WHAT ARE COGNITIVE SKILLS?

Cognitive skills also referred to as brain skills for information processing are core functions that your brain uses on a day to day basis, in order to perform various different tasks. When these cognitive skills are used together, the brain takes in information and creates it into knowledge helping us in our day to day lives at school and at work.

However, if there are weaknesses in the processing of the cognitive skills, individuals may find it difficult in the following areas: Reading, Learning, Memory, Attention, Listening and Speaking. The Brain Rx program that we offer focuses on 7 dominant cognitive skills that improve the following areas.

Also described as the memories that the brain has stored for over an extended period of time. This may vary from a memory that occurred 60 minutes ago to an old memory from decades ago.

Also known as working memory, is the process that involves a recall on information that has occurred shortly prior to the learning experience.

The ability to perform a simple or complex cognitive skill in a particular amount of time. Processing speed is one of the core cognitive skills that people need in order to learn academics, day to day activities, logic and reasoning.

The ability to use visual information from what we can see around us in our day to day lives. It is the way our brain perceives, analyses and creates visual images.

The ear and brain work together through auditory processing to blend, analyse, and segment various sounds. This process begins when a sound wave enters the outer ear and travels through the middle ear to the inner ear. There, vibrations stimulate hair cells, which convert the sound wave into electrical signals. These signals travel along the auditory nerve to the brainstem and then to the auditory cortex in the brain, where they are interpreted as sound.

Logic is the ability to understand, use critical thinking and recall information, with the information given to the brain. It then constructs ways on how to start doing a particular task, and provides steps on how to complete the task that it was given. Reasoning is the ability to apply knowledge in a meaningful way and to solve problems.

Attention can be described into 3 various ways.

Holding your focus for long periods of time.

The ability to ignore peripheral distractions (any noise and visual distractions).

The ability to multi task, easily switching between tasks, whilst still remembering the initial task.