Executive Function (EF) Skills are the range of self-management skills that help us attain goals. These abilities 
develop as children mature into adulthood. Executive functioning development occurs over time in typical children, with the mid-twenties as a time of peak executive functioning for most adults. However, individuals can vary in their rate of acquiring these skills. Although there are several subsets of EF skills, it's helpful to think of them as 3 basic categories.
Working Memory is the skill we tap into when we try to say the alphabet backwards; it's the ability to keep and mentally manipulate information. This EF skill helps children remember the rules to a game as they are playing it and helps students take accurate notes in class while the teacher lectures. A burst of Working Memory development coincides with the onset of formal schooling, from 5-8 years of age.
Impulse Control is the ability to inhibit responses that don't help to achieve a goal. This EF skill helps students maintain their focus on schoolwork until it's done, when they'd rather be playing with the dog. As with Working Memory, children make rapid gains in controlling their impulses during early elementary school. Another burst of growth in Impulse Control happens throughout middle school and into high school years.
Thinking Skills allow us to formulate plans, flexibly adapt to changing circumstances, and solve complex problems. Older elementary school children see rapid growth in this area, with another burst of growth in Thinking Skills coinciding with high school. Reading complex literature, learning another language, solving calculus problems, and planning how to creatively ask someone to the prom all require sophisticated Thinking Skills.
Working Memory: Infants can remember recently hidden objects, such as a toy covered with a blanket, and use their working memory to find the toy.
Impulse Control: As early as 6 months old, infants can refrain from touching something they've been warned to avoid, such as an electrical outlet.
Thinking Skills: Between 9-11 months, infants can strategize how to obtain an object that is beyond reach, such as a toy that rests on a blanket and figure out how to pull the blanket towards them in order to retrieve the toy.
Working Memory: Toddlers can keep two different rules in mind, such as sorting objects by two colors or two shapes.
Impulse Control: Around 4 years old, children can start to delay immediate gratification, such as waiting to start dinner until everyone is ready.
Thinking Skills: Between 2-5 years old, children develop the ability to understand and apply different rules for different contexts, such as leaving their shoes on at school, but taking shoes off at home.
Working Memory: Working memory is developed enough for more complex tasks, such as remembering which toy a child seeks as the child looks in different rooms.
Impulse Control: Impulse control evolves rapidly between the ages of 5-8. By 7 years old, children can ignore irrelevant visual information, like a crayon squiggle on a book page, in the same way as an adult can.
Thinking Skills: There is a critical period of change between 7-9 years old as children develop flexible thinking, allowing them to set goals and change tactics as needed. Between 10-12 years old, children can adapt to changing rules, such as yelling on the playground, being quiet in the classroom, and knowing that during theater rehearsals it may go either way.
Working Memory: Working memory continues to improve until 15 years old. Teens can typically remember the main points of a teacher’s lecture while they take notes in class.
Impulse Control: Toward the late teens, there is an increase in the ability to manage where to focus attention and when to ignore information, such as a driver recognizing a road sign for a pedestrian crossing, noticing there is no pedestrian and being able to focus back on the road.
Thinking Skills: Control over thinking skills evolves rapidly during the years of 13-18. Teens continue to improve their ability to shift their focus and adapt to changing rules, such as when it’s OK to use slang and sarcasm and when they need to be more formal and polite.
Working Memory: Working memory abilities gain strength again throughout the 20’s with skills such as remembering multiple tasks and rules, such as those needed for managing job responsibilities.
Impulse Control: As adults, self-control is typically consistent and stable; incidents of impulsive retaliation are rare.
Thinking Skills: As adults, the ability to revise and reflect on plans based on circumstances fully evolves, allowing complex problem solving and insight about behavior.
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Sources:
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