Book excerpt: This volume focuses on the role of social interactions in the development of executive function, and offers a new and exciting alternative to many contemporary cognitive approaches. Executive function consists of higher cognitive skills involved in the control of thought, action, and emotion. Relatively little is known about the processes that promote its development. The volume is aimed at a broad range of child and adolescent developmental researchers and practitioners interested in how parental scaffolding, family background, as well as educational and cultural processes are linked to the development of children's self-control and social understanding.