Intelligence is often regarded as a key factor in driving success, and it is considered to be especially so in the fields of science, innovation, and technology. Many of us have endless reveries about the intelligence of some famous people. However, in fact, in some of the greatest achievements in human history, superior intelligence is not the main reason behind them. Many of these achievements are mainly dependent on the qualities of creativity, imagination, curiosity and empathy.
Many of the above-mentioned qualities can be included in the “cognitive flexibility” that scientists call. The so-called cognitive flexibility refers to a skill that allows us to switch between different concepts and adjust our behavior in a novel and changing environment to achieve our goals.
In essence, it is about learning how to learn and how to learn flexibly in different ways. This includes changing strategies in order to get the best decision. In a recent study, a team of researchers at the University of Cambridge tried to figure out how to best improve people’s cognitive flexibility.
2. Before discussing how to improve cognitive flexibility, let us first understand the importance of cognitive flexibility in more depth.
Cognitive flexibility provides us with an ability that allows us to see that what is being done may not bring the final success, and thus drives us to make appropriate changes. To give a simple example, if you usually take the same route to work, but suddenly there is road construction on this route one day, what should you do? Some people will stubbornly stick to the original plan, even if they will eventually be late; while flexible people are better able to adapt to emergencies and find solutions.
Cognitive flexibility can also affect the way people respond to an outbreak in isolation. Isolation has brought us many new challenges, but some people are better able to adapt to daily life when isolated at home than others. People who are able to deal with isolation flexibly may change their living habits from time to time, trying to find better and more diverse ways to live their lives; while others are struggling, they stick to the same daily activities and have little flexibility Sex or change, eventually their thinking becomes more rigid.
Creativity is the ability to come up with new ideas, create new connections between ideas, and produce new inventions. For creativity, flexible thinking is the top priority. Not only that, it plays a pillar role in academic work and problem-solving skills. In other words, it has nothing to do with intelligence to a large extent. For example, many visual artists may have average intelligence but are extremely creative and have created many outstanding works.
Contrary to what many people believe in, creativity is also important in science and innovation. For example, researchers at the University of Cambridge found that entrepreneurs who have created multiple companies have higher cognitive flexibility than managers of similar age and intelligence.
So to some extent, can higher cognitive flexibility make people smarter, and this smartness is not always reflected in intelligence tests?
What scientists know is that it can lead to better “cold cognition.” The so-called cold cognition refers to non-perceptual “rational” thinking. For example, it can make children have better reading ability and perform better in school; it can also help prevent some prejudice, because people with flexible cognitive abilities are better at recognizing their own potential shortcomings and will find ways to overcome them These flaws.
Not only that, people’s flexibility in dealing with negative events in life and people’s quality of life in old age are also related to cognitive flexibility. It is also good for emotion and social cognition. Studies have shown that cognitive flexibility is strongly related to the ability to understand the emotions, thoughts, and intentions of others.
The opposite of cognitive flexibility is cognitive rigidity, which is present in many mental health disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder, major depression, and autism spectrum disorder (autism). Neuroimaging studies have shown that cognitive flexibility depends on the network of the frontal and striatal regions of the brain. The frontal area is related to high-level cognitive processes such as decision-making and problem solving; the striatum area is related to rewards and motivation. Researchers have mastered many methods to objectively assess people’s cognitive flexibility, such as the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test.
3. The gratifying news is that cognitive flexibility seems to be acquired through training, such as cognitive behavioral therapy. Cognitive behavior therapy is an evidence-based psychotherapy that can help people change their thinking and behavior patterns. For example, when a person suffering from depression has not been in contact with Ta’s friends for a week, Ta is likely to attribute this to his friends no longer liking Ta; and the goal of cognitive behavior therapy is to rebuild their thinking. Let him be more flexible in thinking about other possibilities, such as friends who are busy or unable to contact them for other reasons.
Another possible development direction is structural learning, which is the ability to extract structural information from a complex environment and interpret the sensory information flow that was initially incomprehensible. This type of learning is similar to cognitive flexibility, both involving the frontal and striatal regions of the brain. Currently, researchers from the University of Cambridge are collaborating with researchers from Nanyang Technological University to conduct a “real-world” experiment to determine whether structural learning can really improve cognitive flexibility.
Many studies have shown the benefits of training cognitive flexibility, which has also been verified by observations of children with autism. After cognitive flexibility training, children with autism not only have better performance on cognitive tasks, but also improved in social and communication. In addition, cognitive flexibility training has also been shown to be beneficial for children and the elderly who do not have autism.
Cognitive flexibility is essential to the prosperity of society. It helps us maximize our personal potential and come up with novel ideas and creative inventions. Ultimately, people will need these qualities to solve the major challenges they face today, such as global warming, protection of the natural world, sustainable energy, and food security.
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