Cognitive Task

A Cognitive Task is an Intelligence Task that requires relatively advanced cognitive dexterity to process information, manipulate mental representations, and apply cognitive processes to achieve specific goals.

AKA: Cognition-Requiring Task, Conceptual Task, Mental Task.
Context:
- Input: Mental State
  - optional: task parameters
  - optional: cognitive constraints
- Output: Modified Mental State
- Measure: Cognition Performance Measure
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- It can typically require Mental Processing through cognitive operations and cognitive mechanisms.
- It can typically involve Cognitive Functions including cognitive attention, cognitive memory, cognitive perception, and cognitive executive control.
- It can typically engage Information Manipulation through cognitive transformations and cognitive computations.
- It can typically demand Mental Resource Allocation based on cognitive task difficulty and cognitive processing requirements.
- It can typically produce Mental Outputs in the form of cognitive decisions, cognitive solutions, or cognitive understanding.
- It can typically activate Neural Networks associated with cognitive domains relevant to the cognitive task type.
- It can typically follow Cognitive Workflow patterns based on cognitive task structure and cognitive goal orientation.
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- It can often contain Learning Tasks requiring cognitive knowledge acquisition and cognitive skill development.
- It can often include Reasoning Tasks involving cognitive inference generation and cognitive conclusion formation.
- It can often incorporate Problem-Solving Tasks demanding cognitive solution generation and cognitive obstacle navigation.
- It can often require Metacognitive Regulation through cognitive strategy selection and cognitive progress monitoring.
- It can often involve Executive Function Tasks such as cognitive inhibition, cognitive task-switching, and cognitive working memory updating.
- It can often necessitate Information Integration across multiple cognitive domains and cognitive knowledge structures.
- It can often employ Cognitive Strategy selection based on cognitive task demands and cognitive solution pathways.
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- It can range from being a Routine Cognitive Task to being a Complex Cognitive Task, depending on its cognitive complexity, cognitive novelty, and cognitive processing demand.
- It can range from being a Human-Performed Cognitive Task to being an AI-Performed Task, depending on its execution agent, cognitive implementation platform, and cognitive processing architecture.
- It can range from being an Information-Processing Task to being a Decision-Making Task, depending on its task type, cognitive goal structure, and cognitive output requirement.
- It can range from being a Simple Mental Task to being a Complex Mental Task, depending on its mental demand, cognitive resource requirement, and cognitive processing depth.
- It can range from being a Perceptual Cognitive Task to being a Conceptual Cognitive Task, depending on its cognitive abstraction level and cognitive representation type.
- It can range from being a Sequential Cognitive Task to being a Parallel Cognitive Task, depending on its cognitive processing structure and cognitive resource allocation pattern.
- It can range from being a Domain-Specific Cognitive Task to being a Domain-General Cognitive Task, depending on its cognitive knowledge requirement and cognitive skill transferability.
- It can range from being a Short-Duration Cognitive Task to being a Long-Duration Cognitive Task, depending on its cognitive processing timeframe and cognitive resource sustainability requirement.
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- It can be solved by a Cognitive System (such as a knowledge worker or artificial intelligence) with sufficient cognitive capability and cognitive resources.
- It can be instantiated in a Cognitive Act during cognitive task performance and cognitive goal pursuit.
- It can maintain Mental State (for tracking) throughout cognitive task execution and cognitive progress monitoring.
- It can produce Cognitive Results (for evaluation) based on cognitive performance standards and cognitive goal achievement.
- It can be structured through Cognitive Task Design principles to optimize cognitive task performance and cognitive outcome quality.
- It can be measured using Cognitive Task Assessment methods to evaluate cognitive processing efficiency and cognitive solution adequacy.
- It can be facilitated by Cognitive Tools that support cognitive task execution and enhance cognitive processing capability.
- It can be decomposed into Cognitive Subtasks to manage cognitive complexity and enable cognitive task distribution.
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Examples:
Counter-Examples:
- Simple Repetitive Tasks, which lack cognitive complexity and can be performed with minimal cognitive engagement, such as basic motor sequences.
- Physical Tasks, such as walking tasks, which require motor skills and bodily coordination rather than advanced cognitive processing.
- Mechanical Tasks, which follow fixed procedures without requiring adaptive cognitive responses or cognitive decision making.
- Reflexive Response Tasks, which involve automatic reactions to stimuli without conscious cognitive processing or deliberate mental effort.
- Pure Sensory Tasks, which involve basic perception without requiring higher-order cognitive processing or complex mental manipulation.
See: Mentally-Disabled Human, Automation Task, Intelligence Task, Mental Process, Cognitive Function, Cognitive Ability, Cognitive Load, Cognitive Architecture, Cognitive Science, Executive Function, Working Memory, Problem Solving, Decision Making.

References

2009

(Charness & Boot, 2009) ⇒ Neil Charness, and Walter R Boot. (2009). “Aging and Information Technology Use Potential and Barriers.” In: Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18(5).
- QUOTE: Why are older adults reluctant to adopt new technology, such as the Internet, given its potential to improve the quality of their lives? We review evidence indicating that attitudes and abilities are among the most powerful predictors of technology use. We conclude that normative age-related changes in ability must be taken into account when designing products and training programs for aging adults, and we discuss new tools to support designers. The most promising emerging technologies likely lie in training cognitive abilities and augmenting or substituting for impaired abilities.

2003

(Levy et al., 2003) ⇒ David H. Autor, Frank Levy, and Richard J Murnane. (2003). “The Skill Content of Recent Technological Change: An Empirical Exploration.” In: The Quarterly Journal of Economics. doi:10.1162/003355303322552801
- QUOTE: We apply an understanding of what computers do to study how computerization alters job skill demands. We argue that computer capital (1) substitutes for workers in performing cognitive and manual tasks that can be accomplished by following explicit rules; and (2) complements workers in performing nonroutine problem-solving and complex communications tasks.