Essential Cognitive Skills for Paying Attention, Learning and Remembering

What Are Cognitive Skills? 

Cognitive skills are what your brain uses to think, read, learn, remember, reason, and pay attention. Cognitive skills work together to process new information, and then to understand, retain, and use that information. The cognitive skills are:

• Sustained attention, which lets you focus on one task for a long period of time
• Selective attention, which lets you focus on a task, even if there are distractions
• Divided attention, which lets you remember information while you’re doing two things at once
• Long-term memory, which lets you recall information from the past
• Short-term memory, which lets you hold information while you’re using it
• Logic and reasoning, which let you reason, form ideas, and solve problems
• Auditory processing, which lets you analyze, blend, and segment sounds
• Visual processing, which lets you think in visual images
• Processing speed, which lets you perform tasks quickly and accurately

How Do Weak Cognitive Skills Affect Memory, Attention, and Learning?

Cognitive skills are the essential building blocks for learning. So when cognitive skills are weak, learning can be a challenge, especially in younger children. 

For example, when a child’s memory is weak, they may struggle to remember directions or routine. When a student has strong short-term memory skills, for example, they can remember multiple steps in a homework assignment. A student whose short-term memory is weak may struggle to remember more than one or two steps. 

Having strong attention skills are also essential for learning. Students must be able to listen to and understand information to learn. Students who have weak selective attention may struggle to retain information if other students are talking or moving.

Processing skills are essential for making sense of incoming information. When students have weak visual processing skills, they may interpret visual input incorrectly. This means handwriting, reading, and math may all be challenging as a result. Students with weak auditory processing skills may struggle to answer questions in class, since their brains are busy trying to decipher the question that was asked while the teacher is waiting for an answer. 

How Do Weak Cognitive Skills Affect a Child’s Confidence? 

Weak cognitive skills affect students’ ability to process, retail, and recall information – all of which make learning a challenge. But a student’s confidence can also be affected by weak cognitive skills. Students may say things like, “I’m not good enough,” “I’ll never succeed on my own,” or “I’m not smart enough.” 

Any of these beliefs can lead to lower confidence. In addition, when students struggle with learning, they may act out to get attention in other ways. Then, when students get in trouble, it can reinforce the idea that they’re not good enough. 

Brain Training from LearningRx Can Strengthen Weak Cognitive Skills 

Thankfully, for parents who are watching their students struggle, there are ways you can help. Parents can help children develop age-appropriate ways to keep their homework and room organized. Helping students write down goals and progress can also remind kids why they want to work hard. 

Finally, brain training through LearningRx can also strengthen cognitive skills. In the same way a personalized workout plan can help your muscles get better, a personalized brain training plan improve your student’s cognitive skills. 

How to Get Started with LearningRx

If you’re interested in brain training for you or your child, it’s easy to learn more and get started. Simply contact LearningRx to schedule a one-on-one discussion about brain training! 

During this discussion, we can answer your questions about brain training. We’ll also discuss your brain training goals and any specific learning struggles you’re looking to address. 

Following this, we can schedule a Brain Skills Assessment, and get started on a custom training plan for you or your child!