The Domain‐Specificity of Domain‐Generality: Attention, Executive Function, and Academic Skills

Abstract

AbstractAttention and executive functions (EFs) play a critical role in academic skill development, including literacy and numeracy. Deficits in attention and EFs often accompany learning disorders, such as dyslexia and dyscalculia. Despite their well‐established link, we lack a nuanced understanding of the specific neurobiological mechanisms that integrate the higher order cognitive processes of EFs (e.g., cognitive control) with the control of lower‐level cognition related to domain‐specific skills (e.g., processing numerical information). While attention and EFs have been identified as key factors in domain‐specific cognition and learning, the focus on its domain‐generality may hinder exploration of its domain‐specific roots. Using the example of number processing, I detail a series of neuroimaging studies exploring how domain‐specific mechanisms interact with domain‐general processing. They suggest that a better understanding of the hierarchical nature of higher order control of lower‐level processing is necessary to explain the relation between attention, EFs, and academic skills.