Olivia
Olivia
- Name: Olivia
- Age: 19
Cognition & Learning
Olivia sought COGx services as an outgoing senior in high school who was preparing to enter a competitive university the following year. Olivia and her mother reported that Olivia achieved good grades but that she spent too much time and effort in doing so.
Olivia’s long-term memory was assessed and it was revealed that this skill was weaker than her other cognitive skills. This allowed for a very targeted program on enhancing memory via evidence-based techniques & strategies.
Olivia took very quickly to the memory techniques she was taught; however, she required prompting and was not able to efficiently apply them on her own. In connecting new material to prior knowledge, for example, Olivia required examples to be generated for her before she could make a connection of her own. Olivia had a strong tendency for suboptimal techniques, like rote memorization and passive rehearsal, so these new techniques and strategies required a change in her habits. Fortunately, Olivia was very dedicated to abandoning her old techniques and adopting the new ones she was taught.
The primary techniques focused on were visualization, association, and mnemonics. Visualization and association were unpacked very broadly using COGx exercises, then Olivia was taught several different techniques utilizing these skills, including the Method of Loci technique and Mind Mapping.
One of the most useful techniques for Olivia as she prepared to enter medical course work was mnemonics. Applying this technique required Olivia to be able to look at any content she was given and quickly identify how to break it down and learn it in the most efficient and meaningful way.
Once Olivia improved in her ability to apply the techniques, more emphasis was placed on being able to do so more quickly and with a higher level of mastery. To encourage Olivia, her trainer would join in the activities in order to teach through modeling.
With practice, Olivia became more confident and competent in applying techniques to store content and strategies to retrieve information. Among Olivia’s accomplishments was being able to memorize the entire Periodic Table of Elements independently.
As a result of Olivia’s exemplary engagement and effort, she progressed very quickly and was able to achieve her targeted goals in only 50 hours of training. She has since entered college and reports great success using what she learned in her COGx program.