Cognitive processes are the most important part of human activity. Actually, a person is himself only insofar as he has developed mental cognitive processes. People with impaired or diminished cognition have long been considered inferior, and being labeled as mentally incompetent was considered the greatest shame—much more so than having any physical impairment.
Over time, medical terms for mental disability or the diseases with which it is associated have moved beyond the boundaries of science and have become seriously offensive. This shows how much cognitive processes have been valued since ancient times.
Psychology of cognitive processes
The human psyche is a complex structure that ensures the receipt and processing of new information; it allows us to guide human behavior, make correct (as well as erroneous) decisions and creates our inner world. Cognitive processes connect the human person with the real world and allow him to interact with it.
We can say that the entire content of the human psyche is the result of his cognitive activity. The psyche is a reflection of the surrounding world, namely those of its elements with which this person interacted.
To understand the importance of cognitive processes for humans, we should remember which part of the brain is responsible for them. This is primarily the gray matter, which provides higher nervous activity. This structure is a distinctive part of the vertebrate brain, and the proportion of gray matter has steadily increased as evolution has progressed. In lower vertebrates (fish, amphibians), gray matter occupies a small part of the brain and acts as a kind of superstructure that contributes to better survival of the animal. But in higher primates, including humans, the gray matter is the main part of the brain, compared to which the more “ancient” parts are small in size. These highest representatives of the animal world are also distinguished by an extremely high level of mental cognitive processes. Cognizing reality and managing it from a “pleasant bonus” has turned into a vital necessity and the main type of mental activity.
Violation of cognitive processes really makes a person, to one degree or another, inferior and dependent. Mild impairments do not allow a person to take a worthy place in society, get a good job and achieve an acceptable standard of living. And more serious violations can even threaten physical health and life.
Manifestation
Cognitive activity is an ability that is difficult to develop and impossible to hide. By simply observing a child’s activities, you can determine how active he is and whether he strives for new knowledge. The presence of cognitive activity of preschoolers is shown by the following facts.
- The child is captivated by the activity, subject or story.
- He has a pronounced desire to complete a wide variety of, even complex, tasks; he does not want to stop and finish his actions.
- He shows independence, choosing means and methods of action, achieves the result himself and controls himself, this means that cognitive activity is at its best.
- When communicating with adults, he asks questions that satisfy his cognitive interest.
- He is very emotional about what he does.
The level, of course, varies greatly. The cognitive activity of preschoolers manifests itself differently in different children. If a child approaches his activities creatively, knows how to find non-standard solutions, thinks creatively, and uses previously acquired knowledge, this is a high level.
Structure and functions
Cognitive processes in psychology are considered the “youngest”. Even the centers of these processes are located in the neocortex - the youngest part of the cerebral cortex, with the exception of the centers of attention and memory.
However, these processes are at the same time extremely important for humans, since they perform a number of necessary functions:
- Reception of new information and its differentiation, for which there are different channels of information (visual, auditory, olfactory, etc.).
- Processing primary information and creating holistic subjective images.
- Data storage.
- Establishing connections between different types of sensory information, concepts, images, as well as connections between new information and existing information.
- Creation of concepts and signs, establishment of patterns between phenomena and processes of the surrounding world; signs are also used for communication, which is the basis of speech.
- Creating a strategy of behavior and its motives.
- Formation of goals and long-term objectives of activity.
- The ability to foresee the results of actions and plan one’s behavior.
A person's level of intelligence is determined by how effectively his cognitive processes perform their functions. Understanding the world around us, of course, does not happen spontaneously and chaotically.
It has a certain structure and consists of several stages
:
- First, the brain receives new information and processes the received data.
- Then he uses methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison and generalization.
- The information received is remembered and saved.
- From the information received, new information is created - in the form of images and concepts.
- Finally, at the highest level of cognition, complex operations with data, including those of a predictive nature, are carried out.
