Cognitive skills are learned abilities used to understand and integrate information. They include motor skills, memory, attention, perception, and executive functions. These skills are essential for problem-solving, learning, and understanding. Symbolic thinking is crucial for reading and writing. Cognitive skills work together to perform everyday actions. Milestones can be used to track progress and diagnose learning disabilities.
Cognitive skills are a set of skills that are learned to varying degrees as a person grows and develops mentally. Unlike skills that rely on academic knowledge, cognitive skills are skills that are used to learn, understand, and integrate information in a meaningful way. Cognitively learned information is understood, not just stored. There are many groups of cognitive skills, and each broad category can be broken down into very specific skill sets. Milestones are often used to track children’s progress and can be used diagnostically to check for learning disabilities or other problems that may need special attention.
Some examples of cognitive skills include motor skills, memory, attention, perception, and a broad category known as executive skills. Each of these skills can be further broken down into specific mental operations that can be used in different situations or to complete tasks. Primarily, these skills are employed to solve problems, perceive the world in a way that makes sense and is consistent, and to learn new skills and information.
One of the most important categories of cognitive skills involves executive functions. These are skills that can help govern other skills and provide a mental framework essential for learning. Executive functions include sequencing, inhibition, problem solving, and flexibility. Some of these skills can be used to support other categories, and more importantly, they can help provide a means of integrating information into the mind so it can be understood.
Some learned tasks, such as reading and writing, are highly dependent on cognitive skills. Symbolic thinking is one such skill. This is the cognitive ability to relate a symbol to a specific sound, image, or other meaning that is not necessarily implied by the actual appearance of the symbol. This skill is vital to understanding how to read and write through the use of an alphabet, where the letters really have no visual relation to meaning or the sounds they make.
Most of these skills work together to enable you to perform some everyday action. Answering a door after a bell has been rung is one example. To respond to a door, a person must be able to identify a sound, divert attention away from the sound, relate the sound to a physical object within the environment even if it is not the actual object making the noise , then use fine motor skills to reach the door and open it. All of these steps are classified as cognitive skills.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
