This article describes the investigation and teaching of two general cognitive skills important in introductory physics. We first analyzed the various abilities needed for understanding a relation (definition or law) well enough to use it appropriately. Then we developed two different instructional methods for teaching students the general learning skill of gaining such an understanding of any new relation. We further taught students a simple strategy for problem solving. Our results indicate that students can indeed be taught such general cognitive skills and that they can transfer these skills to areas outside of physics.