Preschool period
This not too long period of time lays the foundation for the emerging personality and largely determines it. The family and society surrounding the child must create all conditions for the successful development of cognitive activity. The initial acquaintance with the surrounding reality occurs precisely in preschool childhood, therefore the attitude towards knowledge must be formed carefully but steadily: the cultural and historical experience of previous generations begins to be assimilated from very early childhood. The development of cognitive activity of preschoolers from the first days of life is the key to further successful education at school, institute, in scientific activities and in production.
Types of cognitive mental processes
Cognitive processes did not arise all at once, and different animals are adapted to cognitive activity to varying degrees. Cognitive processes in psychology are divided into lower and higher.
The first group includes sensory-perceptual functions, namely sensations, perceptions and ideas. These processes are available not only to humans, but also to animals; however, if in animals they are the maximum degree of knowledge, then in humans they are only the initial degree. At the same time, these oldest functions of cognition are the most reliable and effective, since they ensure the flow of any information.
The second group includes thinking, imagination, speech and creativity. These are precisely those functions of cognitive activity that are characteristic only of humans. They are organized and managed consciously. Lower cognitive functions make their owner a passive observer of events in the surrounding world, and higher functions allow them to actively participate in these events, change the world and create new ones.
Among the processes of cognition, there are two more, also very ancient in origin and characteristic of even fairly primitive creatures. This is attention and memory. They play a supporting role and serve all other cognitive functions.
Facilities
Cognitive activity requires constant growth and persistence of interests, then experience will accumulate quickly and knowledge will become stable. The methods of transferring knowledge from an adult to a child can be very different, and the means should be as simple but exciting as possible. The process of forming an attitude towards the world around us is the unity of the emotional and intellectual in the knowledge of reality.
By the end of preschool age, the child acquires independence, some self-regulation and self-control in his activities, knows how to set a goal and achieve it by finding a suitable way. Moreover, he can already evaluate the result himself. He almost stops copying the actions of adults, sometimes even deviates from the requirements presented, shows initiative and volitional efforts aimed at achieving results. He must regulate his own behavior.
Classification of cognitive processes
There are quite a lot of cognitive processes, and their primary classification was given earlier. Now it's time to describe them in more detail.
Feel
This is the most primary and primitive type of cognitive processes. These are signals that are perceived by the senses. They give us an idea of the individual properties of objects - temperature, color, sound, taste, etc. Sensations cannot give a holistic picture of the world, moreover, they are momentary: when the contact of the sense organ with the object ends, the sensation disappears.
We usually talk about five types of senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. Romantics may also try to describe a kind of “sixth sense”. In reality, a person has much more sensations. They are even usually divided into three groups. The first is the same five senses that give the brain information about the outside world. The second group is sensations coming from the internal organs (feelings of hunger, thirst, pain, heartbeat, etc.). The third group is sensations coming from the muscles: data on the position of the body in space, movement, muscle tension, etc.
As a result of experiments, it was even possible to create artificial sense organs that allow a person, for example, to sense an electric field.
The sensations of humans and animals are not the same - both in degree of development and in species. For example, fish have a lateral line - an organ that perceives vibrations and movement of water. The vision of many animals allows them to perceive ultraviolet and infrared rays, but at the same time, some colors that humans see are not available to them.
Perception
This is where actual knowledge begins for a person. After all, sensations in their pure form are most often not recognized by us. The process of perception is also called perception. It allows us to reflect the world in holistic images, although it is still only momentary in nature - we perceive a tree only when we see it.
Perception is also largely related to the senses, just like sensations. Therefore, we can talk about auditory, visual, gustatory, olfactory and tactile images. However, only the first two are the most studied, since vision and hearing are the basis of our understanding and study of the world. But besides them, we also have more complex perceptions: time, movement, space. The latter, of course, is associated with visual sensations, but has its own specifics.
At the same time, perception is a more complex process than just sensations. It is associated with the brain's ability to synthesize and analyze. First, the brain records the impact and distinguishes it from other impacts, then compares it with existing memory images and creates a new holistic image.
