Cognition. It’s a word we hear all the time. However, exactly what is cognition and how big of a role does it play in our lives?
In short, cognition is our ability to process information, and cognitive thinking plays a hugely (hugely) important role in our lives. However, the actual reality of cognition is much grander and more perplexing than we can rightfully express in words (nonetheless a single sentence).
In this article, though, we will do our best to explain exactly what cognition is and the various cognitive skills we get to improve over time.
What Does Cognitive Functioning Mean?
If it’s in your excitement, take a moment to imagine all of the thoughts going on in your head. Imagine them as if they existed in physical form, swirling and twirling, rapidly all throughout your mind.
Pretty wild, right? Well, that’s just a tiny fraction of the action. These are just the thoughts we are aware of — we aren’t aware of most of our cognitive functions. Somehow, though, our consciousness is able to sort through this dizzying maze of electrical firing and coherently move through them, one at a time, in an organized train of thought.
Hardly introducing… Cognition.
Cognition is responsible for all of our thinking processes; the endless perception, problem-solving, judgment, memory, language, and knowledge acquisition.
What is an example of cognition?
Examples of cognition can include verbal, spatial, psychomotor, and processing-speed abilities.
Therefore, cognition would be:
- Making a judgment about something based on the information you received and your brain processed.
- Solving problems based on what we already know and other similar situations we went through.
- Logical reasoning based on different arguments.
What Are the 8 Cognitive Skills?
To us at Mindvalley, the most exciting thing about learning about cognition is that we get to improve our cognitive skills and abilities. The more we understand the basis of cognitive thinking and these skills, the more we are able to improve them and become our best possible selves.
So, what are cognitive skills?
A running cognitive skills definition goes as follows: Cognitive skills are the main skills our brains use to think, learn, remember, reason, read, and sustain attention.
In order for full cognition to take place, all of these varying aspects of cognition must work together. Since each of these skills plays a vital role in processing information (cognition), if one goes weak, the whole cognitive system struggles.
Without further adieu, here is a list of each of our cognitive skills.
Note: Since cognition is such a complex process, there are quite a few versions of this list as many researchers have their own verbiage, categorization, and perception of the exact cognitive skills definition. However, the list below is widely agreed upon.
Attention
- Sustained attention allows you to stay focused for a certain time period
- Selective attention allows you to stay focused on a particular task while blocking out distractions
- Divided attention allows you to multitask — focus on more than one thing at a time
Processing
- Visual processing allows you to think in and perceive visual images
- Auditory processing allows you to process, blend, analyze, and segment sounds
- Processing speed allows you to access information and perform tasks with speed and accuracy
Memory
- Long-term memory allows you to remember information that was stored at a previous time
- Working/short-term memory is lasting for about 15-30 seconds at a time, this enables you to store information while you are in the process of currently using it
Rational Thinking vs. Logical Reasoning
There are two cognitive skills we didn’t mention above: logical reasoning and rational thinking. We saved them for their own sections because these two terms often leave people feeling a bit discombobulated — what’s the difference?
Although these two cognitive thinking skills are generally clumped together as one, they are entirely different processes.
Rational thinking
Thinking rationally is much more humanistic than thinking logically. Rational thought is a state of reasoning (or being reasonable) that can only be judged by humans. Generally, a very “rational person” is one that is able to make decisions without letting bias and emotion get in the way.
For instance, court judges need to be very rational thinkers. Someone who is able to step away from the drama of a situation and think clearly about a fair result is considered very rational. Rational thinking helps to promote freedom and fairness.
Logical reasoning
Logic, on the other hand, is a type of reasoning that can be shown to be absolutely correct using mathematical proof. Even verbal statements and arguments can be dissected mathematically. Logical reasoning is cold, calculated, and absolute.
It is often claimed that thinking too logically can inhibit ingenuity and creative achievement. However, logical thinking is a useful trait for scientists and mathematicians.
