Cognition

• Cognition is a crucial part of an individual’s development process which influences behavior
• Behavior also impacts cognition in a bi-directional connection
• Cognition involves remembering, perceiving, thinking, and how these processes are employed
• Cognition is an umbrella term covering all "higher-order" thinking processes
• Understanding how individuals think and make choices leads to greater self-awareness and understanding of others
• Memory functions in three levels: sensory, short-term or working, and long-term memory
• Sensory memory allows information from the external environment to be perceived through senses
• Short-term memory temporarily stores information for 10 to 15 seconds up to one minute
• Short-term memory can store up to 5-9 items and discards information without conscious effort to retain it
• Information stored in long-term memory is often permanent and allows for repeated retrievals
• Long-term memory can hold information indefinitely and has limitless capacity
• Intelligence is an individual's capacity for understanding, learning, planning, and problem-solving
• Intelligence is the application of knowledge to adjust to the environment
• Intelligence is not confined to academic contexts and is thought to be hereditary
• Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences:
• Verbal-linguistic: ability to analyze and produce oral and written language
• Logical-mathematical: ability to understand and answer mathematical equations
• Visual-spatial: ability to analyze graphical information
• Musical: ability to produce and interpret different types of sound
• Naturalistic: ability to identify aspects of the natural world
• Bodily-kinesthetic: ability to use the body to create products or solve problems
• Interpersonal: ability to be sensitive to others' thoughts and emotions
• Intrapersonal: ability for self-introspection
• Robert Sternberg's Triarchic Theory of Intelligence:
• Componential (Analytical): includes abstract thinking, logical reasoning, verbal, and mathematical skills
• Experiential (Creative): involves divergent thinking and dealing with novel situations
• Contextual (Practical): being "street smart," applying knowledge to the real world and shaping the environment