Cognitive module
Encyclopedia
A cognitive module is, in theories of the modularity of mind
and the closely related society of mind theory, a specialised tool or sub-unit that can be used by other parts to resolve cognitive tasks. The question of their existence and nature is a major topic in cognitive science
and evolutionary psychology
. Some see cognitive modules as an independent part of the mind. Others also see new thought patterns achieved by experience as cognitive modules.
Other theories similar to the cognitive module are cognitive description, cognitive pattern and psychological mechanism. Such a mechanism, if created by evolution, is known as evolved psychological mechanism.
s are caused by cognitive modules running amok.
Jealousy
: A common cause of unnecessary conflict in relations is that a man
is jealous of a woman
's previous sexual partners before she met him. All people are born with a basic jealousy cognitive module, developed through as evolutionary strategy
in order to safeguard a mate
and trigger aggression
towards competitors to ensure paternity
and prevent bastards
. If this module is activated to too strong a degree, it becomes a personality disorder.
Stalking
: An extreme psychological disorder related to jealousy is stalking. A stalker is a person (usually a man) who behaves as if he had a relation to another person (usually a woman) who is not interested in him. There are also women who stalk men, men who stalk men and women who stalk women, but most common is a man stalking a woman. In modern western culture
this behaviour is strongly frowned upon.
Paranoia
: Being suspicious of fellow human beings is a trait
to safeguard against perceived, secret plots against us
, a basic human cognitive module useful for survival
. But in some people, this turns into unreasonable suspiciousness where there is in reality no plotting against one. Such behaviour is by psychiatrists labeled as paranoid schizophrenia
or in milder forms as paranoid personality disorder
. These disorders thus occur when the suspiciousness cognitive module is triggered too often and too strongly for triggers that would not trigger this module in normal people.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
: In this quite common disorder, a person will repeatedly check, for example, that a door is locked. One may repeatedly wash hands or other body parts, sometimes for hours, to ensure cleanliness. Again, this disorder is a malfunction of a normal adaptation
in all humans to check that a door is locked, to wash to keep us clean
, etc.
Transference
: A cognitive module developed to solve a particular problem can sometimes crop up in other situations where it is not appropriate. One may be angry at one's boss, but take the anger out on one's fellow man. Often, the transference is unconscious
(see also Subconscious mind and Unconscious mind
). In psychotherapy
, the patient
is made aware of this, which makes it easier to modify the unsuitable behaviour.
Sigmund Freud
's theory of sublimation
: said that cognitive modules for some activities, such as sex
, may incorrectly show up in disguise in cases where they are not suitable. Freud also introduced the idea of the unconscious, which interpreted as cognitive modules where a person is not aware of the initial cause of these modules and may use them inappropriately.
Schizophrenia
: is a psychotic disorder where cognitive modules are triggered too often, overwhelming the brain with information. The inability to repress overwhelming information
is a cause of schizophrenia.
is a psychotherapeutic method that helps people better understand the cognitive modules cause them to do certain things, and to teach them alternative, more appropriate cognitive modules to use instead in the future.
, many cognitive modules are unconscious and repressed
, to avoid mental conflicts. Defenses are meant to be cognitive modules used to suppress the awareness of other cognitive modules. Unconscious cognitive modules may influence our behaviour without our being aware of it.
it is believed that some cognitive modules are inherited and some are created by learning, but the creation of new modules by learning is often guided by inherited modules.
For example, the ability to drive a car or throw a basket-ball are certainly learned and not inherited modules, but they may make use of inherited modules to rapidly compute trajectories.
There is some disagreement between different social scientists on the importance to the capabilities of the human mind of inherited modules. Evolutionary psychologists claim that other social scientists do not accept that some modules are partially inherited, other social scientists claim that evolutionary psychologists are exaggerating the importance of inherited cognitive modules.
Exactly how the human mind does this is not known, but it is believed that when you encounter a situation or problem, many different cognitive modules are activated at the same time, and the mind selects those most useful for understanding a new situation or solving a new problem.
