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| + | '''Cognitions''' (Latin, ''cogito'': to think) are the contents of [[cognitive processes]]) such as [[thinking]] and [[fantasy]] [[memory]], [[attention]], [[perception]], etc. They include: |
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| − | The term '''cognition''' (Latin, ''cogito'': to think) is used in several loosely related ways. In [[psychology]] it is used to refer to the [[mental functions|mental process]]es of an individual, with particular relation to a view that argues that the mind has internal mental states (such as [[belief]]s, desires and intentions) and can be understood in terms of [[information processing]], especially when a lot of abstraction or concretization is involved, or processes such as involving knowledge, expertise or learning for example are at work. It is also used in a wider sense to mean the act of knowing or [[knowledge]], and may be interpreted in a social or cultural sense to describe the [[emergence|emergent]] development of knowledge and concepts within a group that culminate in both [[thought]] and action. |
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| − | == Cognition in mainstream psychology == |
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| + | *[[Attitudes]] |
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| − | The sort of mental processes described as '''cognitive''' or '''cognitive processes''' are largely influenced by research which has successfully used this paradigm in the past. Consequently this description tends to apply to processes such as [[memory]], [[attention]], [[perception]], [[action (philosophy)|action]], [[problem solving]] and [[mental images|mental imagery]]. Traditionally [[emotion]] was not thought of as a cognitive process. This division is now regarded as largely artificial, and much research is currently being undertaken to examine the [[cognitive psychology]] of emotion; research also includes one's awareness of strategies and methods of cognition, known as [[metacognition]]. |
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| + | *[[Beliefs]] |
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| + | *[[Concepts]] |
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| + | *[[Expectations]] |
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| + | *[[Irrational beliefs]] |
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| − | Empirical research into cognition is usually scientific and quantitative, or involves creating models to describe or explain certain behaviours. |
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| + | *[[Rumination (cognitive process)|Rumination]] |
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| + | *[[Schema]] |
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| − | While few people would deny that cognitive processes are the responsibility of the [[brain]], a cognitive theory will not necessarily make any reference to the brain or any other biological process (compare [[neurocognitive]]). It may purely describe behaviour in terms of information flow or function. Relatively recent fields of study such as [[cognitive science]] and [[neuropsychology]] aim to bridge this gap, using cognitive paradigms to understand how the brain implements these information processing functions (see also [[cognitive neuroscience]]), or how pure information processing systems (e.g. computers) can simulate cognition (see also [[artificial intelligence]]). The branch of psychology which studies brain injury to infer normal cognitive function is called [[cognitive neuropsychology]]. The links of cognition to [[evolution]]ary demands are studied through the investigation of [[animal cognition]]. And conversly, evolutionary-based perspectives can inform hypotheses about cognitive functional systems [[evolutionary psychology]]. |
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| − | {{unsolved|cognitive science|How much human intervention is needed to produce a cognition? ([[Nature versus nurture]]) What is the relationship of [[personhood]] to cognition? Why is it currently so much more difficult for a [[computer|machine]] to recognize a human than for a cat to [[recognition|recognize]] its human owner? Why is the [[concept horizon|conceptual horizon]] wider for some than for others? Might there be a relationship between the speed of cognition and number of eyeballs? What is its form of such relationship? |
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| − | The theoretical school of thought derived from the cognitive approach is often called [[cognitivism (psychology)|cognitivism]]. |
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| − | The phenomenal success of the cognitive approach can be seen by its current dominance as the core model in contemporary psychology (usurping [[behaviorism]] in the late 1950s). |
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| − | === Influence and influences === |
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| − | This success has led to it being applied in a wide range of areas: |
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| − | *Psychology (particularly [[cognitive psychology]]), [[cognitive science]] and [[psychophysics]] |
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| − | *[[Cognitive neuroscience]], [[neurology]] and [[neuropsychology]] |
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| − | *[[Behavioral economics]] and [[Behavioral finance]] |
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| − | *[[Artificial intelligence]] and [[cybernetics]] |
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| − | *[[Ergonomics]] and [[user interface]] design |
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| − | *[[Philosophy of mind]] |
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| − | *[[Linguistics]], especially [[psycholinguistics]] and [[cognitive linguistics]] |
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| − | *[[Economics]], especially [[experimental economics]] |
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| − | *[[Learning styles]] and [[Learning]] |
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| − | In its widest sense, the field is quite eclectic and draws from a number of areas, such as: |
