Improve cognitive flexibility -
Cognitive flexibility is the ability to adapt our behaviour and thinking in response to the environment. When children are asked to think about multiple concepts simultaneously or change their approach to solving a problem, they need to demonstrate flexible thinking.
Cognitive flexibility is considered a core aspect of executive functioning. Executive functioning includes the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions and juggle multiple tasks simultaneously.
Imagine the teacher has asked students to see how many ways their class can be sorted into different groups. Whether the problem is in real-life or an academic task, your child needs to look at situations from multiple perspectives.
This is an aspect of cognitive flexibility! Here is another example. If your child is attempting a challenging math question, do they try to solve the problem using different strategies? Students will frequently attempt to solve a problem using the method they know best.
Life is full of examples of times when we must examine situations using differing perspectives. To be successful social beings, we need to be flexible. We will have to face social problems, problems in our relationships, work-place conflict, or many other scenarios!
But, as you are heading out the door, you get a text saying that the friend is sick and they will have to reschedule. But for those that struggle with cognitive flexibility, this may not be as easy. They may freeze and do nothing.
They may ruminate on the fact that their playdate was cancelled. Or, they may become emotional and distressed as they struggle to understand that they can reschedule and do something different that day instead.
By practicing being flexible in our thinking with our students and children, we can help them reach their full potential. These strategies are particularly important now during the global pandemic.
Children have been forced to adapt their daily living, learn school lessons in a new way, and socialize differently. Practicing the ability to solve problems in new ways, consider multiple concepts at once, and look at the bigger picture will support their cognitive flexibility skills.
In summary, cognitive flexibility skills allow us to switch gears and find new approaches to solve problems in our daily lives. Many children with ADHD and Learning Disabilities struggle with cognitive flexibility and may require more assistance in developing these skills.
There are many ways to help your child develop these skills, including modelling, explicit instruction, and experiential learning. Trouble With Flexible Thinking: Why Some Kids Only See Things One Way. A Day in the Life of a Child Who Struggles With Flexible Thinking.
Flexible Thinking: How to Encourage Kids to Go With the Flow. Written by:. Mary Makowski, Registered Provisional Psychologist, and Christine MacDonald, Psychology Intern. Why Does Cognitive Flexibility Matter? How Do We Improve Cognitive Flexibility? Incorporate the concepts of rigidity and flexibility through play.
Practice modelling flexible thinking in fun and silly ways to help your child better understand it. Label rigid thinking patterns in a non-judgemental way in yourself and your kids to help them identify them.
Helpful talking techniques can include explaining rigidity as a tightly pulled elastic. By contrast, flexible thinking is a loose, flexible elastic.
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Reading is a great way to keep your brain interested and stimulated, as it requires several regions to work together at the same time.
Eat omega-3 fatty acids. Studies, including a recent study at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, which was funded by Abbott, have shown that optimal nutrition — including omega-3 fatty acids — may help preserve cognitive function in at-risk older adults, slow the process of aging and reduce the incidence of debilitating diseases.
This means incorporating more delicious foods like salmon, halibut, flaxseed, peanut butter, walnuts, kale and spinach into your diet may be helpful.
Play games. Chess, anyone? From board games to online brain training exercises there are plenty of online apps and games you can try , keeping your brain challenged can help build neural pathways.
Having these mental reserves has been shown to help delay cognitive decline. Beyond physical fitness, exercise can help maintain brain health, too. Engaging in cardiovascular activities will help supply blood to the brain — blood that's packed with nutrients to keep your cells healthy.
Like games, exercise helps build important neural pathways, too. FOLLOW ABBOTT. All Rights Reserved.
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The opposite cognitjve cognitive Impgove is cognitive rigidity cognittive cognitive inflexibility. Think about the way water moves. Water in its liquid state is similar to cognitive flexibility. But water in its frozen state is similar to cognitive rigidity. When water travels, it has the capacity to find many different paths.
This is true for small streams, raging rivers, or dropped water in your kitchen. The water will flow in several directions. It will find endless ways to surpass obstacles and continue flowing. Water follows the path of least resistance or the most efficient path for it to take.
Ice, on the other hand, is rigid. If it meets an obstacle, it cannot move past it until it melts. You can see from multiple perspectives. But even if you struggle with cognitive flexibility, you can work to improve this skill. Just like ice, you can melt back into water with a little bit of heat or pressure.
