cognition
cognitions
Cognition is the act of thinking, perceiving, and understanding. It's cognition that makes it possible for you to learn a foreign language.
The word cognition is most often used in scholarly or formal writing about learning and thinking, though you can also use it to describe what happens when you use your brain power to complete a crossword puzzle or remember math equations for a test. Cognition comes from the Latin verb cognoscere, meaning "a getting to know, or knowledge," combining com-, "together," and gnoscere, "to know."
Definitions of cognition
-
the psychological result of perception and learning and reasoning
-
types:
- show 119 types...
- hide 119 types...
-
brain, head, mind, nous, psyche
that which is responsible for one's thoughts and feelings; the seat of the faculty of reason
-
place
an abstract mental location
-
general knowledge, public knowledge
knowledge that is available to anyone
-
episteme
the body of ideas that determine the knowledge that is intellectually certain at any particular time
-
ability, power
possession of the qualities (especially mental qualities) required to do something or get something done
-
inability
lack of ability (especially mental ability) to do something
-
lexis
all of the words in a language; all word forms having meaning or grammatical function
-
lexicon, mental lexicon, vocabulary
a language user's knowledge of words
-
practice
knowledge of how something is usually done
-
cognitive factor
something immaterial (as a circumstance or influence) that contributes to producing a result
-
equivalent
a person or thing equal to another in value, measure, force, effect, significance, etc.
-
cognitive operation, cognitive process, mental process, operation, process
(psychology) the performance of some composite cognitive activity; an operation that affects mental contents
-
process, unconscious process
a mental process that you are not directly aware of
-
perception
knowledge gained by perceiving
-
structure
the complex composition of knowledge as elements and their combinations
-
cognitive content, content, mental object
the sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered, or learned
-
information
knowledge acquired through study or experience or instruction
-
history
all that is remembered of the past as preserved in writing; a body of knowledge
-
attitude, mental attitude
a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings and values and dispositions to act in certain ways
-
sleep talking, somniloquism, somniloquy
uttering speech while asleep
-
noddle
an informal British expression for head or mind
-
common knowledge
anything generally known to everyone
-
light
public awareness
-
open, surface
information that has become public
-
tabula rasa
a young mind not yet affected by experience (according to John Locke)
-
ego
(psychoanalysis) the conscious mind
-
unconscious, unconscious mind
that part of the mind wherein psychic activity takes place of which the person is unaware
-
subconscious, subconscious mind
psychic activity just below the level of awareness
-
know-how
the (technical) knowledge and skill required to do something
-
leadership
the ability to lead
-
intelligence
the ability to comprehend; to understand and profit from experience
-
aptitude
inherent ability
-
bilingualism
the ability to speak two languages colloquially
-
capacity, mental ability
the power to learn or retain knowledge; in law, the ability to understand the facts and significance of your behavior
-
creative thinking, creativeness, creativity
the ability to create
-
originality
the ability to think and act independently
-
science, skill
ability to produce solutions in some problem domain
-
accomplishment, acquirement, acquisition, attainment, skill
an ability that has been acquired by training
-
hand
ability
-
superior skill
more than ordinary ability
-
block, mental block
an inability to remember or think of something you normally can do; often caused by emotional tension
-
stupidity
a poor ability to understand or to profit from experience
-
inaptitude
a lack of aptitude
-
incapacity
lack of intellectual power
-
unskillfulness
a lack of cognitive skill
-
analphabetism, illiteracy
an inability to read
-
uncreativeness
a lack of creativity
-
faculty, mental faculty, module
one of the inherent cognitive or perceptual powers of the mind
-
custom, tradition
a specific practice of long standing
-
convention, formula, normal, pattern, rule
something regarded as a normative example
-
heritage, legacy
practices that are handed down from the past by tradition
-
divine guidance, inspiration
(theology) a special influence of a divinity on the minds of human beings
-
difficulty
a factor causing trouble in achieving a positive result or tending to produce a negative result
-
causal factor, determinant, determinative, determiner, determining factor
a determining or causal element or factor
-
counterpart, opposite number, vis-a-vis
a person or thing having the same function or characteristics as another
-
replacement, substitute
a person or thing that takes or can take the place of another
-
basic cognitive process
cognitive processes involved in obtaining and storing knowledge
-
discernment, perceptiveness
perception of that which is obscure
-
insight, penetration
clear or deep perception of a situation
-
cognizance
range or scope of what is perceived
-
arrangement, organisation, organization, system
an organized structure for arranging or classifying
-
higher cognitive process
cognitive processes that presuppose the availability of knowledge and put it to use
-
incomprehension
an inability to understand
-
tradition
