A Cognitive Neurodynamic Approach to Prediction of Students’ Adaptation to College: An Ex-Post Facto Study

INTRODUCTION: Campus life tends to make social and academic demands on college students. To cope with these demands, students are required to use their neurocognitive skills of problem-solving and planning intentional actions that target towards adaptation to college. This paper presents an illuminating perspective that would inform understanding of a new approach to cognitive neuroscience. The linkage between cognition and adaptation was sought in the context of a cognitive neurodynamic approach proposed by the Intention, Meaning, and Perception (IMP) model of neuro-occupation. METHODS: An ex post facto study was conducted on a convenience sample of 187 college students in Shiraz, Iran. A brief questionnaire was developed to screen participants for diversity of cognitive neurodynamic processing capacity and three standardized questionnaires were used to gather data about college adaptation manifestations. The partial correlation, 1-way, and 2-way ANOVA tests were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The partial correlation test showed large, positive correlation (r≥0.7, P<0.001) between elements of the cognitive neurodynamic process, denoting that the interrelated connections among intention, meaning, and perception were governed by feedback loops. One-way ANOVA test revealed that students with diverse cognitive neurodynamic processing capacity had a variety of college adaptation manifestations. Two-way ANOVA showed a statistically significant main effect for neurodynamic processing capacity (F(2, 178)=8.1, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: College adaptation could have been established by the cognitive neurodynamic process proposed by the IMP model. Therefore, it is advisable for faculty, mental health practitioners, and counselors who work with students at universities to understand this process and address students’ maladaptation to campus life.