The field of cognitive science spans many disciplines, and it comes with its own terminology. Use this glossary to look up basic definitions and refresh your memory on important concepts. The definitions are intentionally brief; follow the links in the text for more detailed explanations.
- Cognition
- Mental processes involved in acquiring, storing and using knowledge.
- Perception
- The interpretation of sensory information to form a coherent picture of the world.
- Attention
- The process of selectively focusing on certain stimuli while ignoring others.
- Memory
- The capacity to encode, store and retrieve information.
- Working Memory
- A limited capacity system for temporarily holding information available for processing.
- Long‑Term Memory
- Stores information over extended periods, including semantic, episodic and procedural memory.
- Learning
- The acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, study or teaching.
- Language Acquisition
- The process by which humans learn to understand and produce language.
- Artificial Intelligence
- Computer systems designed to perform tasks requiring human‑like intelligence.
- Neural Network
- A computational model composed of interconnected units that process information in parallel.
- Connectionism
- An approach to modelling cognition using networks of simple units analogous to neurons.
- Representation
- A mental symbol or model that stands for information about the world.
- Embodied Cognition
- A view that cognition depends on the body’s interactions with the environment.
- Cognitive Bias
- A systematic deviation from rational judgement or decision making.
- Heuristic
- A simple rule or strategy used to make judgements or decisions quickly.
- Cognitive Architecture
- A unified theory or model describing the fixed structures and processes of cognition.
- Phonology
- The study of the sound systems of languages.
- Syntactic Parsing
- The process of analysing the grammatical structure of a sentence.
- Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
- A brain imaging technique that measures changes in blood flow to infer neural activity.
- Electroencephalography (EEG)
- A method that records electrical activity from the scalp to study brain function.
- Psycholinguistics
- The study of how humans comprehend, produce and acquire language.
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- The study of the neural mechanisms underlying cognitive processes.
- Metacognition
- Awareness and regulation of one’s own thinking and learning processes.
This list is not exhaustive, and the field is constantly evolving. For additional information, explore our articles on specific topics or refer to our blog.