ Generating and implementing strategies

◇ Self-Restraint (Inhibitory Control)
 ◆ Impulse control
 ◆ Pausing before acting
 ◆ Filtering distractions
 ◆ Inhibiting emotional or behavioural responses
 ◆ Maintaining attention despite competing stimuli

◇ Self-Motivation
 ◆ Sustaining effort toward delayed rewards
 ◆ Initiating non-preferred tasks
 ◆ Persisting with mundane or repetitive activities
 ◆ Maintaining goal-directed behaviour without immediate reinforcement

◇ Self-Regulation of Emotions
 ◆ Modulating frustration, anger, anxiety, or emotional intensity
 ◆ Recovering from emotional activation
 ◆ Managing rejection sensitivity and stress responses
 ◆ Maintaining emotional stability during interpersonal 

       or cognitive demands