Final answer:
Instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) are tasks that require intellectual competence and planning, and they engage cognitive abilities which improve with practice, eventually becoming more automatic.
Step-by-step explanation:
Actions that require some intellectual competence and planning are called instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). These activities go beyond basic self-care and include tasks that demand intellectual competence and judgment, such as managing finances, handling transportation (like driving or navigating public transit), meal preparation, shopping, and housekeeping. Engaging in IADLs can keep you mentally fit and involves the same type of abstract thinking required when deciding to hit the snooze button in the morning or planning your day. This cognitive effort is what drives us to improve at these tasks over time, transitioning from effortful thinking to more automatic processes, but initially, it requires substantial cognitive engagement and metacognitive awareness.