cognition
Summary
Cognition is the set of mental processes used to acquire, store, and use information, including attention, memory, language, reasoning, and problem solving. The MCAT most often tests it through Piaget's stages of cognitive development and the information-processing model.
Detail
Meaning: Cognition is the set of mental processes by which people take in, store, transform and use information: attention, perception, memory, language, reasoning, problem solving and decision making. The information-processing model treats the mind like a system that encodes, stores and retrieves information.
On the MCAT: Cognitive development is usually tested through Piaget's stages: sensorimotor (object permanence), preoperational (symbols, egocentrism), concrete operational (conservation), and formal operational (abstract, hypothetical reasoning). Passages also use schemas, problem-solving tools such as algorithms and heuristics, and biases such as confirmation bias and the availability heuristic. A typical question describes the behavior of a child or an adult and asks which stage, process or bias it shows.
Common confusion: Cognition is not the same as intelligence, which is a measured ability, or as emotion, although the two interact. Students also swap assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation fits new information into an existing schema, while accommodation changes the schema to fit the new information.
Sources
- Psychology (Myers)
- Psychology (Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner)
Written for the MCAT and checked before it was published. For study reference only. Spotted an error? Let us know.