Cognitive thinking: definition, skills and tips

Cognitive thinking is a fundamental part of the cognitive process where the brain thinks, pays attention, processes information and remembers.

It is especially relevant in traditional personnel selection processes, since recruiters face serious problems to be able to evaluate them effectively. 

This means that they often have to resort to cognitive ability tests to adjust the processes for talent acquisition and retention. 

In this article we are not only going to talk about what cognitive thinking is, we are also going to share with you 8 skills and 7 tips that will help you to better understand this topic.  

What is cognitive thinking?

Cognitive thinking is a mental process by which people acquire knowledge through learning and experience to pay attention, make decisions, solve problems and conclude. 

People use cognitive thinking to learn, reason, read, think, remember, judge, solve problems and concentrate. 

Cognitive thinking is produced in the brain by neurons that act on each other like electrical signals. 

These signals need only fractions of a second to happen, hence its relevance in many of your daily actions is huge and affects all aspects of your life: personal, work, study, etc.. 

8 cognitive thinking skills 

Cognitive thinking skills help people to reflect and be aware of and learn from their mistakes. 

Just as the brain is constantly changing, evolving and developing, so are cognitive thinking skills and it is important to work on them especially as you get older. 

The reason for this argument is compelling and is that these skills are key to prevent mental deterioration. 

In the following lines we list and briefly detail 8 examples of cognitive skills.

1. Sustained attention. It measures a person’s ability to stay focused on a task for a prolonged period of time and it is indirectly proportional to the amount of internal and external stimuli to which the person is subjected in the process. 
2. Selective attention. In this case, it is the person’s ability to concentrate on the task while remaining abstracted from external stimuli. 
3. Divided attention. Here we speak of the person’s strenght to carry out several tasks at the same time while maintaining concentration on all of them. 
4. Long-term memory. This is the ability to remember past information. 
5. Short-term memory. The power to store information temporarily but being able to access it immediately. 
6. Auditory processing. The information is processed through the analysis that the brain makes to separate and mix sounds. 
7. Visual processing. In this event, the brain analyzes and synthesizes images. 
8. Processing speed. This is the speed with which the brain is able to analyze and understand all types of information: visual, auditory, internal or external. 

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7 cognitive thinking tips

We have mentioned that cognitive thinking skills take on a preponderant role in the more advanced stages of people’s lives. However, it is not only important to work on them at that stage but in all stages of a person’s life to achieve a better performance in aspects such as study or work. 

In fact, doing everything possible to develop these skills increases the likelihood that a person will reach or strengthen his or her potential and physical and mental health. 

Here are 7 tips to help you improve your cognitive thinking.

Stay active 

It has been proven that physical exercise, no matter how minimal, has a positive effect on mental health. 

Exercise is an endorphin stimulant that induces a state of greater happiness and emotional well-being. 

An emotionally stable person is someone prone to have greater mental agility and a better memory. Conversely, stressful and anxious situations directly and negatively influence cognitive decline. 

Get enough sleep each day 

During periods of wakefulness, the human being regenerates, among other things at the cellular and muscular level, and many vital organs rest. 

Among them are the heart and the brain. The latter, in its REM phase, is used to “file” what has been learned during the day and consolidate the memory. 

Take care of your social life

Interacting with other people helps you to obtain information from different sources and on different topics. 

It is also an excellent way to practice active communication. Your brain receives an endless amount of data that it has to process in order to learn from them after reasoning and then being able to discuss them. 

In short, with this action you are stimulating brain function and helping to slow cognitive decline.   

Practice selective attention 

Attention, in general, is a volatile and limited resource that allows you to overlook unimportant details to focus on what interests you. 

Practicing selective attention in a conscious way goes beyond that and is an excellent way to concentrate your mind on what is really important at any given moment, filtering out everything unnecessary and freeing it from your mind. 

Try new things 

Variation in routine tasks is also something recommended to train the mind and delay cognitive decline. 

Trying new things involves synthesizing unfamiliar information and integrating it with past experiences or developing new skills. 

This action is part of a larger plan of continuous learning to keep the brain engaged and promote learning agility. 

Study new languages 

Cognitive processes are intimately related to language. By developing language, you are able to understand and express your thoughts and feelings through speech or even writing, both of which are essential to developing communication.

Play games 

Playing cards, board games or electronic games encourages the development of strategies and the ability to react to spontaneous situations. 

Playing games is considered one of the best brain training exercises. 

At Smowltech, we offer proctoring plans that help create inclusive online monitoring environments that respect users privacy. Request a free demo so we can show you the solutions that better fit your project and enhance your training and assessments.

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