Think about what it feels like to go from a conversation with a toddler to a conversation with a manager. It can take a few moments to get in the right frame of mind and adapt your style to the different audiences.
Even switching between two adults can be difficult depending on the individual differences between them. In a recent studyresearchers tested the problem-solving abilities of capuchin and rhesus monkeys.
They also performed the same test on humans. Practicing cognitive flexibility can create new neural pathways in your brain and improve your cognitive flexibility skill. This makes it easier to practice divergent thinking and creative problem-solving. Here are some ways you can improve your cognitive flexibility so that you can approach a tough situation in a different way:.
One way to practice cognitive flexibility is to introduce it in small, low-stakes ways in your life. You can expose yourself to new situations and different contexts without going too far outside of your comfort zone.
In a recent study, researchers taught rats to drive small cars. They learned that:. Struggling to build your empathy? You can also start approaching other people at work with your challenges. Ask them how they would approach a problem. Make sure you listen actively when they give their explanation.
Doing this helps you see from their point of view. This tactic is for people who tend to go down rabbit holes with negative thoughts about themselves. Catastrophizing is a common display of cognitive rigidity. When this happens, you can practice redirecting your thoughts. Be mindful of what you are thinking and interrupt the thought spiraling through your mind.
Change the topic to something else entirely. This can be easier said than done. To help you get there, get up and change your scenery. You can take a walk around the block, go on your lunch break earlier than usual, or go see one of your peers to ask about their day.
This is an act of cognitive flexibility. You can try this tip for yourself. But this is also a great tactic for managers to use when interacting with employees. This will help them take a broader look at a situation. It will encourage them to consider other perspectives and look at other possible options.
I knew we should have priced it differently. Your job as a manager is to urge them to think about what else might be true. Maybe the client got sick. Maybe the support staff forgot to book a conference room.
There are so many alternative explanations. Urging your employees to think this way enhances not only their cognitive flexibility skills, but also their strategic thinking skills. Want to know where you stand regarding cognitive flexibility? Here is how you can perform the test on yourself.
This questionnaire was developed in the context of research completed in Here are statements the researchers developed. Your job is to decide if these statements are true or false for you:. Just like the previous cognitive flexibility test, this is another research-backed tool to help you with cognitive flexibility.
You can run a demo of the test to see what results you get for yourself. You can test yourself here and practice reading the colors to improve your cognitive flexibility.
Or, you can run a more complete version of the flanker test by using the demo available here. It may take some practice to get used to how this test works. Build your cognitive flexibility. When you get upset or feel stuck, remember to give yourself some grace.
It takes practice to develop cognitive flexibility. Pause and breathe for a few seconds and consider what else might be possible in your situation. With the right coaching, you can build your cognitive flexibility even faster.
Try BetterUp today to see how you and your team can build cognitive flexibility together.
: Improve cognitive flexibility| WHY COGNITIVE FLEXIBILITY MATTERS — PLUS FOUR WAYS TO KEEP YOUR BRAIN STRONG AS YOU AGE | Reading or watching films produced by a member of the cultural group, for example, can be a good place to start. Engage in self-questioning. Ask yourself if there are other ways you can interpret a situation. Seek out trainings, conferences, or webinars on bias and inclusion topics. Develop awareness for commonly held biases and thinking styles that promote stereotypes and unhealthy generalizations. Actively challenge these distorted thought patterns. Here are some common examples: All-or-nothing thinking: When you see things as black or white. My boss never approves my time off! In preparation for a presentation to the team you begin to feel anxious. Related Links. Popular Articles. Get stories like this delivered to your inbox. WHOLESALE BLOG GetACTV Sign in. HAND-MADE, YOGA-INSPIRED SHOP JEWELRY. Active Sitting Active Standing Balance Balls Fitness Kids Accessories. Collections Kids Active Sitting Office Essentials Posture Support Resources Why Sitting Should Scare You Benefits of Standing on a Balance Board Balance Ball FAQs Instructional Guides. Strength Training Free Weights Bodyweight Training Rubber Resistance Resistance Tubing Resistance Bands Resistance Kits. Stability and Mobility Stability Balls Balance Training Exercise Mats Recovery Athletic Performance Cardio Bodyweight Training. Sports Boxing Pickleball. Meditation Seating Cushions Bolsters Chairs. Accessories Blankets Eye Pillows Meditation Space Malas. Resources Instructional Guides Meditation for Beginners Learn More about Meditation. Active Sitting Active Development Yoga Mats Balance Balls Bop Bags. Resources Kid Friendly Yoga Practices How Sitting on a Ball Chair Helps Focus Kidnasium. FLEXIBLE SEATING OPTIONS TO KEEP YOUR KIDS FOCUSED. We begin learning through both subtle and overt cues, messages, observations and images what the values and norms of that culture are in that time and place. Yoga for Swimmers: Poses for Strength and Mobility Micha Shaw, former pro swimmer, walks us through five yoga poses that help athletes who perform repeated movements day in and day out, to not only increase flexibility, mobility and strength, but also bring awareness to movement patterns, enhance performance and stay injury-free. Amanda Huggins: From Anxiety to Empowerment Amanda Huggins, anxiety coach and Gaiam influencer, tells the story of how she transformed her anxiety into empowerment and offers journaling prompts to begin the process of understanding your relationship with anxiety. |
