There are two overarching kinds of intelligence: cognition and metacognition.
Read below to understand each type and how we can how we can help!
People with great cognition and poor metacognition are able to recall information and do well on all kinds of tests. These highly cognitive people are usually fantastic students who make honor roll grades. In other words, school rewards great cognitive ability.
In people with strong metacognition, when asked a question, they first decide if they know the answer or not. If they know the answer and have high cognitive ability, they generally answer quickly and correctly. Sometimes a person high in metacognition may realize they know the answer but cannot recall the answer immediately. However, they know that a little research will bring it back to memory. Sometimes the answer will come to them later in the day or first thing in the morning just as they awaken from sleep. If they decide that they do not know the answer, they begin to educate themselves on the topic. They do not waste time trying to answer questions when they are unsure of the answer. Unlike persons high in cognition and low in metacognition, they usually do not make fools of themselves by coming up with some wrong answer just to make themselves appear smart.
If you had to choose between high cognition or high metacognition, it is far better to be superior in metacognition. As soon as you are aware you do not know a topic, you go forward and learn what you can about the topic. Because good grades do not come easily for a person low in cognition, but if a person is high in metacognition, he or she figures out the best way to study, and then subsequently make good grades in school.
There is a problem with being a highly cognitive person with poor metacognition. Because of their ability to remember and recall answers easily, they are sometimes declared “geniuses” at a very young age and are able to ace tests, even standardized tests, like the SAT. People with high cognitive ability become arrogant and believe they know everything, even though they do not. They have little tolerance for people with low cognitive ability. A person with high cognitive ability and poor metacognition usually does not study, never learns effective study habits, or does not even know what to study (remember, people with low metacognition don’t decide what they know or do not know, first). Because no one can have all encompassing knowledge, this person typically “hits the wall” in school and grades start to decline dramatically. This may happen in elementary school, middle school, high school, and sometimes not until college. Not only does the student become bewildered over his or her predicament, but also the parents think that the student is not trying or is being lackadaisical. Both parents and student usually turn to tutoring for the solution.
Of course, the best situation is to be superior in both cognition and metacognition. That is what we do at MindMenders BodyBenders Clinic!
Here are the steps:
1) Initially, we help people balance brain biochemistry to ensure his or her neurotransmitters are balanced and the brain is functioning properly.
2) MindMenders then provide the Structure of Intellect assessment helps with metacognition by using individually prescribed SOI activities, IPP exercises, The Listening Program, and Learning Ears Program.
3) When the person’s metacognition is above-average, MindMenders helps the cognition using BrainBuilder which improves auditory and visual memory. For improving visual memory of shapes we use Memory Challenge.
4) The final step to improving cognition is to go back and “fill in the blanks” for deficiencies in background knowledge with our innovative educational programs, like visual arithmetic/algebra. Note that the last step does not “take” if we have not done the previous steps!
Traditional tutoring skips the first three steps and helps cognition. For a while, it will appear that the person is “cured” of the learning problems because grades will improve temporarily. Eventually, though the person will have to return to tutoring because the “root cause” of the problem, metacognition, has not been improved.
Get to the ROOT CAUSE of learning concerns, learning disabilities, and brain dysfunction. Improve both your metacognition and cognition at MindMenders BodyBenders Clinic. After “graduating” from our program, your brain will only continue to improve over a lifetime. A person may only need random tutoring for tough subjects because he or she would know how the brain works best in a learning situation. Whether in school, at work, or in life, anything that you want to learn can be learned easily and retained for a lifetime!
Visit our website at http://mindmenders.net or call our office to make your appointment at 972-479-5179
