Cognition is the
scientific
term for "the process of
thought" to
knowing. Usage of the term varies in different disciplines; for
example in
psychology and
cognitive science, it usually refers to an
information processing view
of an individual's psychological
functions. Other
interpretations of the meaning of
cognition link it to the
development of
concepts; individual minds, groups, and
organizations.
Introduction
The term
cognition (
Latin:
cognoscere, "to know" or "to recognize") refers to a
faculty for the processing of
information, applying knowledge, and changing
preferences. Cognition, or cognitive processes, can be natural or
artificial, conscious or unconscious. These processes are analyzed
from different perspectives within different contexts, notably in
the fields of
linguistics,
anesthesia,
neurology,
psychology,
philosophy,
anthropology,
systemics and
computer
science. Within psychology or philosophy, the concept of
cognition is closely related to abstract
concepts such as
mind,
reasoning,
perception,
intelligence,
learning, and many others that describe
capabilities of the mind and expected properties of an artificial
or synthetic “mind”. Cognition is considered an abstract property
of advanced living
organisms and is studied
as a direct property of a brain (or of an abstract mind) on at the
factual and symbolic levels.
In
psychology and in
artificial intelligence, cognition
is used to refer to the
mental
functions,
mental processes (thoughts)
and states of
intelligent entities
(humans, human organizations, highly autonomous machines). In
particular, the field focuses toward the study of specific mental
processes such as
comprehension,
inference,
decision-making,
planning and
learning (see
also
cognitive science and
cognitivism). Recently, advanced
cognitive research has been especially focused on the capacities of
abstraction, generalization,
concretization/specialization and
meta-reasoning. This involves such concepts as
beliefs,
knowledge,
desire,
preferences and intentions of intelligent
individuals,
object,
agent or
systems.
Psychology
The sort of mental processes described as
cognitive are
largely influenced by research which has successfully used this
paradigm in the past, likely starting with
Thomas Aquinas, who divided the study of
behavior into two broad categories: cognitive (how we know the
world), and affect (feelings and emotions). Consequently, this
description tends to apply to processes such as
memory,
association,
concept formation,
language,
attention,
perception,
action,
problem solving and
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.
Empirical research into cognition is usually scientific and
quantitative, or involves creating models to describe or explain
certain behaviors.
While few people would deny that cognitive processes are a function
of the
brain, a cognitive theory will not
necessarily make reference to the brain or 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 that studies brain
injury to infer normal cognitive function is called
cognitive neuropsychology. The
links of cognition to
evolutionary demands
are studied through the investigation of
animal cognition. And conversely,
evolutionary-based perspectives can inform hypotheses about
cognitive functional systems
evolutionary psychology.
The theoretical school of thought derived from the cognitive
approach is often called
cognitivism.
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).
The Cognitive MazeThe concept of the cognitive maze was
developed by Frank DeFulgentis in his book 'Flux.' He describes it
as being trapped in a mental compulsion. The idea is a synthesis of
Edward Tolman's concept of the cognitive map, Alfred Korzybski's
claim that the map is not the territory, and Werner Heisenberg who
said that once we have begun to observe something we have changed
it.
DeFulgentis postulates that when people with OCD actively try to
ignore their obsessions and compulsions they only get drawn in
further. Once I begin to measure what my position is, I have
changed it.
If I am not really worried about this, then
why do I keep thinking about it? And so, not only has
my concern become an obsession but I now have a second obsession
running parallel with the first. This is based on the idea that OCD
stems from a lack of certainty. The danger often lies in trying to
find the quick fix, the instant certainty that we are right, and
that everything is OK, so that our anxiety will be instantly
relieved.
As compression
By the
1980s, researchers in the Engineering departments of the University of
Leeds
, UK
hypothesized
that 'Cognition is a form of compression', i.e., cognition was an
economic, not just a philosophical or a 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-organizing behavior; thus we have the
opportunity to see samples of
emergent
behavior at each successive level, from individual, to groups
of individuals, to formal organizations.
Cognition as social process
It has been observed since antiquity that
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. In this case, the
individual is made up of a set of mechanisms 'expecting' such input
from the social world.
In
education, for instance, which has the
explicit task in
society of developing child
cognition, choices are made regarding the
environment and permitted
action that lead to a formed
experience. In
social
cognition,
face perception in
human babies emerges by the age of two months. 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. On the other
hand, the macro-choices made by the teachers are extremely
influential on the micro-choices made by children.
In a large systemic perspective, cognition is considered closely
related to the social and human organization
functioning and constrains.
Managerial decision
making processes can be erroneous in politics, economy and
industry for the reason of different reciprocally dependent
socio-cognitive factors. This domain became the field of interest
of emergent socio-cognitive engineering.
See also
- In addition to the topics below, see the
Wikipedia portals
References
- Piaget's Stage Theory of Cognition[1]
- Sensation & Perception, 5th ed. 1999, Coren, Ward
& Enns, p. 9
Further reading
- Lycan, W.G., (ed.). (1999). Mind and Cognition: An
Anthology, 2nd Edition. Malden, Mass: Blackwell Publishers,
Inc.
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