| 9 Ways to Improve Cognitive Flexibility And Reduce Rigid Behavior | Cognitive flexibility is the ability to adapt our behaviour and thinking in response to the environment. When children are asked to think about multiple concepts simultaneously or change their approach to solving a problem, they need to demonstrate flexible thinking. Cognitive flexibility is considered a core aspect of executive functioning. Executive functioning includes the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions and juggle multiple tasks simultaneously. Imagine the teacher has asked students to see how many ways their class can be sorted into different groups. Whether the problem is in real-life or an academic task, your child needs to look at situations from multiple perspectives. This is an aspect of cognitive flexibility! Here is another example. If your child is attempting a challenging math question, do they try to solve the problem using different strategies? Students will frequently attempt to solve a problem using the method they know best. Life is full of examples of times when we must examine situations using differing perspectives. To be successful social beings, we need to be flexible. We will have to face social problems, problems in our relationships, work-place conflict, or many other scenarios! But, as you are heading out the door, you get a text saying that the friend is sick and they will have to reschedule. But for those that struggle with cognitive flexibility, this may not be as easy. They may freeze and do nothing. They may ruminate on the fact that their playdate was cancelled. Or, they may become emotional and distressed as they struggle to understand that they can reschedule and do something different that day instead. By practicing being flexible in our thinking with our students and children, we can help them reach their full potential. These strategies are particularly important now during the global pandemic. Children have been forced to adapt their daily living, learn school lessons in a new way, and socialize differently. Practicing the ability to solve problems in new ways, consider multiple concepts at once, and look at the bigger picture will support their cognitive flexibility skills. In summary, cognitive flexibility skills allow us to switch gears and find new approaches to solve problems in our daily lives. Many children with ADHD and Learning Disabilities struggle with cognitive flexibility and may require more assistance in developing these skills. There are many ways to help your child develop these skills, including modelling, explicit instruction, and experiential learning. Trouble With Flexible Thinking: Why Some Kids Only See Things One Way. A Day in the Life of a Child Who Struggles With Flexible Thinking. Flexible Thinking: How to Encourage Kids to Go With the Flow. Written by:. Mary Makowski, Registered Provisional Psychologist, and Christine MacDonald, Psychology Intern. Why Does Cognitive Flexibility Matter? How Do We Improve Cognitive Flexibility? Incorporate the concepts of rigidity and flexibility through play. Practice modelling flexible thinking in fun and silly ways to help your child better understand it. Label rigid thinking patterns in a non-judgemental way in yourself and your kids to help them identify them. Helpful talking techniques can include explaining rigidity as a tightly pulled elastic. By contrast, flexible thinking is a loose, flexible elastic. So, how can you expose yourself to new experiences? It can be as simple as trying a new hobby, exploring a different neighbourhood, or learning a new skill. Engaging in activities outside of your usual routine can stimulate your brain and open up new thinking pathways. Additionally, interacting with diverse individuals and cultures can also broaden your perspective and enhance cognitive flexibility. Exposure to different viewpoints and ways of life challenges your preconceived notions and encourages you to think more flexibly. Enhancing your cognitive flexibility is crucial in minimising distractions in your daily life. Distractions can disrupt our focus and hinder our ability to think flexibly and adapt to new situations. These distractions fragment our attention and make it difficult to engage in deep, flexible thinking. By consciously avoiding distractions, we create a conducive environment for cognitive flexibility to flourish. Start by identifying the biggest sources of distraction in your life. Is it your phone? The TV? Put your phone on silent or in another room when you need to focus, designate specific times for checking social media, and create a quiet space where you can work without interruptions. Additionally, practising mindfulness can help train your brain to stay focused and resist