Towards Clarity in Research on "Non-Cognitive" Skills: Linking Executive Functions, Self-Regulation, and Economic Development to Advance Life Outcomes for Children, Adolescents and Youth Globally.

Human development and economic development are intrinsically linked. Guided by human capital theory, economists are increasingly recognizing the importance of a range of other skills – in addition to intelligence and technical skills – for economic success. Until fairly recently, years of education completed, literacy, numeracy and IQ – often used as proxies for cognitive ability – were the main measures used to assess the relationship between human capital and economic development. More recently, researchers and practitioners have acknowledged that skills such as the ability to work in groups, maintain good interpersonal relations and a positive attitude, control impulses and demonstrate goal-directed behavior are all critical to economic productivity and individual success. The economist James Heckman highlighted the importance of these skills, which he originally called “non-cognitive” skills, for economic development in 2006 [Heckman, Stixrud, & Urza, 2006]. Since that time, there has been considerable interest among the international development community in these skills, but also confusion as to how to conceptualize, define, and assess this set of skills, and above all, how to foster them. Recent writings by Heckman refer to these skills as “character skills” while others have termed them “life skills,” “21st century skills,” “socio-emotional skills,” or “soft skills.” Regardless of the term used, many of these skills fall under the more clearly defined umbrella of executive functions and self-regulation. While these skills, or more aptly, competencies necessary for healthy and productive lives have been referred to as “non-cognitive,” in fact cognitive processes are at the heart of self-regulation. Such brain processes allow us to flexibly regulate emotions, control anger or strong emotional reactions and maintain calm under pressure according to the demands of a particular context. These domains of