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Brain & Cognitive Skills

Brain and Cognitive Skills Training

A study by the Department of Education showed that 69 out of 100 fourth graders in the United States are below grade level in Reading. That same study showed that 71 out of 100 eighth graders are below grade level in math, and 76 out of 100 high school seniors are below grade level in writing.

Weak underlying cognitive skills may be the reason why a person struggles to read or learn at a even a basic level. If this is the cause of the learning difficulty, it can be corrected. Research has shown that the brain never stops changing. If you or your child experience learning or reading problems, brain or cognitive skills training can be your most effective choice to eliminate the cause of the struggle, and move on to learning and reading success.

Understanding individual cognitive skills helps us understand how they impact learning. These skills include:


  • Sustained Attention:The ability to remain focused and on task, and the amount of time we can focus.
  • Selective Attention:The ability to remain focused and on task while being subjected to related and unrelated sensory input (distractions).
  • Divided Attention:The ability to remember information while performing a mental operation and attending to two things at once (multi-tasking).

Memory:The ability to store and recall information:


Logic and Reasoning:The ability to reason, form concepts, and solve problems using unfamiliar information or novel procedures. Deductive reasoning extends this problem-solving ability to draw conclusions and come up with solutions by analyzing the relationships between given conditions. Students with underdeveloped logic and reasoning skills will generally struggle with word math problems and other abstract learning challenges. Symptoms of skill weaknesses in this area show up as questions like, “I don’t get this”, “I need help…this is so hard”, or “What should I do first?”




Cognitive Disorder - Schoolwork is Challenging
The academic environment is becoming increasingly competitive and students with a cognitive disorder often fall behind. Students enrolled in school from kindergarten to medical school are expected to learn at a faster pace and retain more information than ever before. With both the complexity in information and pace of learning increasing, it is easier for individuals to fall behind and struggle with learning.

Sometimes additional tutoring or homework practice is enough to get students back on track with their studies. In most cases, however, the problem is more complex and difficult to address than simple tutoring or extra homework. If the student has a deficiency in underlying cognitive learning skills, no amount of tutoring or extra homework alone will improve their studies.

Cognitive Disorder - Cognitive Skills are the Tools of Learning
A fully functioning set of underlying cognitive skills is necessary if a student is to learn up to their potential. For many, weak cognitive skills are the root cause of common academic struggles.

  • Poor reading and spelling can be traced to weak auditory processing skills.
  • Inefficient processing speed adds hours of frustration to homework assignments.
  • Poor math performance is likely traceable to weak visual processing, reasoning, or working memory skills.

These often combine with specific attention deficiencies to make general studying, following directions, and test taking difficult or almost impossible. Strong cognitive skills are the foundation for academic success. Without strong cognitive skills in place, a student will struggle to learn and retain information throughout their life.

What is Brain Training? What Happens When We Learn?

What is Brain Training? The Key to Enhanced Learning.

The model below illustrates how learning takes place. Brain training strengthens each of the “wheels” (cognitive skills) that make the learning process run smoothly. The key is being able to accurately identify and exercise the correct brain mechanism.



As the learning model above illustrates, information becomes knowledge through a path that relies on individual cognitive skills such as auditory and visual processing and memory. Different skill combinations are required by different learning challenges. If required skills are weak, learning (that is based on that particular skill) will be hindered. The power of brain training is found in its ability to identify, target, and then strengthen individual cognitive skills.

Excerpt from LearningRX.com

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Lynda Sloan Allen
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Vero Beach, FL 32960

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