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| − | *[[Computer science]] and [[information theory]], where attempts at [[artificial intelligence]], [[collective intelligence]] and [[robotics]] focus on mimicking living beings' capacities for cognition, or applying the experience gathered in one place by one being to actions by another being elsewhere. |
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| − | *[[Philosophy]], [[epistemology]] and [[ontology]] |
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| − | *[[Moral philosophy]] where it deals with the problem of [[ignorance]], often seen as the opposite of cognition. |
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| − | *[[Biology]] and [[neuroscience]] |
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| − | *[[Mathematics]] and [[probability]] |
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| − | *[[Physics]], where [[observer effect]]s are studied in depth mathematically. |
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| − | == Cognitive ontology == |
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| − | On an individual being level, these questions are studied by the separate fields above, but are also more integrated into [[cognitive ontology]] of various kinds. This challenges the older [[linguistics|linguistic]]ally-dependent views of [[ontology]], wherein one could debate being, perceiving, and doing, with no cognizance of innate human limits, varying human lifeways, and loyalties that may let a being "know" something (see [[qualia]]) that for others remains very much in doubt. |
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| − | On the level of an individual mind, an [[emergence|emergent behavior]] might be the formation of a new concept, 'bubbling up' from below the conscious level of the mind. A simple way of stating this is that beings preserve their own attention and are at every level concerned with avoiding [[Hrair limit|''interruption'' and ''distraction'']]. Such [[cognitive specialization]] can be observed in particular in language, with adults markedly less able to hear or say distinctions made in languages to which they were not exposed in youth. |
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| − | == Cognition as compression == |
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| − | By the [[1980s]], researchers in the Engineering departments of the [[University of Leeds]], [[United Kingdom|UK]] hypothesized that 'Cognition is a form of [[data compression|compression]]', i.e., cognition was an [[economics|economic]], not just a [[philosophy|philosophical]] or a [[psychology|psychological]] process; in other words, skill in the process of cognition confers a [[competitive advantage]]. An implication of this view is that choices about what to cognize are being made at all levels from the neurological expression up to species-wide priority setting; in other words, the compression process is a form of optimization. This is a force for [[self-organization|self-organizing behavior]]; thus we have the opportunity to see samples of [[emergence|emergent behavior]] at each successive level, from individual, to groups of individuals, to formal organizations, to societies. |
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| − | == Cognition as a social process == |
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| − | In multiple [[observation]]s, some dating back to antiquity, [[language acquisition]] in human children, fails to emerge unless the children are exposed to language. Thus 'language acquisition' is an example of an 'emergent behavior', which in fact requires a narrow, yet evolutionarily reliably occurring, set of inputs. In this case, the individual is made up of a set of mechanisms 'expecting' such input form the social world. |
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| − | In [[education]], for instance, which has the explicit task in [[society]] of [[human development|developing child cognition]], choices are made regarding the [[social environment|environment]] and permitted [[action (philosophy)|action]] that lead to a formed [[experience]]. This is in turn affected by the [[risk]] or [[cost]] of providing these, for instance, those associated with a playground or swimming pool or field trip. The macro-choices made by the [[political economy]] in effect will be extremely influential on the micro-choices made by the teachers or children. So at least on this level, there is feedback between the economic choice and the psychology of the activity. In [[social cognition]], [[face perception]] in human babies emerges by the age of two months. |
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| − | == Cognition in a cultural context == |
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| − | [[Image:NASA-Apollo8-Dec24-Earthrise.jpg|right|200px|Earthrise]] |
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| − | One famous image, ''Earthrise'', taken during Apollo 8, the first Apollo mission to the Moon, shows planet Earth in a single photograph. ''Earthrise'' is now the icon for [[Earth Day]], which did not arise until after the image became widespread. At this level, an example of an 'emergent behavior' might be ''concern for Spaceship Earth'', as encouraged by the development of orbiting space observatories etc. |
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| − | Other concepts which seem to have arisen only recently (in the last century) include increased expectations for [[human rights]]. In this case, an example of an 'emergent behavior' might perhaps be the use of the [[mass media]] to publicize inequities in the [[human condition]], perhaps using highly portable cameras and telephones. |
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| − | === Example of emergent organization === |
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| − | It is possible to find other examples of critical mass necessary to develop a concept. For example a nascent [[coalition]] of individuals might fail in the implementation of some [[agreement]] among them; but in the words of Ward Cunningham, the inventor of the ''Wiki-wiki Web'': |
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| − | :''I thought there would be failure modes, but I wasn't surprised that communities found ways around them. I thought it was important that when the organization proved to be wrong, people could reorganize on their own, that organization could emerge.'' |
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| − | In other words, when the ''organization'' adapted, the ''concept'' adapted and survived the incipient failure mode. |
