Executive functions (EFs; also called executive control or cognitive control) refer to a family of top-down mental processes needed when you have to concentrate and pay attention, when going on automatic or relying on instinct or intuition would be ill-advised, insufficient, or impossible (Burgess & Simons 2005, Espy 2004, Miller&Cohen 2001).Using EFs is effortful; it is easier to continue doing what you have been doing than to change, it is easier to give into temptation than to resist it, and it is easier to go on “automatic pilot” than to considerwhat to do next. There is general agreement that there are three core EFs (e.g., Lehto et al. 2003, Miyake et al. 2000): inhibition [inhibitory control, including self-control (behavioral inhibition) and interference control (selective attention and cognitive inhibition)], workingmemory (WM), and cognitive flexibility (also called set shifting, mental flexibility, or mental set shifting and closely linked to creativity).From these, higherorder EFs are built such as reasoning, problem solving, and planning (Collins & Koechlin 2012, Lunt et al. 2012). EFs are skills essential formental and physical health; success in school and in life; and cognitive, social, and psychological development.
Self-control is the aspect of inhibitory control that involves control over one’s behavior and control over one’s emotions in the service of controlling one’s behavior. Self-control is about resisting temptations and not acting impulsively. The temptation resisted might be to indulge in pleasures when one should not (e.g., to indulge in a romantic fling if you are married or to eat sweets if you are trying to lose weight), to overindulge, or to stray from the straight and narrow (e.g., to cheat or steal). Or the temptation might be to impulsively react (e.g., reflexively striking back at someone who has hurt your feelings) or to do or take what you want without regard for social norms (e.g., butting in line or grabbing another child’s toy).
References
Diamond, Adele. 2013. “Executive functions.” Annual review of Psychology 64: 135–68.