Cognition

About: Cognition is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 99968 publications have been published within this topic receiving 4380833 citations. The topic is also known as: cognitive abilities & cognitive ability.

A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician

Abstract: EXAMINATION of the mental state is essential in evaluating psychiatric patients.1 Many investigators have added quantitative assessment of cognitive performance to the standard examination, and have documented reliability and validity of the several “clinical tests of the sensorium”.2*3 The available batteries are lengthy. For example, WITHERS and HINTON’S test includes 33 questions and requires about 30 min to administer and score. The standard WAIS requires even more time. However, elderly patients, particularly those with delirium or dementia syndromes, cooperate well only for short periods.4 Therefore, we devised a simplified, scored form of the cognitive mental status examination, the “Mini-Mental State” (MMS) which includes eleven questions, requires only 5-10 min to administer, and is therefore practical to use serially and routinely. It is “mini” because it concentrates only on the cognitive aspects of mental functions, and excludes questions concerning mood, abnormal mental experiences and the form of thinking. But within the cognitive realm it is thorough. We have documented the validity and reliability of the MMS when given to 206 patients with dementia syndromes, affective disorder, affective disorder with cognitive impairment “pseudodementia”5T6), mania, schizophrenia, personality disorders, and in 63 normal subjects.

Social Foundations of Thought and Action : A Social Cognitive Theory

Abstract: 1. Models of Human Nature and Casualty. 2. Observational Learning. 3. Enactive Learning. 4. Social Diffusion and Innovation. 5. Predictive Knowledge and Forethought. 6. Incentive Motivators. 7. Vicarious Motivators. 8. Self-Regulatory Mechanisms. 9. Self-Efficacy. 10. Cognitive Regulators. References. Index.

Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory

Abstract: 1. Models of Human Nature and Casualty. 2. Observational Learning. 3. Enactive Learning. 4. Social Diffusion and Innovation. 5. Predictive Knowledge and Forethought. 6. Incentive Motivators. 7. Vicarious Motivators. 8. Self-Regulatory Mechanisms. 9. Self-Efficacy. 10. Cognitive Regulators. References. Index.

Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on mental processes.

Abstract: Evidence is reviewed which suggests that there may be little or no direct introspective access to higher order cognitive processes. Subjects are sometimes (a) unaware of the existence of a stimulus that importantly influenced a response, (b) unaware of the existence of the response, and (c) unaware that the stimulus has affected the response. It is proposed that when people attempt to report on their cognitive processes, that is, on the processes mediating the effects of a stimulus on a response, they do not do so on the basis of any true introspection. Instead, their reports are based on a priori, implicit causal theories, or judgments about the extent to which a particular stimulus is a plausible cause of a given response. This suggests that though people may not be able to observe directly their cognitive processes, they will sometimes be able to report accurately about them. Accurate reports will occur when influential stimuli are salient and are plausible causes of the responses they produce, and will not occur when stimuli are not salient or are not plausible causes.

Metacognition and Cognitive Monitoring: A New Area of Cognitive-Developmental Inquiry.

Abstract: Preschool and elementary school children were asked to study a set of items until they were sure they could recall them perfectly (Flavell, Friedrichs, & Hoyt, 1970). The older subjects studied for a while, said they were ready, and usually were, that is, they showed perfect recall. The younger children studied for a while, said they were ready, and usually were not. In another study, elementary school children were asked to help the experimenter evaluate the communicative adequacy of verbal instructions, indicating any omissions and obscurities (Markman, 1977). Although the instructions were riddled with blatant omissions and obscurities, the younger subjects were surprisingly poor at detecting them. They incorrectly thought they had understood and could follow the instructions, much as their counterparts in the study by Flavell et al. (1970) incorrectly thought they had memorized and could recall the items. Results such as these have suggested that young children are quite limited in their knowledge and cognition about cognitive phenomena, or in their metacognition, and do relatively little monitoring of their own memory, comprehension, and other cognitive enterprises (see, e.g., Brown, 1978; Flavell, 1978; Flavell & Wellman, 1977; Kreutzer, Leonard, & Flavell, 1975; Flavell, Note 1, Note 2, Note 3; Markman, Note 4). Investigators have recently concluded that metacognition plays an important role in oral communication of information, oral persuasion, oral comprehension, reading comprehension, writing, language acquisition, attention, memory, problem solving, social cognition, and, various types of self-control and self-instruction; there are also clear indications that ideas about metacognition are beginning to make contact with similar ideas in the areas of social learning theory, cognitive behavior modification, personalty development, and education (Flavell, Note 1, Note 2, Note 3). Thus, the nature and de-