Guide · Understand International
Executive functions: working memory, inhibition and flexibility
"He can do it, he just doesn't." That sentence comes up a lot when a child forgets the third part of an instruction, acts before thinking, or gets stuck the moment the plan changes. Behind those moments you often find executive functions: the skills used to hold back, hold on to information, and adapt. This guide explains what they cover and what helps. It makes no diagnosis.
Key points
- Executive functions are the skills used to steer attention, actions and thoughts towards a goal.
- The reference literature describes three core ones: inhibition, working memory and cognitive flexibility.
- They develop slowly, across childhood and adolescence: they are not finished at seven.
- An executive difficulty is neither a lack of effort nor a diagnosis: it can be observed, not interpreted on its own.
- They vary a lot within the same child: tiredness, noise, stress, hunger and interest all move the dial.
What executive functions cover
One useful image is an air traffic control tower: it does not fly the plane for the child, it organizes the traffic: what comes first, what to ignore, when to change course.
Reference reviews describe three core functions, and more complex abilities such as reasoning, problem solving and planning are built on top of them.
The three core functions
- Inhibition
- Not doing the first thing that comes to mind: not answering before the question ends, not getting up, not turning towards whatever just moved. It covers both holding back an action and resisting distraction.
- Working memory
- Holding information in mind while using it. This is what carries a three-step instruction through to the end, or keeps a calculation on track while writing it down.
- Cognitive flexibility
- Switching rule, method or perspective when the situation changes. It has the longest developmental path of the three: in adolescence it is often still below adult levels.
- Planning
- Working out the steps, their order and the time they need. It is not an independent fourth function: it rests on the other three, which is why it tends to be the first thing to go when a child is tired.
Why it shows up most at school
School asks for several of these at once, all day: sit still, listen, remember, write, ignore the corridor, and switch subject every hour. No other setting loads these skills so continuously.
It also explains why the same child can look highly organized in a game they love and completely overwhelmed by a ten-line exercise. That is not a contradiction; it is what the task costs at that moment.
What you can observe
- When in the day the forgetting and the freezing increase (often late morning and late afternoon).
- How many steps an instruction can hold before one goes missing.
- What happens when something unexpected comes up, and how long it takes to restart.
- The situations that go well: they say as much about what helps as the hard ones.
- The gap between what the child can do and what they manage at the moment it is asked.
What you can try
-
Break it down: one long instruction becomes two or three short ones, each given when it is needed.
-
Make information visible instead of remembered: a list, a picture, a clock. What is displayed no longer has to be held in mind.
-
Announce changes before they happen, with a concrete time marker. Flexibility costs less when it is prepared.
-
Lighten the task during tired moments rather than increasing the reminders.
-
Name what worked, specifically: "you got your notebook out on your own" helps more than general praise.
When outside support can help
- If the difficulties last, worsen, or appear across several settings at once (home, school, activities).
- If the gap with same-age peers widens over the months.
- If the child is exhausted, self-critical, or starts refusing learning situations.
- The professionals following your child and the school team can help you work out who to turn to, depending on where you live.
Go further with AtyKids
Official sources
- Annual Review of Psychology · Diamond, A. (2013). Executive Functions
- Center on the Developing Child · Harvard University · Executive Function & Self-Regulation
Information reviewed on August 20, 2026.
Practical AtyKids guidance, distinct from official information. When in doubt, refer to the official source and to the professionals following your child.
AtyKids supports the adult, without ever making a diagnosis or replacing professionals.