WHAT IS RIGIDITY/INFLEXIBILITY?
Cognitive and emotional flexibility are included in most lists of executive or self-regulatory functions. Cognitive flexibility enables students to shift effortlessly from task to task at school, from topic to topic in conversation, from one role to another in games, and the like. Emotional flexibility enables students to experience the full range of emotion, like happiness, sadness, or anger, but be able to express them appropriately and then leave that emotional expression behind when it is time to move on. Most individuals commonly report that changes in well established routines can be difficult to adjust to. For example, beginning a new job or having a first child frequently entail major changes in life routines that cause stress for anybody, despite the adequacy of their cognitive and emotional functioning. Similarly, most people report that there are some ways of thinking about things that are hard to change. It is possible for anybody to get stuck in a rut of doing things in a
