executive-function

Removal test: executive-function operates by directing and regulating attentional resources. Remove attention and executive-function has nothing to direct — it stops operating entirely. Attention is the prerequisite capacity that executive-function acts upon.

remove working-memory now and executive-function stops operating: core executive operations (inhibition, switching, updating) require maintaining goal representations and manipulating information online; without working memory, no executive control is possible.

Removal test: self-regulation comprises monitoring, evaluation, and adjustment processes that require executive-function (the capacity to direct attention, filter, and regulate). Remove executive-function and self-regulation literally stops operating — no capacity to monitor or adjust. Object-level constitutive dependency, not meta-level.

Attentional control is a specific component of executive function — a competent cognitive scientist would call it 'an executive function.' The note pins INSTANCE_OF (kind-of), not DEPENDS_ON. Executive function is the broader construct; attentional control is one of its specific types.

cognitive-control is a specific kind of executive function — the set of top-down mental processes needed to regulate thoughts and actions toward goals. A competent cognitive scientist would call cognitive control 'an executive function.' The accepted definition of executive-function supports this as a subtype. Follows Law 9: specific→general.

Cognitive flexibility is a well-established component of executive function in cognitive psychology. A competent cognitive scientist would classify cognitive flexibility as 'an executive function' — it is the capacity to flexibly shift cognitive sets, a core executive process.

Inhibitory control is a specific kind of executive function — the capacity to suppress dominant or automatic responses. A competent cognitive scientist would call inhibitory control 'an executive function'. Nearest kind: executive-function (not working-memory or attentional-control). PIN: INSTANCE_OF in the sense of kind-of membership.

Decision fatigue operates through depletion of executive resources — remove executive-function and the mechanism of decision fatigue ceases to operate. Law 8 removal test: without executive resources, there is no resource depletion.