Mindicated

Mindicated is a neologism used in discussions of cognition and philosophy of mind to describe evidence or signals that indicate a person's internal mental states. As an adjective, mindicated refers to cues, data, or interpretations that arise from or rely on mental content such as beliefs, desires, intentions, or emotions. In practice, mindicated cues are those that observers infer to be linked to particular cognitive states, rather than directly measurable properties of the external world. The term is not part of a standardized vocabulary and its exact scope varies among authors.

Etymology and usage: Mindicated appears to blend mind with indicate, signaling that the indicated content comes from within the mind rather than from overt behavior alone. It has circulated mainly in informal writing and theoretical discussions about how cognitive states can be inferred—through gaze, expression, reaction times, neural signals, or other observable data.

Examples and applications: Researchers might describe pupil dilation as a mindicated index of cognitive load, or refer to a person's goal-oriented gaze as mindicated attention. In human-computer interaction, designers may seek mindicated signals to infer user intent and adapt interfaces accordingly.

Relation and limitations: Mindication sits near related concepts such as theory of mind, metacognition, and cognitive indicators. However, as a neologism, it risks ambiguity and may be used inconsistently. Critics argue that reliance on mindicated cues can lead to overinterpretation or misattribution of internal states.

See also: theory of mind, metacognition, cognitive indicators, mind reading.