Cognitive flexibility is the executive function that allows you to shift perspective, adapt strategies, and update mental models in response to new information or changing task demands.
It is distinct from fluid intelligence — you can be very intelligent but cognitively rigid (unable to abandon a failing strategy). Research shows cognitive flexibility is specifically trainable and predicts creative problem-solving and adaptive performance better than general intelligence in novel situations.
Flexibility involves: switching between rule sets, generating alternative solutions, integrating conflicting information, and abandoning unproductive approaches without excessive sunk-cost adherence.
MindFrame trains cognitive flexibility through contradiction challenges (holding two conflicting claims and determining which is better supported), scenario reframing, and challenges that require strategy switching mid-problem.