Cognitive skills glossary

Attention

Focused Attention

The ability to focus attention on a single stimulus

Divided Attention

The ability to execute more than one action at a time, while paying attention to a few channels of information.

Inhibition

The ability to ignore irrelevant stimuli or suppress irrelevant reactions while performing a task.

Updating

The ability to respond in a flexible and adaptive manner in order to keep up with the changes in the environment.

Memory

Short-Term Memory

The ability to hold a small amount of information in a readily, available state for a short period of time.

Naming

The ability to retrieve a word from our semantic lexicon and is considered to be a basic ability.

Working Memory

Refers to the temporary storage and manipulation of the information necessary for complex cognitive tasks.

Contextual Memory

The conscious recall of the source and circumstances of a specific memory.

Visual Short-Term Memory

The ability to temporarily retain a small amount of visual information.

Non-verbal Memory

The ability to store and retrieve information which are non-verbal by nature.

Phonological Short-term Memory

The ability to remember phonological information over a brief period of time.

Sensation and Perception

Auditory perception

Auditory Perception is the ability to perceive and understand the difference between sounds.

Visual Perception

The ability to interpret information from the effects of visible light reaching the eye.

Spatial Perception

The ability to evaluate how things are arranged in space, and investigate their relations in the environment.

Visual Scanning

The ability to actively find relevant information in our surroundings quickly and efficiently.

Estimation

The ability to estimate an object’s future location based on its current speed and distance.

Width of Field of View

Corresponds to amount of information we receive from around when looking straight ahead.

Recognition

The ability to retrieve information from the past and to recognize certain events, places or other information.

Reasoning and Comprehension

Processing Speed

Involves the ability to fluently perform easy or over-learned tasks.

Planning

The ability to “think ahead”, to mentally anticipate the correct way to execute a task.

Shifting

Ability to adapt behavior and thoughts to new, changing, or unexpected circumstances