cognitive

Meaning

1. 1adjectivebefore a nountechnical

   To do with the mind's processes of knowing, such as thinking, remembering, learning and solving problems.

   Grammar: Almost always comes before a noun: cognitive skills, not skills that are cognitive.

   Patterns

   • cognitive ability
   • cognitive development
   • cognitive decline

   Reading to babies helps their cognitive development.

   The study tested older adults on several cognitive tasks.

   Lack of sleep can harm your cognitive performance the next day.

Common combinations

cognitive ability

The test measures general cognitive ability.

cognitive decline

Regular exercise may slow cognitive decline in later life.

cognitive development

Play is important for a child's cognitive development.

cognitive function

Caffeine can briefly improve cognitive function.

cognitive therapy

She found cognitive therapy useful for managing worry.

cognitive skills

Puzzles and games build cognitive skills.

Synonyms and how they differ

mental

Mental is a broad everyday word for anything of the mind, while cognitive narrows to thinking and knowing processes.

intellectual

Intellectual refers to serious thought and learning, whereas cognitive describes how the mind processes information.

rational

Rational means based on reason, but cognitive does not imply that thinking is logical or sensible.

Opposites

Word family

cognition noun

the mental process of getting knowledge and understanding

cognitively adverb

in a way that relates to thinking and learning

recognize verb

to know someone or something from before

cognizant adjective

aware of something

Commonly confused: cognitive or conscious?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “cognitive”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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