An interactive framework for examining prefrontal cognitive processes

This article presents an interactive framework for understanding prefrontal cognitive processes that suggests that action selection results from a dynamic interaction among a person's working memory resources; the working memory demands of a task; and the strength of prepotent, but misleading, action alternatives. One prediction of the framework is that specific inhibition difficulties can result directly from nonoptimal working memory functioning. The framework is used to describe the commonalties across a wide variety of tasks that are sensitive to prefrontal dysfunctions; empirical support for the model is presented. The framework is also used for understanding everyday action errors and for examining normal and abnormal cognitive development.