Perception is related to human activity and his general mental state. Therefore, in different moods, we perceive the same objects slightly differently. The acuity of perception also depends on sensory experience: the more sensory images are stored in memory, the more diverse the perception is. The owner of rich sensory experience distinguishes a huge number of shades of colors, among the chaotic city noise is able to isolate a specific sound (for example, the singing of a bird), can sense subtle odors and isolate individual components in them.
Representation
These are images of objects or phenomena that do not currently have any effect on our senses. These images are stored in memory and retrieved from there at the right moment - for example, when it is necessary to compare current sensations with past sensory experiences. Representations are also associated with the senses, therefore they can be visual, auditory, motor, etc. But representations are also divided according to their functional content: they can be technical, musical, topographical and others.
Thinking
This is the highest cognitive function, which operates with generalized images and concepts. The result of thinking is the acquisition of new knowledge that cannot be obtained through sensory experience. This process of cognition is based on operations such as analysis, synthesis, comparison and generalization. By comparing various elements of information received (currently or previously), the brain comes to certain conclusions, which are new knowledge, deeper information about the subject.
Thinking is divided into three levels, which a person develops gradually as he grows older.
:
- Visual-effective thinking is an elementary type in which mental operations are carried out directly at the moment of physical (objective) activity.
- Visual-figurative – operates with both concrete and abstract images.
- Abstract-logical is the highest level of thinking, which involves tools such as symbols, concepts and signs.
In a modern adult, all three levels are involved in the thought process. However, in young children only visual-effective thinking is developed, while in adolescents visual-figurative thinking also appears. Mental activity developed in the same way in the process of human evolutionary development. It has been established that higher primates also have visual-effective, and sometimes visual-figurative thinking.
Visual-figurative thinking is not the highest level of mental activity, but it is precisely it that is the basis of creativity, which represents the highest stage of the cognition process.
Imagination and creativity
Imagination is responsible for the birth of new images in our brain. Therefore, it is the basis of creativity. Imagination and creativity are already an exclusively human form of mental activity, and it is not found even in higher primates (gorillas, chimpanzees). It is the imagination that is responsible for the creation of our “inner world,” which may not correspond to the external world, but can become the basis for the transformation of this external world.
We can say that with the help of imagination, man has become as detached from nature as possible and immersed himself in creating his own worlds and living in them. At the same time, imagination is part of our nature and a natural result of the development of the human body.
The mechanism of imagination is such that the images we create never exactly correspond to the real ones, even if we imagine what we have repeatedly observed in reality. Elements of previous experience are superimposed on the created image to a certain extent chaotically, even if we try to control this process.
However, images can vary in the degree of novelty and originality, which is why two types of imagination are distinguished
:
- Reproductive
– responsible for reproducing elements of reality according to a certain pattern. For example, this allows you to imagine an animal from a description, or a mechanism from a drawing. The greater the power of imagination and the amount of available knowledge, the more the created image will correspond to reality. - Creative
– is responsible for creating original images that are absent in reality. But at what point does imagination become creativity? Apparently, this happens when imaginary images are embodied in reality: a sculptor creates a new work, an artist paints a picture, a writer publishes a book, etc. At this moment, the inner world of a person, built by the imagination, seems to invade reality and change it .
Speech
This is also the highest process of cognition. It is believed that articulate speech is only available to humans, although scientific research disproves this: monkeys are able to communicate with each other and with people using “Yerkish” - a specially developed symbolic language, as well as using sign language. Greater primates are even capable of learning these languages on their own and teaching them to each other. Chimpanzees would be quite capable of mastering oral human speech, but the structure of the vocal apparatus does not allow them to do this.
Speech is a system of exchanging information using signs. But this is not just a utilitarian structure, but an important tool of cognition. Logical thinking, which is the highest form of cognition, occurs in speech form; elements of logical thinking are words and other abstract signs.
Speech organizes human thinking and stimulates it. It has been noticed that if a deaf-mute person is not taught a special language, then his thinking will remain at the level of a three-year-old child.
