A multiperspective approach to the conceptualization of executive functions

Abstract

The concept of executive function (EF) is deemed unclear and difficult to operationalize. We use a multiperspective approach to quantify and reduce the current proliferation of EFs. A literature review of 60 studies identified 68 subcomponents of EF: Through objective statistical techniques, these terms were reduced to 18 by removing semantic overlap (using latent semantic analysis) and psychometric overlap (using hierarchical cluster analysis). However, still such a large number of functions lacks parsimony. We therefore revisit the concept of EF and suggest that the many proposed subcomponents are not functions per se but rather a number of task-specific behaviors.