[Models of executive control and functions (I)].

INTRODUCTION

As human beings we are capable of coping with novel situations and adapting to changes in a flexible manner. The cognitive skills that allow individuals to control and regulate their behaviour are called executive functions. Anatomically, the executive functions depend on a distributed neural system, in which the prefrontal cortex plays an essential role. Recent data suggest that different regions of the prefrontal cortex may be involved in a number of aspects of executive functioning.

DEVELOPMENT

The purpose of this article is to carry out a review of the main models of executive functioning in order to shed light on this controversial construct. The models put forward to date approach the same reality from a number of different perspectives, in some case avoiding certain parts of that reality. In this first part, we review the models and theories of contextual information, structured complex events, working memory, adaptive encoding, Miller and Cohen's integrating theory, and the factorial models of executive control.

CONCLUSIONS

There is no single model that allows us to explain how specific cognitive processes are controlled and coordinated while complex cognitive activities are being performed. Nevertheless, some agreement has been reached on accepting the idea that the executive functions construct does not consist of a single concept, but instead a combination of several cognitive processes that combine in a number of ways in order to operate in different situations.