distractions. Mindfulness involves being fully present at the moment and cultivating awareness of your thoughts and surroundings. By practising mindfulness regularly, you can develop better control over your attention, allowing you to stay focused on the task at hand and think more flexibly. Remember, improving cognitive flexibility requires discipline and conscious effort. Reducing distractions and creating a focused environment can enhance your ability to think flexibly and adapt to new challenges. So, turn off those distractions, tune in to the present moment, and watch your cognitive flexibility soar. Practising mindfulness meditation can be a valuable tool for boosting your cognitive flexibility. Researchers believe that mindfulness meditation promotes metacogntion awareness. Mindfulness meditation is a technique that involves focusing your attention on the present moment without judgement. It may sound simple, but the benefits it can have on your cognitive flexibility are profound. When you engage in mindfulness meditation, you train your brain to be more aware of your thoughts and emotions. This increased awareness allows you to observe your thinking patterns and become less reactive to them. As a result, you gain greater control over your thoughts and are better equipped to let go of rigid thinking and embrace new perspectives. Moreover, mindfulness meditation cultivates a sense of openness and curiosity towards your experiences. Instead of getting caught up in rigid beliefs or preconceived notions, you learn to approach situations with a flexible and non-judgemental mindset. This openness allows you to consider different viewpoints, think creatively, and adapt to new information more effectively. Regular practise of mindfulness meditation also helps calm the mind and reduce stress. By managing stress through meditation, you create an environment in which cognitive flexibility can thrive. So, if you want to improve your cognitive flexibility, set aside some time each day to practise mindfulness meditation. Start with just a few minutes and gradually increase the duration as you become more comfortable. When you exercise, you increase blood flow to your brain, delivering oxygen and essential nutrients. This enhanced blood flow promotes the growth of new brain cells and strengthens the connections between existing ones. As a result, your brain becomes more efficient at processing information and navigating cognitive tasks. Exercise also triggers the release of neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin, which play a key role in mood regulation and cognitive function. These chemicals promote a sense of well-being and boost cognitive flexibility, making it easier for your brain to shift between different tasks and think creatively. Furthermore, regular exercise has been linked to improved memory and attention span. This increased mental sharpness and focus translate into enhanced cognitive flexibility. Even moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, cycling, or dancing, can have a positive impact on your cognitive abilities. Aim for at least 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week to enjoy the cognitive benefits it offers. So, tie up your sneakers and get moving! Reading is a great way to enhance your cognitive flexibility. When you read, you expose yourself to new ideas, perspectives, and information. This exposure stimulates your brain and challenges your existing thought patterns. As you delve into different genres, explore diverse topics, and encounter various characters, your mind becomes more flexible and adaptable. Reading also enhances your vocabulary and language skills, allowing you to express your thoughts more precisely and articulate ideas in a nuanced manner. This linguistic dexterity contributes to cognitive flexibility, as you become adept at navigating different concepts and contexts. Moreover, reading fiction can improve your empathetic abilities, which are closely tied to cognitive flexibility. As you immerse yourself in fictional worlds and empathise with characters, you develop a deeper understanding of different perspectives and emotions. This empathetic perspective-taking expands your cognitive flexibility, enabling you to approach real-life situations with greater understanding and adaptability. |
| What Is Cognitive Flexibility, and Why Does It Matter? | How do we know that other species have it and demonstrate it to a higher degree? Using a calendar like this helps kids prepare for change. Mindfulness meditation is a technique that involves focusing your attention on the present moment without judgement. For example, we might be able to modify and strengthen neural circuits in the brain through cognitive training. Family Life. Reflect on your behaviours that may model rigidity. |
| 9 Ways to Improve Cognitive Flexibility And Reduce Rigid Behavior | To stay relevant and be able to work alongside machines, professional accountants are now required to have a range of skills that is much broader than ever before. Celebrate how those behaviours can help them, but also teach them how to distinguish between helpful versus harmful inflexibility. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Sports Boxing Pickleball. Here are some methods to stimulate this cognitive function:. WHOLESALE BLOG GetACTV Sign in. In order to find the right sequence of movements, cognitive flexibility is stimulated, since it is necessary to imagine the different possibilities and the movements of the cars. |
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