Cognitive Communication

  1. Orientation- refers to awareness of person, place, time and circumstance.

  2. Attention- refers to the ability to concentrate; often broken down into four types:
    • Focused attention- ability to briefly respond to a specific visual, auditory, tactile stimuli
    • Sustained attention- ability to maintain concentration on a single activity
    • Alternating attention- ability to shift the focus of attention and move between different tasks.
    • Divided attention- ability to respond simultaneously to multiple tasks demands (e.g. multitask)

  3. Memory- refers to the ability to remember; can be broken down in many different ways:
    • Sensory Memory- ability to remember information related to any of the five senses: smell, taste, touch, vision, and audition (hearing)
    • Short-Term Memory- ability to remember information for up to a few minutes
    • Long-Term Memory- ability to remember for several minutes, hours, days, or longer
    • Procedural Memory- ability to physically remember how to do actions, movements, or other motor activities; for example: serving a tennis ball, playing the piano.
    • Prospective Memory- ability to remember what needs to be remembered; for example: meeting friends at a certain place in two hours; taking a medication at the right time

    4. Sometimes, memory is described in terms of three stages: encoding, storage, and retrieval. During encoding, information to be remembered is analyzed/processed. During storage, information to be remembered is “put in a good place” in the brain. During retrieval, stored information is called back (recalled) when it is wanted or needed.

  4. Problem Solving- refers to the ability to think or reason about things; may involve decision making. Problem solving involves five components:
    • Identify the problem
    • Identify all possible solutions to the problem
    • Select the best solution
    • Solve the problem
    • Make sure that the solution is working/worked and adapt as needed

  5. Executive Function- refers to the ability to plan, initiate, complete, and oversee goal-directed behavior; coordinates attention, memory, and problem solving abilities to function creatively, competently, and independently.