RE: origin of "executive" function
My recollection of the use of the term "executive' in the early 50s is in the description of Joe Brady's monkey conditioning experiments (at Walter Reed I believe) in which only one of two monkeys actually was able to control the shock when a tone was signaled. Only the "executive' who had to make the decision purportedly developed GI tract ulcers. I do remember we used the term in conversations with Luke Teuber no later than 1953 and its usage in accounts of cognitive function I believe was fairly widespread at the time. After an article on the executive monkey story in Scientific American the term became truly commonplace in psychology circles. I hope this is helpful. Larry Kruger -------------------------------- Lawrence Kruger Professor of Neurobiology (Emeritus) UCLA School of Medicine 10833 LeConte Avenue, CHS 73-323 Los Angeles, CA 90095 lkruger@ucla.edu 310-825-9572 (voice)