Modularity of mind
Modularity of mind is the notion that a mind may, at least in part, be composed of separate innate structures which have established evolutionarily developed functional purposes...
and the closely related society of mind theory, a specialised tool or sub-unit that can be used by other parts to resolve cognitive tasks. The question of their existence and nature is a major topic in cognitive science
Cognitive science
Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary scientific study of mind and its processes. It examines what cognition is, what it does and how it works. It includes research on how information is processed , represented, and transformed in behaviour, nervous system or machine...
and evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology is an approach in the social and natural sciences that examines psychological traits such as memory, perception, and language from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations, that is, the functional...
. Some see cognitive modules as an independent part of the mind. Others also see new thought patterns achieved by experience as cognitive modules.
Other theories similar to the cognitive module are cognitive description, cognitive pattern and psychological mechanism. Such a mechanism, if created by evolution, is known as evolved psychological mechanism.
Examples
Some examples of cognitive modules:- The modules controlling your hands when you ride a bike, to stop it from crashing, by minor left and right turns
- The modules that allow a basket-ball player to accurately put the ball into the basket by tracking ballistic orbits.
- The modules that recognise hunger and tell you that you need food.
- The modules that cause you to appreciate a beautiful flower, painting or person.
- The modules that make humans very efficient in recognising faces, already shown in two-month-old babies.
- The modules that cause some humans to be jealousJEALOUS"Jealous" is the first single by Dir En Grey and was released on May 10, 1998. The music videos of the title track and the B-side "Unknown･･･Despair･･･a Lost" are featured on the VHS Mousou Toukakugeki. A piano-vocal duet version of "Jealous" was later included on the "[KR] Cube" single...
of their partners' friends. - The modules that compute the speeds of incoming vehicles and tells you if you have time to cross without crashing into said vehicles.
- The modules that cause parents to love and care for their childrenParentingParenting is the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood...
. - The libidoLibidoLibido refers to a person's sex drive or desire for sexual activity. The desire for sex is an aspect of a person's sexuality, but varies enormously from one person to another, and it also varies depending on circumstances at a particular time. A person who has extremely frequent or a suddenly...
modules. - Modules that specifically discern the movements of animals.
- The fight or flight reflexAggressionIn psychology, as well as other social and behavioral sciences, aggression refers to behavior between members of the same species that is intended to cause humiliation, pain, or harm. Ferguson and Beaver defined aggressive behavior as "Behavior which is intended to increase the social dominance of...
choice modules.
Psychological disorders – cognitive modules run amok
Many common psychological and personality disorderPersonality disorder
Personality disorders, formerly referred to as character disorders, are a class of personality types and behaviors. Personality disorders are noted on Axis II of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM-IV-TR of the American Psychiatric Association.Personality disorders are...
s are caused by cognitive modules running amok.
Jealousy
Jealousy
Jealousy is a second emotion and typically refers to the negative thoughts and feelings of insecurity, fear, and anxiety over an anticipated loss of something that the person values, particularly in reference to a human connection. Jealousy often consists of a combination of presenting emotions...
: A common cause of unnecessary conflict in relations is that a man
Man
The term man is used for an adult human male . However, man is sometimes used to refer to humanity as a whole...
is jealous of a woman
Woman
A woman , pl: women is a female human. The term woman is usually reserved for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a female child or adolescent...
's previous sexual partners before she met him. All people are born with a basic jealousy cognitive module, developed through as evolutionary strategy
Evolutionarily stable strategy
In game theory and behavioural ecology, an evolutionarily stable strategy , which is sometimes also called an evolutionary stable strategy, is a strategy which, if adopted by a population of players, cannot be invaded by any alternative strategy that is initially rare. An ESS is an equilibrium...
in order to safeguard a mate
Sexual selection
Sexual selection, a concept introduced by Charles Darwin in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species, is a significant element of his theory of natural selection...
and trigger aggression
Aggression
In psychology, as well as other social and behavioral sciences, aggression refers to behavior between members of the same species that is intended to cause humiliation, pain, or harm. Ferguson and Beaver defined aggressive behavior as "Behavior which is intended to increase the social dominance of...
towards competitors to ensure paternity
Paternity (law)
In law, paternity is the legal acknowledgment of the parental relationship between a man and a child usually based on several factors.At common law, a child born to the wife during a marriage is the husband's child under the "presumption of legitimacy", and the husband is assigned complete rights,...
and prevent bastards
Progeny
Progeny can refer to:*A genetic descendant or offspring*An academic progeny Other uses*Progeny Linux Systems*Progeny - an episode of the television series Stargate Atlantis...
