mental process
Noun: 1. A cognitive activity or operation: In psychology, a "mental process" refers to any internal activity of the mind that involves acquiring, processing, storing, or using information. It is the performance of a composite cognitive function that affects the contents of consciousness. 2. The act or faculty of thinking: It encompasses the entire process of thinking, reasoning, and understanding. 3. A specific cognitive operation: It can refer to a particular type of cognitive function, such as remembering, perceiving, learning, or problem-solving.
- Noun:
- Language acquisition is a complex mental process involving memory, pattern recognition, and imitation.
- Psychologists study the mental processes behind decision-making.
- Meditation aims to quiet external thoughts and observe the flow of internal mental processes.
- "To engage a mental process": To actively use or initiate a cognitive function.
- Solving this puzzle will engage several key mental processes, including logic and spatial reasoning.
- "Underlying mental process": The fundamental cognitive activity that explains an observable behavior.
- The researcher hypothesized that an impaired mental process was responsible for the patient's difficulty with reading.
- Cognition (n): The broader mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses. "Mental processes" are the components of cognition.
- Cognitive process (n): A direct synonym, often used interchangeably in academic contexts.
- Thought process (n): A sequence of connected thoughts, often used to describe reasoning leading to a conclusion.
- Cognitive operation
- Cognitive function
- Thought
- Thinking
- Higher-order mental process: Refers to complex cognitive functions like critical thinking, metacognition (thinking about thinking), and planning, as opposed to basic perception.
- Creativity is considered a higher-order mental process.
- Mental activity: A very close synonym, sometimes used in a more general sense.
The term "mental process" is a foundational concept in cognitive psychology and neuroscience. It emphasizes that thinking is not a single event but a series of operations or procedures the mind performs. It contrasts with observable behavior, as these processes occur internally.
- (psychology) the performance of some composite cognitive activity; an operation that affects mental contents
- the process of thinking
- the cognitive operation of remembering