Improving Cognitive Flexibility by Means of Associations

Abstract

The work examines the effect of association means on the cognitive flexibility of the brain. Nowadays the cognitive flexibility is one of the critical skills needed to succeed in the workplace. Cognitive flexibility corrects human behaviour in a certain way following the changing environment. It allows a modern person to work effectively to distract from the previous task, reconfigure a new set of answers to complete the current task. The article aims to determine the significance of the means of association for improving cognitive flexibility in foreign languages classes. The study involved 70 students of the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts and was conducted between October 2020 and December 2020. Learning a foreign language and bilingualism in and of themselves have an impact on the cognitive functions of the brain. In our paper, we consider the means of associations not only as one of the tools for studying foreign languages but as a means of improving cognitive flexibility. According to the study, it can be concluded that, despite the increased interest in the associative method, multiple studies in this area of research demonstrate different and sometimes conflicting results.  It is important to note that associative methods have a positive effect on improving cognitive flexibility in combination with creative thinking.