Examples of higher order cognition functions include planning and prioritization, working memory, cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, metacognition, and abstract reasoning. In short, these are the mental skills that run everything else your brain does. Moreover, they live largely in the prefrontal cortex. As a result, if any one of them is weak, your daily life gets loud and disorganized fast. In fact, every parent who calls me is dealing with a breakdown in one of these areas. They just do not have the name for it yet.
What Are Higher Order Cognition Functions?
Cognition is a big umbrella. It covers everything from recognizing a face to solving a calculus problem. Researchers split it into two layers. Basic cognitive functions are the automatic ones. Sensory input. Attention to a new sound. Motor control. Short-term recall of what you just saw. Your brain runs them without much effort.
Higher order cognition functions are the effortful ones. They are what your brain does on purpose. Plan for tomorrow. Hold two ideas in mind at once. Think about your own thinking. Override an impulse. They live largely in the prefrontal cortex. That region is one of the last to mature. Growth continues through adolescence and into the mid-20s, and by newer estimates beyond. So when I coach a 16-year-old who cannot start homework until midnight, I am not looking at laziness. I am looking at a brain whose higher order tools are still being built.
6 Examples of Higher Order Cognition Functions
Here are the six that show up in every coaching session I run, with a plain-language definition and what each one looks like in real life. If you want the workplace angle on these skills, our post on the top 5 executive functions skills is a good companion read.
1. Planning and Prioritization
Planning is the skill of looking at a future task, breaking it into steps, and deciding what to do first. Prioritization is the sibling skill of choosing what matters most right now. When it works, your teen sees a research paper due in three weeks. They book time to read, outline, draft, and revise. When it breaks, the paper gets written from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. the night before. The quality shows it.
2. Working Memory
Working memory is the mental notepad that holds information for a few seconds while you use it. Mental math needs it. Following a three-step direction needs it. Reading comprehension needs it. You have to hold what you read on line 3 while you process line 5. Sleep loss hits it hard. In one landmark study, two weeks of six-hour nights left working memory as impaired as a full night of no sleep at all. That is why a tired teen looks like they cannot follow directions.
3. Cognitive Flexibility
Cognitive flexibility is your brain’s ability to switch strategies when the first one is not working. Get a math problem where the standard method fails? Flexibility lets you try a different approach. Practice runs long and now homework has to fit in a smaller window? Flexibility lets you shift the plan without a meltdown. Kids with rigid thinking often have real strengths in other areas. They just freeze when a plan changes.
4. Inhibitory Control
Inhibitory control is the ability to stop a strong impulse before you act on it. It is why you can hold your tongue in a hard conversation. Why you can close the TikTok tab and open Google Docs. Why you can wait your turn in class. A student with weak inhibitory control is not defiant. Their brain just has less brake pedal than yours does.
5. Metacognition
Metacognition is thinking about your own thinking. It is the skill of noticing “I am stuck, I need a different approach.” Or “I do not actually understand this chapter. I just re-read it three times.” Strong metacognition is what separates a student who studies well from one who studies for four hours and remembers nothing. In my experience it is also the last to come online. I routinely see bright college students who still cannot tell when they have understood something.
6. Abstract Reasoning and Problem Solving
Abstract reasoning is the ability to work with ideas, patterns, and hypotheticals rather than only what is in front of you. It lets a student solve a word problem they have never seen before. Or understand a metaphor in English class. Or guess the outcome of a choice. Problem solving takes that reasoning and applies it to a real goal.
How Higher Order Cognition Differs From Basic Cognition
The line I use with parents is this. Basic cognition is what your brain does automatically. Higher order cognition is what your brain does on purpose. A dog can recognize its owner, feel hungry, and chase a ball. A dog cannot plan a week of hikes. It cannot weigh two job offers. It cannot think about how it is thinking. Higher order functions are the human tier of the brain. They are the ones that shape school success, career growth, and adult independence.
What Weakens Higher Order Cognition Functions
Four things routinely drag these skills down in the students I see. Sleep under 7 hours a night. That is the CDC’s floor for adults, and teens need 8 to 10. Chronic stress from over-scheduling or family conflict. Constant phone access, which trains the brain toward instant reward. And unsupported ADHD. That last one is a hardware-level weakness in the exact spot these skills live. It is why CHADD’s guidance on adult ADHD names environmental structure as a core piece of care. Any one of these will pull higher order cognition down. Stack two or three and you get a smart teen who cannot function.
What Strengthens Higher Order Cognition
The research is boring but steady. Above all, three interventions have the strongest evidence behind them.
Sleep
Sleep comes first. Additionally, the cost of short sleep is well documented across dozens of studies. Furthermore, it compounds night over night rather than resetting.
Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise is the lifestyle intervention with the best evidence behind it. For example, randomized trials show real gains in inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. In particular, the effect is notably stronger in kids and teens with ADHD than in others.
Direct Coaching
Direct coaching on planning, self-monitoring, and metacognitive habits is what I have seen move the needle fastest. Meanwhile, the National Institute of Mental Health notes that some people find it helpful to work with an ADHD coach. A coach can teach the skills that improve daily functioning. In conclusion, the prefrontal cortex stays plastic. If you train it, it responds.
When to Get Professional Support
If you are reading this because your child, teen, or you personally are struggling with one or more of the six functions above, and the struggle has lasted longer than a semester, that is when coaching helps. Across the 500-plus families I have coached over more than a decade, the pattern is almost always the same. Two or three of these six functions are weak. They compound on each other. Progress feels impossible until someone builds a system around the exact gaps. For a deeper look at what coaching actually produces, see is executive function coaching worth it. And book a free 20-minute consultation if you want to talk through which functions are the bottleneck for your situation.
Frequently Asked Questions
The most commonly cited higher order cognitive functions are planning and prioritization, working memory, cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, metacognition, and abstract reasoning. They depend heavily on the prefrontal cortex and support goal-directed behavior. There is no single canonical list. Researchers group them differently. But these six cover what shows up in daily life.
Executive functions are a subset of higher order cognition. Most executive function research focuses on three core skills. Working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control. Metacognition, planning, and abstract reasoning are usually treated as related higher order functions that sit alongside the core three.
Later than most people assume, and there is no clean finish line. The prefrontal cortex is among the last regions to mature. Development continues through adolescence and into the mid-20s. Newer research suggests it extends further still. The popular “the brain is done at 25” line is an oversimplification of studies that stopped scanning before that age. What matters practically is that teenagers can be brilliant in specific subjects while disorganized in daily life. Their higher order tools are still being built.
Yes. The prefrontal cortex stays plastic well into adulthood. Sleep, aerobic exercise, structured practice, and executive function coaching all support these skills at any age. Gains are often faster in adults because they can consciously apply new strategies to real work.
A student sitting down at 4 p.m. to plan their evening. Deciding to do the hardest homework first. Ignoring a phone notification. Checking their work when they finish. Adjusting when a plan changes.
If any of the six functions above sound like something you or your teen is fighting daily, reach out for a free 20-minute consultation. We will help you figure out which ones are the real bottleneck and what to do about it.