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| − | ==Summary== |
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| − | ''Cognition'' is a diffuse term and is used in radically different ways by different disciplines. In psychology, it refers to an [[information processing]] view of an individual's psychological functions. Wider interpretations of the meaning of ''cognition'' link it to the development of ''concepts''; individual minds, groups, organizations, and even larger coalitions of [[entity|entities]] can be modelled as ''[[society of mind theory|societies]]'' which [[cooperation|cooperate]] to form [[concepts]]. The autonomous elements of each '[[society]]' would have the opportunity to demonstrate [[emergence|emergent behavior]] in the face of some crisis or opportunity. |
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| − | == Related fields == |
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| − | * [[Cognitive linguistics]] |
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| − | * [[Cognitive ontology]] |
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| − | * [[Cognitive neuropsychology]] |
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| − | * [[Cognitive neuroscience]] |
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| − | * [[Cognitive science]] |
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| − | * [[Evolutionary neuroscience]] |
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| − | * [[Aging and memory]] |
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| − | * [[Animal cognition]] |
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| − | * [[Cognitive bias]] |
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| − | * [[Cognitive dissonance]] |
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| − | * [[Cognitive development]] |
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| − | * [[Cognitive module]] |
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| − | * [[Cognitive space]] |
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| − | * [[Cognitive style]] |
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| − | * [[Cognitivism (psychology)]] |
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| − | * [[Comparative Cognition]] |
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| − | * [[Decision making]] |
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| − | * [[Educational psychology]] |
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| − | * [[Emergence]] |
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| − | * [[Emotion and memory]] |
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| − | * [[Functional neuroimaging]] |
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| − | * [[Gestalt effect]] |
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| − | * [[Holonomic brain theory]] |
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| − | * [[Information foraging]] |
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| − | * [[Intuition]] |
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| − | * [[Intentionality]] |
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| − | * [[List of cognitive scientists]] |
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| − | * [[Memory-prediction framework]] |
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| − | * [[Metacognition]], "thinking about thinking". |
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| − | * [[Modularity of mind]] |
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| − | * [[Need for cognition]] |
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| − | * [[Neurocognitive]] |
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| − | * [[NLP]] [[meta program]]s |
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| − | * [[Molecular Cellular Cognition]] |
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| − | * [[Numerical cognition]] |
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| − | * [[Personal knowledge management]] |
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| − | * [[Santiago theory of cognition]] |
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| − | * [[Temporal cognition]] |
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| − | * [[Theory of Cognitive development]] |
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| − | * [[Theory of mind]] |
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| − | * [[Quantum mind]] |
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==References & Bibliography== |
==References & Bibliography== |
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== External links == |
== External links == |
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| − | * [http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/french/as-sa/editors/origins.html The Origins of Laughter] |
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| − | * [http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/cognit ''Cognition''] An international journal publishing theoretical and experimental papers on the study of the mind. |
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| − | * [http://www.hum.uva.nl/mmm/ Information on music cognition, University of Amsterdam] |
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| − | * Emotional and Decision Making Lab, Carnegie Mellon, [http://computing.hss.cmu.edu/lernerlab/home.php EDM Lab] |
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| − | * [http://www.insead.edu/CALT/Encyclopedia/ComputerSciences/AI/cognition.htm cognition] in the CALT encyclopedia |
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[[Category:Cognition| ]] |
[[Category:Cognition| ]] |
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[[Category:Philosophy of mind]] |
[[Category:Philosophy of mind]] |
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| − | {{enWP|Cognition}} |
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Revision as of 07:10, 30 January 2008
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Cognitive Psychology: Attention · Decision making · Learning · Judgement · Memory · Motivation · Perception · Reasoning · Thinking - Cognitive processes Cognition - Outline Index
Cognitions (Latin, cogito: to think) are the contents of cognitive processes) such as thinking and fantasy memory, attention, perception, etc. They include:
See also