What is cognition? Explain different theories of cognition.

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Cognitive psychology is the field of psychology dedicated to examining how people think. It attempts to explain how and why we think the way we do by studying the interactions among human thinking, emotion, creativity, language, and problem solving, in addition to other cognitive processes. Cognitive psychologists strive to determine and measure different types of intelligence, why some people are better at problem solving than others, and how emotional intelligence affects success in the workplace, among countless other topics. They also sometimes focus on how we organize thoughts and information gathered from our environments into meaningful categories of thought, which will be discussed later.

Social Cognitive Theory

In the Social Cognitive Theory, we are considering 3 variables:

• Behavioural factors
• Evironmental factors (extrinsic)
• Personal factors (intrinsic)

These 3 variables in Social Cognitive Theory are said to be interrelated with each other, causing learning to occur. An individual’s personal experience can converge with the behavioural determinants and the environmental factors.

Social Cognitive Theory Illustration (Perjures, 2002)

In the person-environment interaction, human beliefs, ideas and cognitive competencies are modified by external factors such as a supportive parent, stressful environment or a hot climate. In the person-behavior interaction, the cognitive processes of a person affect his behavior; likewise, performance of such behavior can modify the way he thinks. Lastly, the environment-behavior interaction, external factors can alter the way you display the behavior. Also, your behavior can affect and modify your environment. This model clearly implies that for effective and positive learning to occur an individual should have positive personal characteristics, exhibit appropriate behavior and stay in a supportive environment.

In addition, Social Cognitive Theory states that new experiences are to be evaluated by the learner by means of analyzing his past experiences with the same determinants. Learning, therefore, is a result of a thorough evaluation of the present experience versus the past.

1. Observational Learning

learning from other people by means of observing them is an effective way of gaining knowledge and altering behavior.

2. Reproduction

the process wherein there is an aim to effectively increase the repeating of a behavior by means of putting the individual in a comfortable environment with readily accessible materials to motivate him to retain the new knowledge and behavior learned and practice them.

3. Self-efficacy

the course wherein the learner improves his newly learned knowledge or behavior by putting it into practice.

4. Emotional coping

good coping mechanisms against stressful environment and negative personal characteristics can lead to effective learning, especially in adults.

5. Self-regulatory capability

ability to control behavior even within an unfavourable environment.

B. Cognitive Behavioural Theory

Cognitive Behavioural Theory describes the role of cognition (knowing) to determining and predicting the behavioural pattern of an individual. This theory was developed by Aaron Beck.

The Cognitive Behavioural Theory says that individuals tend to form self-concepts that affect the behavior they display. These concepts can be positive or negative and can be affected by a person’s environment.

genitive Behavioural Theory further explains human behavior and learning using the cognitive triad. This triad includes negative thoughts about:

1. The self (i.e., I am rubbish)
2. The world/environment (i.e., the world is irrational)
3. The future (i.e., my future is doomed)

Concrete operational

Children are much less egocentric in the concrete operational stage. It falls between the ages of 7 to 11 years old and is marked by more logical and methodical manipulation of symbols.
The main goal at this stage is for a child to start working things out inside their head. This is called operational thought, and it allows kids to solve problems without physically encountering things in the real world.

Formal operational

Children 11 years old and older fall into Piaget’s formal operational stage. A milestone of this period is using symbols to understand abstract concepts. Not only that, but older kids and adults can also think about multiple variables and come up with hypotheses based on previous knowledge.

Piaget believed that people of all ages developed intellectually. But he also believed that once a person reaches the formal operational stage, it’s more about building upon knowledge, not changing how it’s acquired or understood.

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