Overview

Thinking, also known as “cognition”, is the way we respond to sensory perceptions of the world, process them and choose our responses. We do this with continual reference to long-term memory, using a short-term memory area for mental working that is also linked to conscious attention.

The brain organises incoming sensory information, processes it in the light of consciousness through attention and then initiates responses in the form of actions. At a higher level, the sensory, cognitive and motor functions of thinking are integrated together within the brain. Understanding the interaction between these is a basis for good product design.

The contents of this section are as follows