Children, brothers, friends: being aware of their different roles benefits the development of cognitive skills in children

Throughout our lives, we are exercising different roles according to the stage in which we are. First we are children, then we can be brothers, then we become friends and neighbors, and many years later, we can also be parents.

Each of these roles, entails different responsibilities or functions, that over time we understand and perform. But being aware of this, in addition to being related to the way we live with others, could have other benefits.

According to a recent study, Being aware of the different roles they play in their family and society, helps to improve the development of cognitive skills in children.

Published in the magazine Developmental Science, the study analyzed whether to make children aware of their multifaceted identities and see themselves from multiple angles, would help promote flexible thinking and problem solving.

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And what is flexible thinking? As the name says, flexible thinking is the ability to think things differently. This thought is what facilitates the resolution of problems and helps us change our action plan when something unforeseen or inconvenient occurs.

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Flexible thinking, It is part of the executive operation, which is a set of cognitive abilities necessary to control and self-regulate our own behavior, and that help us create and follow a plan to reach a goal, as well as direct our behavior and our cognitive and emotional activity.

The study was attended by 196 children 6 and 7 years old, and was divided into three experiments and each one was reminded of something different: one of their multiple identities (as son, brother, friend, neighbor), another its multiple physical attributes (such as mouth, arms and legs), and another, the multiple identities, but of other children, not their own.

According to the results of the three experiments, the children who were remembered about their diverse identities demonstrated better problem solving and creative thinking skills, since they showed more options and greater diversity of responses when they were faced with situations that needed a solution

Too, they showed greater flexible thinking about social groupings. For example, by asking them to categorize photographs of different faces, the children of the experiments where they were not reminded of their different identities, simply separated them by skin color and gender, while the children who were aware of their identities, included those and also grouped them according to their emotions and their ages.

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The researchers comment that something as simple as thinking about one's identity from the different angles and roles that define it, could then help reduce rigid thinking, which It turns out to be very useful for your relationship with other people, in a society that is increasingly diverse.

In conclusion, help children be aware that they have more than one identity, would help develop flexible thinking and problem solving skills, something that will undoubtedly be useful all your life.

Video: What is the most important influence on child development. Tom Weisner. TEDxUCLA (March 2024).