Initial Thoughts on Bite-Sized Guide to Cognitive Flexibility Skills
Cognitive flexibility is among the 10 key skills needed for future jobs. I found more articles on cognitive flexibility skills than I expected. Although I like diversity, I was unable to find any appropriate SlideShare presentations on the skill.
This curated blog post, Bite-Sized Guide to Cognitive Flexibility Skills, is the ninth in a series of curated posts to learn the 10 key skills needed for future jobs. If possible, you shouldn’t use these blog posts as a replacement to reading the relevant books. The information in the posts should complement the books you read. What the curated posts do, is build a foundation on which to build your knowledge of the employability skills.
First Published March 2017
However, I do understand that it may be difficult for you to read five books to learn each skill inside and out, and that’s why I am creating a curated post for you for each of the 10 key skills to accelerate the learning process. For this post, you will need to spend about three hours reading the articles and watching the videos on cognitive flexibility skills.
When reading, viewing, and listening to each piece of content in this curated post on cognitive flexibility skills, answer the following questions to get a firm grasp of the skill. If you can answer the questions for each piece of content, you will have a foundation of cognitive flexible skills on which you can build.
- What is the main purpose of this article? Why did the author write it?
- What is the key question that the author is addressing is?
- What is the most important information in this article? This includes facts, experiences, and/or data the author is using to support her/his conclusions.
- What are the main inferences/conclusions in this article?
- What are the key idea(s) you need to understand in this article?
- What are the main assumption(s) underlying the author’s thinking?
- If you take what the author is saying seriously, what are the implications? If you do not take what the author is saying seriously, what are the implications?
- What are the main point(s) of view presented in this article?
What is Cognitive Flexibility?
What Is Cognitive Flexibility?: This article on the Mental Health Daily blog, does an excellent job of explaining cognitive flexibility. It looks at the aspects of cognitive flexibility and how to measure it.
“Cognitive flexibility refers to the brain’s ability to transition from thinking about one concept to another. The quicker you are able to switch or “shift” your thinking from one dimension to another, the greater your level of cognitive flexibility.”
SMARTS Online Unit 3 – Cognitive Flexibility
This video introduces cognitive flexibility. Because it’s for students, it’s easy to understand. This is very good for someone like myself, who needs to understand the basics. A growth mindset helps to increase cognitive flexibility skills.
Tips to Develop Flexible Thinking Skills: This article by Melissa Mullin, uses a story to demonstrate cognitive flexibility.
“Cognitive flexibility, an essential executive functioning skill, requires the ability to inhibit our previous perspective and to consider or explore a new perspective. It allows us to think creatively, to see things from a different perspective, and to quickly adapt to changes around us.”
This article gave me a better understanding of cognitive flexibility. It’s one of the 10 key skills that is completely new to me. After reading a few articles, I thought I knew what cognitive flexibility is, but I was mistaken. From this article, the definition is more encompassing. It’s also about letting go of things that no longer work and trying something new. That’s an eye opener for me.
Cognitive Flexibility: On the C8 Sciences website, it gives you the basics of cognitive flexibility, which is what I need. And may be what you need as well, especially if the skill is unfamiliar to you. There is a definition of cognitive flexibility, when it’s a strength, and when it’s a problem.
“Cognitive Flexibility and Control is the ability to change what you are thinking about, how you are thinking about it and even what you think about it – in other words, the ability to change your mind. Cognitive flexibility is required in multiple ways throughout the school day…. Cognitive control is the ability to switch ways of thinking, either automatically or deliberately, in situations requiring flexibility.”
New Paradigm of Thought Demystifies Cognitive Flexibility: I love this article because it mentions research in the area of cognitive flexibility. It mentions the four components of cognitive flexibility – Salience, Detection/Attention; Working Memory; Inhibition; and Switching.
Psychology Today Sean Hutchins Lecture on Cognitive Flexibility
This is not a professionally done video, so you'll some background noise. Cognitive flexibility skills help you to change the way you think about something. It allows you to take advantage of new situations. It leads to creative thought.
Cognitive Skills – The 8 Core Cognitive Capacities
“ACTIVATE™ is based on the latest cognitive capacity research of the scientific community into the basic cognitive skills and functions that form the groundwork for all learning.” Cognitive Flexibility is one of the eight cognitive skills mentioned in this article.
Building Students' Cognitive Flexibility | Edutopia
This article lists the skill sets of cognitive flexibility, which helps you to understand what it is. Most of the article is dedicated to building cognitive flexibility skills.
Instructional Design Models And Theories: The Cognitive Flexibility …
The Cognitive Flexibility Theory, introduced by Spiro, Feltovich, and Coulson in 1988, is about how learning takes place in “complex” and “ill-structured domains”. This article is filled with a lot of background information to help you to build a strong foundation.
How to Improve Cognitive Flexibility Skills
Top Skills for The Future of Jobs: How to Enhance Cognitive Flexibility: This is a short article by Core Axis. Among the six ways to improve your cognitive flexibility are reading, meditation, and exercise.
“Cognitive flexibility is defined as the ability to transition our thoughts between multiple concepts or perspectives. It’s the ability to process multiple concepts simultaneously, such as the perspectives of opposing viewpoints. Someone who can switch quickly from thinking about one thing to another, would be said to have a high degree of cognitive flexibility.”
4 Best Practices To Apply The Cognitive Flexibility Theory In eLearning: Although this is a short article, it’s packed with a lot of information. It mentions the four principles of cognitive flexibility and how to apply them. It also mentions how to apply cognitive flexibility theory.
eLearning Industry Final Thoughts on Bite-Sized Guide to Cognitive Flexibility Skills
If you read the curated articles and view the videos, and if you take notes during the process, you will be on your way to learning cognitive flexibility skills. The next step is to read one of the books on cognitive flexibility. After you have done this, you have to find ways to apply the skills to reinforce your learning. That’s how you will learn and master cognitive flexibility skills.
Additionally, I have created a handy guide to walk you through the process of learning the 10 key employability skills, as well as other skills I think you'll need to succeed at work in the future. This will give you what you need to thrive in 2020.
Books on Cognitive Flexibility Skills
Four Simple Steps to Improve Cognitive Flexibility
The Fabric of MindCognitive Flexibility in Learning and TeachingThe Athlete's WayLinks Between Beliefs and Cognitive Flexibility
