Cognition: An overview of its process and application

Pages: 1186-1190
Priya Bhatnagar (Department of Psychology, Jesus & Mary College, University of Delhi, Delhi)

The ability of cognition lies at the epicenter of human existence and marks it distinct from continuation of other species. The omnipresence of cognition in describing and predicting psychological events makes it completely imperative to highlight notional and conjectural aspects of cognition with its implicit processes and explicit function. The present paper provides an orientation to the theoretical underpinnings and understanding of cognition as a process and in application. It aims to give an overview of emergence, nature and application of cognition as a phenomena and cognitive psychology as a field. The details outline the roots of cognitive psychology and its interdisciplinary nature. It attempts to delineate the mental processes involved in cognition such as attention, memory, perception, learning, language and creativity. It further distinguishes and highlights the higher order mental process of metacognition and focuses on the underlying implicit processes of metamemory, metacomprehension, critical thinking and problem solving. The paper also reflects the recent trends of cognitive models in application in other fields such as social, abnormal, educational and developmental psychology. In summary, it presents an overview of the emergence, relevance and scope of cognition as an imperative field.