The ability to learn is significantly dependent upon a person’s ability to process information, which is defined as a person’s cognitive skills. One or more weak cognitive skills generally cause learning difficulty. Thereby, if a student is under performing, it is critical to learn whether weak cognitive skills are an issue, and if so, which ones. Until weak cognitive skills are improved, most academic-based remediation efforts are ineffective and the student becomes frustrated. The Gibson Test of brain skills serves as a red light/green light indicator. Red light means you need to address weak cognitive skills to empower the student to learn. Green light means the student has the foundational cognitive capacity to learn and other limiting factors can be addressed.

Prior to now, professional cognitive skill testing was resource intensive and expensive. This type of testing has historically been used to diagnose learning disabilities and thereby has a negative connotation. IQ tests usually only provide an average score and do not break out detailed individual cognitive skill scores. Because of these barriers, there has been only limited and often inadequate testing and identification of cognitive weakness.

The Power to Know

BrainSkills has developed an affordable, professional and comprehensive online cognitive skills assessment. Now an educator or parent can know whether weak cognitive skills are the direct cause of learning challenges. Even good students may have weak skills but are compensating and working harder to maintain grades. Every student can benefit from knowing their cognitive skill profile.

Top 10 reasons to test cognitive skills

Why Cognitive Skills Testing (brain skill testing) is the one sure, easy way to understand your child’s best hope for success.

If you suspect your child has a learning problem or is just not performing at his or her best, consider a new and more precise approach to learning improvement that goes beyond tutoring, IEPs, or after-school programs. Get beneath symptoms to uncover the causes of any possible learning issues.

1. People who struggle to learn or read do so for a reason. Individual cognitive skill weaknesses are the most likely reason.

There are some clear, tangible causes that contribute to learning and reading difficulties: poor or inadequate instruction, genetic sources, low motivation, etc. However, science proves the #1 most common root cause of learning struggles is underlying cognitive skill weakness.

A ten-year study by the National Institute of Health concluded that among U.S. students and adults over 80% of learning and reading problems are due to a cognitive skills weakness—mental skills absolutely necessary for successful learning. If skills are strong, learning comes naturally. If weaknesses remain hidden, a student will have to work too hard to learn or read.

2. The stakes are high.

Successful learning depends on strong underlying cognitive skills. Without accurately identifying weaknesses, students are forced to invent ways to compensate. Others give up and can become plagued with life-long struggles.

3. Time is against a struggling student.

Persistent struggle destroys self-esteem. “There is an ideal window of time for a young person’s learning development. Neglect that window and it can seriously affect academic performance, job productivity, and even social standing. For those people, life’s promises—and choices—quickly lose their luster,” says Dr. Ken Gibson the developer of numerous cognitive skill tests, including the Gibson Test and a pioneer in the field of cognitive training.

4. Taking action now can save time, money, and heartache.

“Tomorrow’s options depend on what you know and do today. And a positive step needs to be taken early,” counsels Dr. Gibson. In early grades, even straight-A students can have skill weaknesses that can hinder them later in life. It’s easy to blame ongoing learning problems on bad teachers, crowded classrooms, and boring textbooks; or accept the struggle as inevitable under the labels ADD, ADHD, or LD. “Parents either surrender in defeat or grasp at anything that might offer a glimmer of hope. What they really need is to pinpoint the root problems,” says Dr. Gibson.

5. Cognitive Skills Testing gets to the core of the issue.

Accurate, professional cognitive skills testing takes the guesswork out of tackling learning problems. It helps formulate a strategy to identify and attack the root cause of the problem instead of merely masking the symptoms.

6. Cognitive Skills Testing is comprehensive.

Accurate testing reveals both a person’s cognitive strengths AND weaknesses so training can be doubly effective…maximizing unrealized potential and overcoming persistent problems. Major brain skills evaluated include: attention, working memory, processing speed, auditory processing, visual processing, long term memory, and logic and reasoning.

7. Cognitive Skills Testing is individualized.

Not everyone’s struggles or strengths are the same. What works for one person may not work for another. Good testing reveals a person’s unique needs so skills training can be customized to match those needs.

8. Testing is like an x-ray machine for learning skills.

A high-quality, accurate testing instrument is important. The Gibson Test is based on the work of Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of cognitive abilities similar to the Woodcock Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities. The Gibson Test can see through performance and symptoms to determine the reasons for the good or poor performance. 

“The precise information we gain allows us to create an effective training strategy that is proven to boost learning and improve performance for each student,” says Dr. Gibson. “Our combination of testing and training allows us to team with parents and students to overcome specific weaknesses and target areas of potential gain rapidly—and put the mental skills in place for a lifetime of learning.”

9. It’s affordable.

Online testing and skills screening is both accurate and affordable. Until recently, such testing was shrouded in professional exclusivity and excessive costs—often between $600 and $2400. Now with access to professional testing online anyone can do the test for a tiny fraction of what they would pay elsewhere.

Why? Dr. Gibson explains, “Parents deserve to know exactly why their child struggles and how to help them. We won’t even recommend options to parents until the test results are in and we know the exact causes behind their child’s symptoms.” The only way to do this is to test.

10. It’s the logical first step.

Clearly Cognitive Skills Testing can give you the information you need to overcome your child’s learning or reading struggle in a surprisingly short time (weeks not years!). It is the logical first step to a lifetime of successful learning and reading. When it comes to your child’s future, why accept anything less than a definitive answer?


EDITOR’S NOTE: If you suspect there is unrealized learning potential in your child or if you feel you are missing out yourself, don’t ignore it. A simple cognitive skills test is the first step to finally unlock that potential.  Click here for more information about The Gibson Test of BrainSkills.

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