Cognitive flexibility: theory, assessment, and treatment.

Cognitive flexibility is often impaired in persons with neurogenic communication and cognition disorders. There is, however, little information to guide clinicians in assessing and treating this aspect of executive functioning. The purpose of this article is to provide a framework for clinicians who evaluate and treat persons with impaired cognitive flexibility. It (1) identifies basic definitions of flexibility, (2) discusses tests frequently used to assess flexibility, (3) provides a profile of characteristic patterns of inflexibility that persons with different communication and cognition disorders exhibit, and (4) discusses treatment options.