Contents I. Introduction chapter I. Cognitive aspects of grammar

Processing Speed
What it does: Enables you to perform tasks quickly and accurately.
Common problems when this skill is weak: Most tasks are more difficult. Taking a long time to complete tasks for school or work, frequently being the last one in a group to finish something.

Attention
What it does: Sustained Attention enables you to stay focused and on task for a sustained period of time, Selective Attention enables you to stay focused and on task despite distractions and Divided Attention enables you to remember information while doing two things at once.
Common problems when this skill is weak: Lots of unfinished projects, jumping from task to task, easily distracted, difficulty multitasking, and frequent mistakes.

1.3. Cognitive style.

Psychologists believe that individual biological and psychological differences affect the ways in which people perceive events, objects, sights, sounds, and feelings. Thus, when several people encounter an identical object or event, each might experience a different perception of that object or event. There is no question that the exposure of infants and children to different experiences shapes their personalities and influences who they are and how they interpret things. And many educators and researchers are now focusing their attention on these differences to further understand how individuals in the classroom perceive information and learn in different ways.

Cognitive style is the manner by which individuals perceive information in the environment and the patterns of thought that they use to develop a knowledge base about the world around them. The concept of styles of cognition, an area under continuing investigation, has been discussed and researched in the psychological community as early as the late 1930s. Knowledge gained concerning cognitive styles provides the opportunity to learn more about individual differences. This knowledge can then be applied to assist teachers, counselors, and all professionals who are involved in children's learning experiences.
There are three very important cognitive styles: leveling-sharpening, field-dependence/field-independence, and reflectivity-impulsivity. Cognitive styles are distinct from individual intelligence, but they may affect personality development and how individuals learn and apply information. And while research has shown that these differences precede environmental shaping, the effects of cognitive styles can be accented or mitigated by many outside factors, such as classroom setting, social experiences, and vocational choices. It is for this reason that research in this area is so important and that it is critical to train educational professionals in methods to address these differences in the classroom.