Even the process of perception is connected with speech. Thus, the perceived object must be somehow designated in order to “accept” it in one’s consciousness. And in order to solve a complex problem, it is necessary to identify incomprehensible problems using special words-signs.
Attention
This is nothing more than concentration on objects, phenomena and internal states. Attention is necessary to perceive something specific. At the same time, consciousness at the moment does not notice what is not related to the problem being solved. Attention is an auxiliary process that ensures the functioning of other cognitive functions.
Attention can be involuntary and voluntary. In the first case, a person is attracted to something bright and unusual, that is, certain stimuli. Such concentration does not depend on our efforts and occurs as if “by itself.” And in the second case, concentration occurs purposefully, and attention is fixed on objects that are not of immediate interest. The significance of objects in this case is determined by the goals and objectives of our activities. Complex textbook text or a work process are all less interesting than some kind of entertainment, but we have to focus on them in order to achieve some important goal.
Attention is responsible for the selectivity of our consciousness as a whole. It can even shape human personality: for example, when looking at a beautifully decorated dish, an artist will pay attention to its appearance, a cook will pay attention to the composition of the dish and its nutritional value, and a marketer will pay attention to its possible cost in a restaurant or store.
Independence
This is the foundation on which the rest of life will be built - a palace or a hut, depending on the strength of the foundation. Everyone understands this. But, nevertheless, the activity of cognitive activity is steadily and significantly decreasing, as evidenced by tests of children studying in schools.
Independence in cognition is not sufficiently formed, and most importantly, the need for independent research is becoming less and less, children are much more willing to use ready-made formulas, which they also accept with little interest, without much desire to clarify something, expand and deepen knowledge, use independent search, show creation.
Repetition
For the strength of assimilation of knowledge, there is an indispensable didactic principle that cultivates feelings - this is repetition. In any lesson, this is the leading methodological technique with different forms. Repetition can be direct when you need to check how well the material has been mastered - in the wording that was used when presenting the material. For example, in kindergarten, the picture can be examined again.
Most often, this technique is used at the end of a lesson to consolidate the information received. Although it does not involve creative approach to the material, this type can be a starting point for moving on to more complex tasks. For example, correlating completed and already learned material with new or completely unknown material, when what has been learned helps to learn generalization.
"The fascist flew by"
Elementary analysis in preschoolers is the starting point for a more complex, completely causal analysis, which examines the connections and dependencies between various signs of a particular phenomenon. In the eighth grade there was a regular lesson on speech culture. The teacher presented a reproduction of A. Plastov’s painting “The Fascist Flew” and asked to tell what the students saw in the painting. For some unknown reason, the class faded away. When the pause became unbearable, the very first excellent student raised her hand and said uncertainly: “The boy, apparently, is a Nazi. Most likely, something didn’t work out for him, it didn’t stick together, he was upset. He lies in khaki, in his berets, and cries. And the dog howls at him and takes pity on him.”
It is clear that modern children are completely victims of jargon. Who is a fascist for today's schoolchildren? Nationalist, skinhead. What action does the verb “fly by” now mean? I didn’t calculate, I made a mistake. Why did the cows lie down there? So who knows, they walk wherever they want. No one noticed the plane taking off. And the year the picture was created did not remind the children of anything. Although everyone answered the question about when the Great Patriotic War began. Cognitive activity in the classroom does not always bring the desired results. The students did not connect the information fragments together and did not synthesize them. Because they did not receive enough knowledge and skills in preschool age, when they should have been taught comparisons by contrast, by similarity, by similarity in elementary subjects.
School
Since the time spent in the classroom is very limited, it is simply impossible to fully equip schoolchildren with all rapidly developing scientific knowledge due to the enormity of its scale and pace of development. In order for children to receive the broadest possible education, and for their personalities not to lose (or gain) the desire to delve into the study of the field of knowledge, very persistent motives are needed, including independent cognitive interest and the desire for results.
A special selective orientation of the individual is cognition. The most persistent cognitive activity is formed in the synthesis of rational and emotional in school education, starting from the youngest school. The conditions for this formation are very important; every teacher must strictly observe them.
