Human Cognitive Systems

Referent of the Term Cognition

The term cognition can be used to refer to the processes of thought, the process of thinking, the [Page 604]applying of rules, the development of plans in humans, the weighing of risk and benefit, or the performances of operations such as mathematical operations, or to the results of such processes in humans, animals, and machines. The term can apply to the processes of thinking, deciding, and perceiving, or to the results of such cognitive activity. The term cognition can apply to beliefs of as well as knowledge of individuals, groups, or populations.

The term may also apply to some views of perceiving (perception) but not necessarily to certain views of sensing (sensation). The construction of sensations into perceptions may be considered by some to be a cognitive process even though such construction or processing can occur unconsciously or subconsciously. And these perceptions often occur instantaneously, as when we see a tree and we see (perceive) this tree as having a back side, even though we do not see that back side in our perception. Yet if we walk around that tree, the argument continues, we would be surprised to find that it did not have a back side and was just, for example, an elaborately constructed stage prop and not a tree at all.

Preferences and Decision Making

Cognitive science in the late 1970s to early 2000s focused on the notion of mind and intelligence in terms of representation and computational procedures of human intelligence versus machine intelligence (artificial intelligence), with cognitive research on medical artificial intelligence, artificial intelligence in choice and explanation, artificial neural networks, prediction of medical conditions and disease processes such as community-acquired pneumonia, and computer-based explanations of decision theoretic advice, among others. Yet cognitive science of the late 1970s to early 2000s also needs to be recast in terms of its definition and needs and seen as taking on different dimensions than the cognitive science of the 1950s. Yet both domains still share crucial similarities.

Today, the concept of cognitive science goes beyond this notion. The cognitive sciences today, particularly as they apply to medical decision making, also explore the notions of patient preferences, how patients make decisions on their own (descriptive decision making), and how this descriptive decision making compares with other models of how decisions should be made (normative decision making). In terms of normative decision making, human preference in medical choice situations is compared with normative models of decision making, such as expected value theory. Today, it can be argued that emotion (and emotive theory) also has a role to play in the cognitive sciences.

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