Cognition
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/* Cognition in mainstream psychology */ rm " or '''cognitive processes'''", which is redundant
{{Articleissues|original research=September 2007|confusing=September 2007|technical=January 2008|contradict=January 2008}}
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{{wiktionary}}
The term '''cognition''' is used in different ways by different disciplines. In psychology, it refers to an [[information processing]] view of an individual's psychological [[Functionalism (psychology)|function]]s. Other 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. Cognition can also be interpreted as "understanding and trying to make sense of the world".{{Fact|date=September 2007}}
{{Psychology (sidebar)}}
==Introduction==
The term '''cognition''' ([[Latin]]: ''cognoscere'', "to know") is used in several loosely related ways to refer to a faculty for the human-like processing of [[information]], applying knowledge and changing preferences. Cognition or cognitive processes can be natural and artificial, conscious and not conscious; therefore, they are analyzed from different perspectives and in different contexts, in [[anesthesia]], [[neurology]], [[psychology]], [[philosophy]], [[systemics]] and [[computer science]]. The concept of cognition is closely related to such abstract [[concept]]s as [[mind]], [[reasoning]], [[perception]], [[intelligence]], [[learning]], and many others that describe numerous capabilities of the human mind and expected properties of artificial or synthetic intelligence. Cognition is an abstract property of advanced living [[organism]]s; therefore, it is studied as a direct property of a brain or of an abstract mind on sub-symbolic and symbolic levels.{{Or|date=September 2007}}
In [[psychology]] and in [[artificial intelligence]], it is used to refer to the [[mental function]]s, [[thought|mental processes]] and states of [[intelligence|intelligent]] entities (humans, human organizations, highly autonomous robots), with a particular focus toward the study of such mental processes as [[comprehension]], [[inference|inferencing]], [[decision-making]], [[planning]] and [[learning]] (see also [[cognitive science]] and [[cognitivism]]). Recently, advanced cognitive researchers have been especially focused on the capacities of [[abstraction]], generalization, [[concretization]]/specialization and meta-reasoning which descriptions involve such concepts as beliefs, [[knowledge]], desires, [[preference]]s and intentions of intelligent individuals/[[object (philosophy)|object]]s/[[wiktionary:agent|agent]]s/[[system]]s.
The term "cognition" 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 culminates in both [[thought]] and action.
== Cognition in mainstream psychology ==
The sort of mental processes described as '''cognitive''' 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]].
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 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 that 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 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 (psychology)|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).
=== Influence and influences ===
{{Prose|date=September 2007}}
This success has led to its application within a wide range of areas:
*Psychology (particularly [[cognitive psychology]]), [[cognitive science]] and [[psychophysics]]
*[[Cognitive neuroscience]], [[neurology]] and [[neuropsychology]]
*[[Behavioral economics]] and [[behavioral finance]]
*[[Artificial intelligence]] and [[cybernetics]]
*[[Ergonomics]] and [[user interface]] design
*[[Philosophy of mind]]
*[[Linguistics]], especially [[psycholinguistics]] and [[cognitive linguistics]]
*[[Economics]], especially [[experimental economics]]
*[[Learning styles]] and [[learning]]
In its widest sense, the field is quite eclectic and draws from a number of areas, such as:
*[[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.
*[[Philosophy]], [[epistemology]] and [[ontology]]
*[[Moral philosophy]], where it deals with the problem of [[ignorance]], often seen as the opposite of cognition.
*[[Biology]] and [[neuroscience]]
*[[Mathematics]] and [[probability]]
*[[Physics]], where [[observer effect]]s are studied in depth mathematically.
== Cognitive ontology ==
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]].
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.
== Cognition as compression ==
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.
== Cognition as and in a social process ==<!-- This section is linked from [[Second language]] -->
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 [[human development|developing child cognition]], choices are made regarding the [[social environment|environment]] and permitted [[action (philosophy)|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 [[social function|functioning]] and constrains. [[management|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 ([http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=socio-cognitive+engineering&btnG=Search Google search]).
== Cognition in a cultural context ==
[[Image:NASA-Apollo8-Dec24-Earthrise.jpg|right|200px|Earthrise]]
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 observatory|space observatories]] etc.
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.
== Example of emergent organization ==
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'':
:''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.''
In other words, when the ''organization'' adapted, the ''concept'' adapted and survived the incipient failure mode.
== See also ==
:''In addition to the topics below, see the [[Portal:thinking#Topics related to Thinking|List of thinking-related topics]]''
{{Multicol}}
* [[Cognitive bias]]
* [[Cognitive dissonance]]
* [[Cognitive module]]
* [[Cognitive space]]
* [[Cognitive style]]
* [[Comparative Cognition]]
* [[Situated cognition]]
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* [[Educational psychology]]
* [[Functional neuroimaging]]
* [[Gestalt psychology]]
* [[Holonomic brain theory]]
* [[Human cognition]]
* [[Intentionality]]
* [[List of cognitive scientists]]
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* [[Molecular Cellular Cognition]]
* [[Numerical cognition]]
* [[Personal knowledge management]]
* [[Santiago theory of cognition]]
* [[Theory of cognitive development]]
* [[Theory of mind]]
* [[Decade of the Mind]]
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'''Wikipedia portals'''
* [[Portal:thinking]]
* [[Portal:philosophy]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
* Lycan, W.G., (ed.). (1999). ''Mind and Cognition: An Anthology'', 2nd Edition. Malden, Mass: Blackwell Publishers, Inc.
== External links ==
* [http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/505626/description#description ''Cognition''] An international journal publishing theoretical and experimental papers on the study of the mind.
* [http://www.hum.uva.nl/mmm/ Information on music cognition, University of Amsterdam]
* [http://www.cognitie.nl/ Cognitie.NL] Information on cognition research, Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and University of Amsterdam (UvA)
* Emotional and Decision Making Lab, Carnegie Mellon, [http://computing.hss.cmu.edu/lernerlab/home.php EDM Lab]
* [http://www.insead.edu/CALT/Encyclopedia/ComputerSciences/AI/cognition.htm cognition] in the CALT encyclopedia
* [http://news.softpedia.com/news/The-Limits-of-Human-Cognition-37388.shtml The Limits of Human Cognition] - an article describing the evolution of mammals' cognitive abilities
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