cognitive processing speed and thus often take longer to complete tasks than people who demonstrate typical executive function capabilities. this can be frustrating for the individual and can serve to impede academic progress. disorders affecting children such as adhd, along with oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, high functioning autism and tourette's syndrome have all been suggested to involve executive functioning deficits. the main focus of current research has been on working memory, planning, set shifting, inhibition, and fluency. this research suggests that differences exist between typically functioning, matched controls and clinical groups, on measures of executive functioning. moreover, some people with adhd report experiencing frequent feelings of drowsiness. this can hinder their attention for lectures, readings, and completing assignments. individuals with this disorder have also been found to require more stimuli for information processing in reading and writing. slow processing may manifest in behavior as signaling a lack of motivation on behalf of the learner. however, slow processing is reflective of an impairment of the ability to coordinate and integrate multiple skills and information sources. the main concern with individuals with autism regarding learning is in the imitation of skills. this can be a barrier in many aspects such as learning about others intentions, mental states, speech, language, and general social skills. individuals with autism tend to be dependent on the routines that they have already mastered, and have difficulty with initiating new non-routine tasks. although an estimated 25–40% of people with autism also have a learning disability, many will demonstrate an impressive rote memory and memory for factual knowledge. as such, repetition is the primary and most successful method for instruction when teaching people with autism. being attentive and focused for people with tourette's syndrome is a difficult process. people affected by this disorder tend to be easily distracted and act very impulsively. that is why it is very important to have a quiet setting with few distractions for the ultimate learning environment. focusing is particularly difficult for those who are affected by tourette's syndrome comorbid with other disorders such as adhd or obsessive-compulsive disorder, it makes focusing very difficult. also, these individuals can be found to repeat words or phrases consistently either immediately after they are learned or after a delayed period of time. criminal behaviour prefrontal dysfunction has been found as a marker for persistent, criminal behavior. the prefrontal cortex is involved with mental functions including; affective range of emotions, forethought, and self-control. moreover, there is a scarcity of mental control displayed by individuals with a dysfunction in this area over their behavior, reduced flexibility and self-control and their difficulty to conceive behavioral consequences, which may conclude in unstable (or criminal) behavior. in a 2008 study conducted by barbosa & monteiro, it was discovered that the recurrent criminals that were considered in this study had executive dysfunction. in view of the fact that abnormalities in executive function can limit how people respond to rehabilitation and re-socialization programs these findings of the recurrent criminals are justified. statistically significant relations have been discerned between anti-social behavior and executive function deficits. these findings relate to the emotional instability that is connected with executive function as a detrimental symptom that can also be linked towards criminal behavior. conversely, it is unclear as to the specificity of anti-social behavior to executive function deficits as opposed to other generalized neuropsychological deficits. the uncontrollable deficiency of executive function has an increased expectancy for aggressive behavior that can result in a criminal deed. orbitofrontal injury also hinders the ability to be risk avoidant, make social judgments, and may cause reflexive aggression. a common retort to these findings is that the higher incidence of cerebral lesions among the criminal population may be due to the peril associated with a life of crime. along with this reasoning, it would be assumed that some other personality trait is responsible for the disregard of social acceptability and reduction in social aptitude. furthermore, some think the dysfunction cannot be entirely to blame. there are interacting environmental factors that also have an influence on the likelihood of criminal action. this theory proposes that individuals with this deficit are less able to control impulses or foresee the consequences of actions that seem attractive at the time (see above) and are also typically provoked by environmental factors. one must recognize that the frustrations of life, combined with a limited ability to control life events, can easily cause aggression and/or other criminal activities.