. If this module is activated to too strong a degree, it becomes a personality disorder.
Stalking
Stalking
Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
: An extreme psychological disorder related to jealousy is stalking. A stalker is a person (usually a man) who behaves as if he had a relation to another person (usually a woman) who is not interested in him. There are also women who stalk men, men who stalk men and women who stalk women, but most common is a man stalking a woman. In modern western culture
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
this behaviour is strongly frowned upon.
Paranoia
Paranoia
Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
: Being suspicious of fellow human beings is a trait
Trait theory
In psychology, Trait theory is a major approach to the study of human personality. Trait theorists are primarily interested in the measurement of traits, which can be defined as habitual patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion. According to this perspective, traits are relatively stable over...
to safeguard against perceived, secret plots against us
Game theory
Game theory is a mathematical method for analyzing calculated circumstances, such as in games, where a person’s success is based upon the choices of others...
, a basic human cognitive module useful for survival
Natural selection
Natural selection is the nonrandom process by which biologic traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of differential reproduction of their bearers. It is a key mechanism of evolution....
. But in some people, this turns into unreasonable suspiciousness where there is in reality no plotting against one. Such behaviour is by psychiatrists labeled as paranoid schizophrenia
Paranoia
Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
or in milder forms as paranoid personality disorder
Paranoid personality disorder
Paranoid personality disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis characterized by paranoia and a pervasive, long-standing suspiciousness and generalized mistrust of others....
. These disorders thus occur when the suspiciousness cognitive module is triggered too often and too strongly for triggers that would not trigger this module in normal people.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Obsessive–compulsive disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce uneasiness, apprehension, fear, or worry, by repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing the associated anxiety, or by a combination of such obsessions and compulsions...
: In this quite common disorder, a person will repeatedly check, for example, that a door is locked. One may repeatedly wash hands or other body parts, sometimes for hours, to ensure cleanliness. Again, this disorder is a malfunction of a normal adaptation
Adaptation
An adaptation in biology is a trait with a current functional role in the life history of an organism that is maintained and evolved by means of natural selection. An adaptation refers to both the current state of being adapted and to the dynamic evolutionary process that leads to the adaptation....
in all humans to check that a door is locked, to wash to keep us clean
Hygiene
Hygiene refers to the set of practices perceived by a community to be associated with the preservation of health and healthy living. While in modern medical sciences there is a set of standards of hygiene recommended for different situations, what is considered hygienic or not can vary between...
, etc.
Transference
Transference
Transference is a phenomenon in psychoanalysis characterized by unconscious redirection of feelings from one person to another. One definition of transference is "the inappropriate repetition in the present of a relationship that was important in a person's childhood." Another definition is "the...
: A cognitive module developed to solve a particular problem can sometimes crop up in other situations where it is not appropriate. One may be angry at one's boss, but take the anger out on one's fellow man. Often, the transference is unconscious
Consciousness
Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
(see also Subconscious mind and Unconscious mind
Unconscious mind
The unconscious mind is a term coined by the 18th century German romantic philosopher Friedrich Schelling and later introduced into English by the poet and essayist Samuel Taylor Coleridge...
). In psychotherapy
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
, the patient
Patient
A patient is any recipient of healthcare services. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, veterinarian, or other health care provider....
is made aware of this, which makes it easier to modify the unsuitable behaviour.
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
's theory of sublimation
Sublimation (psychology)
In psychology, sublimation is a mature type of defence mechanism where socially unacceptable impulses or idealizations are consciously transformed into socially acceptable actions or behaviour, possibly converting the initial impulse in the long term...
