COGNITIVE SKILLS
YOUR BRAIN'S THINKING AND LEARNING CENTRE
Cognitive skills are the core skills your brain uses to think, read, learn, remember, reason, and pay attention. They all work together. The information comes through the senses and moves to the part of the brain we use to attend to everyday tasks at school, work and in our daily lives.
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Did you know
You are NOT born with these SKILLS, they must be TAUGHT and DEVELOPED
Here’s a short description of each of your cognitive skills, as well as struggles you may be experiencing if one or more of these skills are weak
What it does: Enables you to stay focused and on task for sustained periods of time.
Common problems when this skill is weak: Many unfinished projects, jumping from task to task.
What it does: Enables you to stay focused and on task, despite distractions.
Common problems when this skill is weak: Easily distracted.
What it does: Enables you to remember information while doing two things at once.
Common problems when this skill is weak: Difficulty multitasking, and frequent mistakes.
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LONG TERM MEMORY
What it does: Enables you to recall information stored in the past.
Common problems when this skill is weak: Forgetting names, poor test results, forgetting things you used to know.
SHORT TERM MEMORY
What it does: Enables you to retain information while in the process of using it.
Common problems when this skill is weak: Having to reread the directions in the middle of a project, difficulty following multi-step directions, and forgetting what was just said in a conversation.
What it does: It enables you to reason, form ideas, and solve problems.
Common problems when this skill is weak: Frequently asking, “What do I do next?” or saying, “I don’t get this,” struggling with mathematics, feeling stuck or overwhelmed.
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What it does: It enables you to analyse, blend, and segment sounds.
Common problems when this skill is weak: Struggling to learn how to read, reading fluency, or reading comprehension.
What it does: Enables you to think in visual images.
Common problems when this skill is weak: Difficulties understanding what you’ve just read, remembering what you’ve read, following directions, reading maps, and doing mathematic word problems.
What it does: Enables you to perform tasks quickly and accurately.
Common problems when this skill is weak: Taking a long time to complete tasks for school or work, frequently being the last one in a group to finish something.