Cognitive skills – The foundation for Student Learning
– By Anjali A.P & Dr. Leena S Guruprasad
Cognitive skills are a person’s tool for learning. They are core skills your brain uses to think, read, learn, remember, reason, and pay attention. Cognitive skills are brain-based skills. These skills help us to learn,remember, analyze, interpret and understand information and then pay attention and help us to solve problems and decide what to do and help to get solutions soon.It trains young minds and helps them in processing new information by connecting the dots.
Every person is capable of learning cognitive skills but as we grow older our age and lifestyle may affect cognitive function causing memory loss, the trouble thinking right words at the right time while speaking, we become blank in some situations, and we losethe ability to grasp new things and information.
In today’s world, every child is identified through their skills, aptitude, intelligence, etc. So it is more important to learn cognitive skills.
Categories of cognitive skills
These skills are mainly divided into four broad categories:
Perception:Perception is the ability to notice or understand something. E.g.decoding diagrams, sounds, touch, and smell.
It involves both Visual Perception&Auditory perception
Attention:Attention is all about the ability to choose what to care about and what to ignore.E.g.- choosing to focus on writing something while blocking out music in the background.
It involves:Focussed Attention, Sustained Attention, and Divided Attention
Memory:Memory is the process of taking information from the world around us, processing it, storing it, and later recalling that information, sometimes many years later.E.g.- remembering a piece of information from long ago and using it in the present scenario to answer a question.
It involvesShort-term Memory, Working Memory, Long-term Memory, Visual Memory,
andAuditory Memory.
Reasoning:Reasoning is the process of thinking about something and making a judgment or decision. E.g.- assessing, prioritizing, and taking important calls to solve a puzzle.
It involves:Deductive Reasoning and Inductive Reasoning
The positive impact of Cognitive skills on effective learning
Learning is a complex process, especially when the brain is developing. Cognitive skills aid this process of learning in children. These skills bring academic success to students and enable them to efficiently read, think, prioritize, understand, plan, remember, and solve problems. When cognitive skills are strong, students pick up things faster, more easily, and find it fun. However, weak skills make grasping new things and logical thinking a real challenge.
How can cognitive skills be developed in Children
Tip 1: Engage children in physical activities as it has a positive effect on memory functions.
Tip 2: Encourage your child’s interest in books and puzzles
Tip 3: Brain exercises
Tip 4: Motivate them to come out with new ideas to boost their creativity
Tip 5: Empower them to solve real-life problems independently
Tip 6: Involving them in discussions
Tip 7: Helping them to explore the real world and understand how ideas are interlinked
Tip 8: Support your child’s hobbies
Cognitive skills allow children to understand the relationships between ideas, grasp the process of cause and effect, and improve their analytical skills. All in all, cognitive skill development not only can benefit your child in the classroom but outside of class as well. Cognitive development starts in early childhood. Although cognitive skill development depends to a certain extent on the genetic makeup of the child, it is largely dependent on their learning in the early years. A child’s thinking and learning skills can be improved with practice and the right training. Therefore, today, a lot of importance is given to developing cognitive skills in childhood.