: said that cognitive modules for some activities, such as sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
, may incorrectly show up in disguise in cases where they are not suitable. Freud also introduced the idea of the unconscious, which interpreted as cognitive modules where a person is not aware of the initial cause of these modules and may use them inappropriately.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
: is a psychotic disorder where cognitive modules are triggered too often, overwhelming the brain with information. The inability to repress overwhelming information
Information processing
Information processing is the change of information in any manner detectable by an observer. As such, it is a process which describes everything which happens in the universe, from the falling of a rock to the printing of a text file from a digital computer system...
is a cause of schizophrenia.
Treatment of cognitive module psychological disorders
Cognitive therapyCognitive therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a psychotherapeutic approach: a talking therapy. CBT aims to solve problems concerning dysfunctional emotions, behaviors and cognitions through a goal-oriented, systematic procedure in the present...
is a psychotherapeutic method that helps people better understand the cognitive modules cause them to do certain things, and to teach them alternative, more appropriate cognitive modules to use instead in the future.
Psychoanalytic view of cognitive modules
According to psychoanalytic theoryPsychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
, many cognitive modules are unconscious and repressed
Psychological repression
Psychological repression, also psychic repression or simply repression, is the psychological attempt by an individual to repel one's own desires and impulses towards pleasurable instincts by excluding the desire from one's consciousness and holding or subduing it in the unconscious...
, to avoid mental conflicts. Defenses are meant to be cognitive modules used to suppress the awareness of other cognitive modules. Unconscious cognitive modules may influence our behaviour without our being aware of it.
Evolutionary psychology view of cognitive modules
In the research field of evolutionary psychologyEvolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology is an approach in the social and natural sciences that examines psychological traits such as memory, perception, and language from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations, that is, the functional...
it is believed that some cognitive modules are inherited and some are created by learning, but the creation of new modules by learning is often guided by inherited modules.
For example, the ability to drive a car or throw a basket-ball are certainly learned and not inherited modules, but they may make use of inherited modules to rapidly compute trajectories.
There is some disagreement between different social scientists on the importance to the capabilities of the human mind of inherited modules. Evolutionary psychologists claim that other social scientists do not accept that some modules are partially inherited, other social scientists claim that evolutionary psychologists are exaggerating the importance of inherited cognitive modules.
Memory and creative thought
A very important aspect of how humans think is the ability, when encountering a situation or problem, to find more or less similar, but not identical, experiences or cognitive modules. This can be compared to what happens if you sound a tone near a piano. The piano string corresponding to this particular tone will then vibrate. But also other strings, from nearby strings, will vibrate to a lesser extent.Exactly how the human mind does this is not known, but it is believed that when you encounter a situation or problem, many different cognitive modules are activated at the same time, and the mind selects those most useful for understanding a new situation or solving a new problem.
Ethics and law
Most law-abiding people have cognitive modules that stop them from committing crimes. Criminals have different modules, causing criminal behaviour. Thus, cognitive modules can be a cause of both ethical and unethical behaviour.See also
- CognitionCognitionIn science, cognition refers to mental processes. These processes include attention, remembering, producing and understanding language, solving problems, and making decisions. Cognition is studied in various disciplines such as psychology, philosophy, linguistics, and computer science...
- Cognitive ethologyCognitive ethologyThe fusion of cognitive science and classical ethology into cognitive ethology "emphasizes observing animals under more-or-less natural conditions, with the objective of understanding the evolution, adaptation , causation, and development of the species-specific behavioral repertoire" - .- Relation...
- Language moduleLanguage moduleLanguage module refers to a hypothesized structure in the human brain or cognitive system that some psycholinguists claim contains innate capacities for language...
- Functionalism (philosophy of mind)Functionalism (philosophy of mind)Functionalism is a theory of the mind in contemporary philosophy, developed largely as an alternative to both the identity theory of mind and behaviourism. Its core idea is that mental states are constituted solely by their functional role — that is, they are causal relations to other mental...
- Visual modularityVisual modularityIn cognitive neuroscience, visual modularity is an organizational concept concerning how vision works. The way in which the primate visual system operates is currently under intense scientific scrutiny...