EXECUTIVE PROCESSES

♦ We can't rely on prior knowledge or an automatic response
    - we have to reason it through with concentration.

 ♦ We have to selectively attend to some information and
    ignore distracting information.

 ♦ We have to hold items of information in short
    term memory (what is known as 'working' memory').

 ♦ We have to do mental operations on the information
    and update the information we are attending to as we
    are  working through the problem.

 All these cognitive skills are known as executive processes.
 They lie at the heart of intelligence. If a person   is good at
 doing these things, the will be more intelligent.