Kognice

Kognice refers to the set of mental processes by which beings acquire, process, store, and apply knowledge. It encompasses perception, attention, memory, language, reasoning, problem solving, decision making, and metacognition. The term is used in cognitive science and related disciplines, and in several languages such as Czech and Polish it corresponds to the English word cognition.

Core ideas and approaches: Cognition is often viewed as information processing by the brain, from sensory input to voluntary action. Major theoretical frameworks include the information-processing paradigm, schema theory, and connectionist or neural-network models. Cognitive psychology investigates how attention, memory systems, and executive functions interact to support thinking and behavior, while cognitive neuroscience seeks the neural underpinnings of these processes.

Development, aging, and individual differences: Kognice develops through childhood and changes across the lifespan, with gains in early and middle life and potential declines in certain domains in old age. Variability arises from genetic factors, experience, education, health, and brain plasticity. Metacognition—awareness and regulation of one’s own thinking—plays a key role in learning and problem solving.

Methods and applications: Researchers use behavioral experiments, reaction-time tasks, neuroimaging, and computational modeling to study cognitive processes. Applications span education, user interface design, clinical assessment, artificial intelligence, and human factors engineering. Conceptual debates include questions about the relationship between mental processes and neural activity, the level of modularity in cognition, and the nature of consciousness.

Etymology and scope: The term derives from Latin cognitio, meaning knowledge or recognition, and appears in various languages as a counterpart to cognition.