Cognitive Competence and its Relationship to Logical Reasoning among Preparatory School Students

Abstract

The contemporary world is witnessing rapid cognitive and technological development, which has led educational institutions to pay greater attention to developing students’ cognitive and mental abilities. Their role is no longer limited to merely transmitting knowledge; rather, it now focuses on developing students’ thinking and analytical skills. Cognitive competence is considered one of the important concepts in educational psychology, as it refers to an individual’s ability to employ their knowledge and organize their mental processes in order to understand, analyze, and benefit from information in various situations. Logical mental reasoning also represents a higher mental ability that enables individuals to analyze situations, make judgments, and take decisions based on organized thinking and logical inference. Therefore, the present study seeks to identify:

1. Cognitive competence among preparatory school students
2. Logical mental reasoning among preparatory school students.
3. The differences in the correlational relationship between cognitive competence and logical mental reasoning among preparatory school

students.

To achieve these objectives, two scales were adopted: the first to measure cognitive competence and the second to measure logical mental reasoning. After verifying their psychometric properties, the scales were applied to a sample consisting of (200) male and female preparatory school students from schools in Al-Rusafa First Directorate. The results revealed the following:

1. Preparatory school students possess cognitive competence.
2. Preparatory school students possess logical mental reasoning.
3. There is a statistically significant relationship between cognitive competence and logical mental reasoning among preparatory school students.