an inherited pattern of thought or action
-
object
the focus of cognitions or feelings
-
food, food for thought, intellectual nourishment
anything that provides mental stimulus for thinking
-
noumenon, thing-in-itself
the intellectual conception of a thing as it is in itself, not as it is known through perception
-
universe, universe of discourse
everything stated or assumed in a given discussion
-
issue, matter, subject, topic
some situation or event that is thought about
-
issue
an important question that is in dispute and must be settled
-
data point, datum
an item of factual information derived from measurement or research
-
acquaintance, conversance, conversancy, familiarity
personal knowledge or information about someone or something
-
fact
a piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred
-
example, illustration, instance, representative
an item of information that is typical of a class or group
-
circumstance, condition, consideration
information that should be kept in mind when making a decision
-
background, background knowledge
information that is essential to understanding a situation or problem
-
descriptor
a piece of stored information that is used to identify an item in an information storage and retrieval system
-
evidence, grounds
your basis for belief or disbelief; knowledge on which to base belief
-
predictor
information that supports a probabilistic estimate of future events
-
tip-off
inside information that something is going to happen
-
input, stimulant, stimulation, stimulus
any stimulating information or event; acts to arouse action
-
idea, thought
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
-
center, centre, core, essence, gist, heart, heart and soul, inwardness, kernel, marrow, meat, nitty-gritty, nub, pith, substance, sum
the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience
-
wisdom
accumulated knowledge or erudition or enlightenment
-
internal representation, mental representation, representation
a presentation to the mind in the form of an idea or image
-
form, pattern, shape
a perceptual structure
-
belief
any cognitive content held as true
-
disbelief, unbelief
a rejection of belief
-
heresy, unorthodoxy
a belief that rejects the orthodox tenets of a religion
-
end, goal
the state of affairs that a plan is intended to achieve and that (when achieved) terminates behavior intended to achieve it
-
education
knowledge acquired by learning and instruction
-
experience
the content of direct observation or participation in an event
-
acculturation, culture
all the knowledge and values shared by a society
-
lore, traditional knowledge
knowledge gained through tradition or anecdote
-
ignorance
the lack of knowledge or education
-
domain, knowledge base, knowledge domain
the content of a particular field of knowledge
-
metaknowledge
knowledge about knowledge
-
phrase structure, sentence structure, syntax
the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences
-
morphology, sound structure, syllable structure, word structure
the admissible arrangement of sounds in words
-
acceptance, credence
the mental attitude that something is believable and should be accepted as true
-
culture
the attitudes and behavior that are characteristic of a particular social group or organization
-
defensive, defensive attitude
an attitude of defensiveness (especially in the phrase `on the defensive')
-
hardball
a no-nonsense attitude in business or politics
-
high horse
an attitude of arrogant superiority
-
southernism
an attitude characteristic of Southerners (especially in the US)
-
mentality, mind-set, mindset, outlook
a habitual or characteristic mental attitude that determines how you will interpret and respond to situations
-
paternalism
the attitude (of a person or a government) that subordinates should be controlled in a fatherly way for their own good
-
position, posture, stance
a rationalized mental attitude
-
disposition, inclination, tendency
an attitude of mind especially one that favors one alternative over others
-
tolerance
willingness to recognize and respect the beliefs or practices of others
-
intolerance
unwillingness to recognize and respect differences in opinions or beliefs
-
esteem, regard, respect
an attitude of admiration or esteem
-
disrespect
a disrespectful mental attitude
-
reverence
a reverent mental attitude
-
irreverence
an irreverent mental attitude
-
orientation
an integrated set of attitudes and beliefs
-
condensation
(psychoanalysis) an unconscious process whereby two ideas or images combine into a single symbol; especially in dreams
-
layer, level, stratum
an abstract place usually conceived as having depth
-
defence, defence mechanism, defence reaction, defense, defense mechanism, defense reaction
(psychiatry) an unconscious process that tries to reduce the anxiety associated with instinctive desires
-
type of:
-
psychological feature
a feature of the mental life of a living organism
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘cognition'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
Send us feedback
Word Family
Vocabulary lists containing cognition
This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for May 14–May 20, 2022
Stories about expensive dinosaur bones, a lunar eclipse, and a generous graduation gift all contributed words to this list of vocabulary from the week's news.
These Violent Delights
In this reimagining of Romeo and Juliet set in Shanghai in the 1920s, two teens from rival gangs must work together to end a feud.
EDITOR'S CHOICE
Look up cognition for the last time
Close your vocabulary gaps with personalized learning that focuses on teaching the words you need to know.
