Glossary

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Attention(also: Attentional processing, Selective attention)

The cognitive process of selectively focusing on relevant stimuli while filtering out competing information. Cognitive neuroscience typically decomposes attention into three networks: alerting (maintaining readiness to respond), orienting (shifting focus across space or sensory…

Cognitive Flexibility(also: Mental Flexibility, Set Shifting, Task Switching)

The executive function that allows a person to adapt their thinking and behavior in response to changing demands, switch between tasks, or consider multiple perspectives simultaneously. Cognitive flexibility is often challenged in autism, ADHD, and other neurodevelopmental…

Demand Avoidance(also: Pathological Demand Avoidance, PDA, Persistent Drive for Autonomy)

An inner resistance to perceived demands — even self-imposed ones — that can lead to inability to start, change, or complete tasks. Demand avoidance is associated with an autism profile sometimes called Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) in the UK, and more recently reframed by…

Inhibitory Control(also: Response Inhibition, Impulse Control)

The executive function that enables a person to suppress automatic or impulsive responses in favor of more appropriate, goal-directed behavior. Inhibitory control is essential for tasks requiring sustained focus, turn-taking, and resisting distractions. It is commonly affected…

Self-Motivation

Self-motivation is the internal capacity to initiate and sustain tasks without relying on external rewards or pressure. In accessibility contexts, self-motivation is relevant to executive function and is often reduced for people with ADHD, depression, chronic fatigue, and…

Task Switching(also: Context Switching, Task-Switching Cost)

The cognitive process of shifting attention from one task to another, which incurs a measurable performance cost in terms of time, accuracy, and mental effort. For individuals with ADHD and other conditions affecting executive function, task switching is particularly challenging…

Time Blindness(also: Diminished time awareness)

A reduced or unreliable awareness of the passage of time, commonly associated with ADHD and related executive-function differences. People experiencing time blindness may struggle to estimate how long tasks take, notice elapsed time during immersive activities, or plan backward…

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