Cognition is the ability to process information and transform it into knowledge, based on a set of mental and/or brain skills such as perception, attention, association, imagination, judgment, reasoning and memory.
This information to be processed is available in the environment in which we live.
Generally speaking, we can say that human cognition is the brain's interpretation of all information captured by the five senses, and the conversion of this interpretation to our internal form to be.
What is cognitive process?
The cognitive process consists of a sequence of events necessary for the formation of any knowledge content through the activity of the mind. It develops from infancy to the aging stage.
At cognitive functions they play a fundamental role in the cognitive process and work together so that we can acquire new knowledge and create interpretations. Some of the main cognitive functions are: perception, attention, memory, thinking, language and learning.
Cognition in Psychology
Cognition came into existence as one of the research branches of psychology in the early 1960s. It was around the second half of the 19th century that it left the field of philosophy and began to exist by itself.
Although several areas such as neurology and anthropology have studied cognition, it was the cognitive psychology who managed to establish a direct link between cognition and behavior.
Cognition in the study of human behavior
Behavior is a combination of a person's individual capabilities with a range of reactions he has to interactions with his surroundings.
The importance of cognition in the scientific study of human behavior is to help, through cognitive psychology, to understand mental processes that serve as a basis for the constitution of the behavior and intellectual development of individuals.
Donald Broadbent, an influential British psychologist, compares mental processes to the functioning of software on a computer:
input > representation > computation or processing > outputs
know more about behavior.
The importance of cognition in learning
As it consists of the process that happens when a person is getting to know something, cognition is also directly related to learning.
Learning is a cognitive process through which new information is added to an individual's knowledge, that is, a process that results in knowledge being acquired.
One of the main links between cognition and learning is motivation. This is due to the fact that, the greater the cognitive stimulation of the environment that surrounds an individual, the more emphasized will be the learning of a new behavior.
In addition to the natural stimuli received by the brain from the environment surrounding an individual, cognition can also be developed and stimulated. This process is called cognitive stimulation.
Cognitive stimulation aims to improve cognitive functions such as memory, reasoning, problem solving, etc. This stimulation can occur through problem solving exercises, playing games and activities, riddles and even physical exercises.
Read more about learning.
cognitive theory
Cognitive theory was created by the Swiss Jean Piaget and explains the development of cognitive capacity in the process of acquiring knowledge in human beings.
THE cognitive ability it is the capacity that an individual has to interpret, assimilate and relate to the stimuli of the environment that surrounds him and with his own essence.
Cognitive theory defends the idea that the construction of the human being happens little by little, mainly during children's lives and is divided into 4 stages:
Sensory motor (24 months): the child seeks motor control and learning about his surroundings.
Preoperative (2 - 7 years): stage where oral language appears. However, thought and language are mostly associated with the present moment and concrete events.
Concrete operative (7 - 11/12 years): beginning of the ability to use the concepts of numbers and relations. Phase of reduction of egocentrism and language socialization. During this period it is also possible to notice greater interaction with other people and the ability to take into account the other's point of view.
Formal operative (12 years onwards): initiation to logical and systematic reasoning. At this stage, abstract thinking becomes defined. Deductions no longer need to be based on concrete objects. The interaction in groups and the planning of collective actions become extremely important. During this period, the individual begins to be able to create hypotheses to explain and solve problems.
What are cognitive systems?
Cognitive systems encompass natural or artificial systems for processing information about the behavior of an individual in relation to other human beings and the surrounding environment.
This is a subject of study where different sciences intersect, mainly computing and neuroscience.
We can say that the cognitive system is the evolution of artificial intelligence, because it has the ability to learn, process and interpret information in a context, just like beings humans.
See more about the meaning of cognitive.
Cognition in civil proceedings
In the legal world, cognition is applied through knowledge that consists of investigating facts to define a sentence.
According to studies by São Paulo professor Kazuo Watanabe, cognition in civil proceedings can be divided into two aspects:
horizontal plane
On this plane, cognition can be full or limited (partial). At full cognition, which is usually the rule, the judge can know all the issues of the parties. already in limited cognition, the judge is not allowed to have full knowledge of the matters.
vertical plane
In this second aspect, cognition can be exhausting (complete) or summary (incomplete). THE exhausting cognition it contemplates a very detailed and in-depth study of evidence and allegations and ends up giving rise to a judgment of certainty. At summary cognition, the court decision is issued based on probability.
