Cognition
What is the best way to solve a problem? How does a person who has never seen or touched snow in real life develop an understanding of the concept of snow? How do young children acquire the ability to learn language with no formal instruction? Psychologists who study thinking explore questions like these and are called cognitive psychologists.
Cognitive psychologists also study intelligence. What is intelligence, and how does it vary from person to person? Are “street smarts” a kind of intelligence, and if so, how do they relate to other types of intelligence? What does an IQ test really measure? These questions and more will be explored in this chapter as you study thinking and intelligence.
In other chapters, we discussed the cognitive processes of perception, learning, and memory. In this chapter, we will focus on high-level cognitive processes. As a part of this discussion, we will consider thinking and briefly explore the development and use of language. We will also discuss problem solving and creativity before ending with a discussion of how intelligence is measured and how our biology and environments interact to affect intelligence. After finishing this chapter, you will have a greater appreciation of the higher-level cognitive processes that contribute to our distinctiveness as a species.
MCCCD Course Competencies
- Interpret research finding related to psychological concepts.
- Apply psychological principles to personal growth and other aspects of everyday life.
- Examine how psychological science can be used to counter unsubstantiated statements and foster critical thinking.
- Explain basic psychological concepts in each of these key domains: Biological, Cognitive, Developmental, Social and Personality, and Mental and Physical Health.
- Identify ways psychological science can foster a more just society.
- Examine how social and cultural factors, diversity, ethics, and variations in human functioning relate to basic psychological concepts.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
- Describe cognition
- Distinguish concepts and prototypes
- Explain the difference between natural and artificial concepts
- Describe how schemata are organized and constructed
Imagine all of your thoughts as if they were physical entities, swirling rapidly inside your mind. How is it possible that the brain is able to move from one thought to the next in an organized, orderly fashion? The brain is endlessly perceiving, processing, planning, organizing, and remembering—it is always active. Yet, you don’t notice most of your brain’s activity as you move throughout your daily routine. This is only one facet of the complex processes involved in cognition. Simply put, cognition is thinking, and it encompasses the processes associated with perception, knowledge, problem solving, judgment, language, and memory. Scientists who study cognition are searching for ways to understand how we integrate, organize, and utilize our consci