What is Cognitive Flexibility

And how to Develop this Ability in Ourselves

By cognitive flexibility, we mean the brain’s ability to adapt our behavior and thinking easily to changing novel, unexpected concepts and situations, or the mental ability to think about several concepts at once.

Cognitive flexibility indicates the capacity for cognitive fluency, as opposed to stiffness.

More broadly, it has been described as the possibility of adjusting the thought acquired in old situations to new situations. If one can overcome previously accepted beliefs or habits, they would be considered cognitively flexible.

It involves intelligently managing strategies, adapting to unexpected situations, thinking without rigidity, and freeing ourselves from inefficient automatisms.

Related to our ability to solve problems and generate alternatives, cognitive flexibility guarantees mental balance and coping with all kinds of everyday situations.

Also, as we discussed at the beginning, it is the mental capacity to think about two simultaneous concepts of an object, idea, or situation. Games such as sorting cards based on the color of objects and the type of objects on the card are performed with children to train this skill.