Arabian Gulf University (AGU) has participated in the 7th International Social Sciences Conference in Amsterdam. Professor of Psychology and Special Education in the College of Graduate Studies, 

Dr. Elsayed Elkhamisi, presented a scientific research on the deficiency levels of executive functions and metacognitive processes in autistic children. He explained that the term "executive functions" derives from Administrative Science to indicate the responsibility of a specific party or person to implement some tasks."

It has been used in cognitive psychology and neuropsychology to indicate a set of cognitive functions that enable an individual to follow and control their personal behaviour in all its aspects. It regulates, monitors, and controls the behaviour of an individual in order to successfully engage in effective and purposeful behaviour," he said.

 "Executive functions entail several functions including: cognitive flexibility, planning, working memory, behavioural and emotional regulation, and self-monitoring. On the other hand, metacognitive processes are concerned with the individual's awareness of how they perceive such cognitive processes, such as awareness of how one thinks and recalls events, and how environmental and social stimuli are identified."

He employed the Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function translated into Arabic, which is one of the world's leading standards in this field. The results of the study indicated that the most deficient executive functions in autistic children are planning, working memory and cognitive flexibility. The study found no differences among different age groups in dimensions of executive functions, self-regulation and metacognitive processes.