ABSTRACT
This chapter defines the central executive anatomically, as that system that resides in the frontal lobes. The central executive component of working memory is a poorly specified and very powerful system that could be criticized as little more than a homunculus. In the early years of the model, the neglect of the central executive was intentional, as it seemed better to concentrate efforts on the more tractable problems of the two slave systems. The more traditional psychometric approach has been based upon the assumption that intelligence measures reflect the operation of a central cognitive processor, which could potentially be identified with the central executive of working memory. In the area of neuropsychology, there is abundant evidence that disorders of executive control are associated with damage to the frontal lobes. The chapter concludes that random generation disrupts the operation of the central executive by its demand for the constant switching of retrieval plans.
