Cognition

The term cognition encompasses a vast, diverse array of terms, concepts, processes, and meanings. Descriptions of this term can be found in the domains of linguistics, psychology, philosophy, and phenomenology. Cognition is synonymous with thinking itself, and in a sense defines the experience of being human as proposed by numerous schools of philosophy. Components of cognition such as the ability to generalize and analogical and metaphorical thinking are characteristic of intelligent, creative minds and are useful for an understanding of the intellectual characteristics of gifted and creative thinkers. Cognition as a topic of study is truly interdisciplinary, of interest to numerous fields of inquiry.