cognitive

adjective cog·ni·tive \ˈkäg-nə-tiv\

: of, relating to, or involving conscious mental activities (such as thinking, understanding, learning, and remembering)

Full Definition of COGNITIVE

: of, relating to, being, or involving conscious intellectual activity (as thinking, reasoning, or remembering) <cognitive impairment>

: based on or capable of being reduced to empirical factual knowledge

— cog·ni·tive·ly adverb

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Examples of COGNITIVE

Homo sapiens' survival is founded in their filling an evolutionary niche referred to as the cognitive niche. —Daniel Grassam, Skeptical Inquirer, July/August 2001
Researchers are debating whether heading balls can dent the cognitive skills of young soccer players for life. —Lisa McLaughlin, Time, 5 June 2000
Further into the forebrain, motor functions trail off and cognitive functions, involving planning and thinking about the future, begin. —Sandra Blakeslee, New York Times, 8 Nov. 1994
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Origin of COGNITIVE

(see cognition)

First Known Use: 1586

Other Psychology Terms

fetish, hypochondria, intelligence, mania, narcissism, neurosis, pathological, psychosis, schadenfreude, subliminal

Medical Dictionary

cognitive

adjective cog·ni·tive \ˈkäg-nət-iv\

Medical Definition of COGNITIVE

: of, relating to, or being conscious intellectual activity (as thinking, reasoning, remembering, imagining, or learning words) <the cognitive elements of perception—C. H. Hamburg>

—cog·ni·tive·ly adverb