Cognitive Flexibility

Shifting between different rules, perspectives, or ways of thinking when circumstances change.

Examples & Achievements

• Switches to a new sorting rule when asked (e.g., sort by color then by shape)
• Adjusts behavior when rules of a game change
• Accepts changes to plans or routines without major distress
• Comes up with a different solution when the first one does not work
• Understands that the same object can belong to multiple categories

How to Measure

• Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) task
• Flexible Item Selection Task (FIST)
• Observation of response to unexpected schedule changes (teacher report)
• Can name two different categories an object belongs to (e.g., apple is fruit AND red thing)

Sources (2)

• Diamond (2013)
• Zelazo (2015)

7 Exercises

Switcheroo Sort — Same Things, New Rule › Rule-Flip Freeze Dance › The Mix-It-Up Jar — Practising Going With the Flow › Find Another Way — One Goal, Many Tries › Many Ways to Group › Colour-or-Number Card Games › The Both Game — One Thing, Many Groups ›