13 Cognition

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How can we solve problems and make thoughtful decisions?

WHAT IS COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY?

Cognition comprises the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.
Cognitive scientists assess the attention and steps associated with mental processes.

Intelligence is the capacity to reason, solve problems, and acquire new knowledge.
Intelligence tests, such as the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale, measure aptitude rather than achievement.
Genetics are believed to influence intelligence levels more than environmental factors do.
Many psychologists believe there are multiple types of intelligence.

We use current and remembered information to find a solution to a task. We can use specific strategies (such as algorithms) to solve problems and we occasionally experience insight.
Reasoning is the process of organizing information into a series of steps to reach conclusions. Overconfidence, belief bias, confirmation bias, and the conjunction fallacy may all lead to errors in reasoning.
Decision-making is the process of selecting and rejecting available options. Rational choice theory and prospect theory both explain aspects of human decision-making.

Attention—the way the brain selectively processes important information—is either endogenous (goal-directed) or exogenous (stimulus-driven).
Our attention is limited to a few stimuli at any one given time.

According to the linguistic relativity hypothesis, the language we speak influences the way in which we perceive the world.
According to dual-coding theory, we process words for concrete concepts both visually and verbally, but we only code words for abstract concepts verbally.