Cognitive Science Glossary: J–L
Cognitive science terms J–L: causality, language, linguistics, cognition, cognitive science, cognitive architecture, connectionism, logic, localization, and more.
This section contains key cognitive science concepts starting with letters J–L.
K
Knowledge
Justified true belief (classical definition).
Types of knowledge:
- Propositional knowledge: Knowledge that something is true
- Procedural knowledge: Knowledge of how to do something
- Acquaintance knowledge: Direct experience of an object
L
Language
- Human language capacity and related behavior.
- Implicit knowledge enabling language speaker competence.
- A specific natural language (English, Finnish, etc.).
- Any symbolic system with grammar.
- A system of signs and meanings.
Language of Thought
A hypothesis that cognitive activity generally corresponds architecturally to natural language, featuring constituent structures, productivity, compositionality, and systematicity.
Proposed by: Jerry Fodor
Linguistics
Science describing and explaining language function and properties of different languages and their development.
Subfields:
- Phonology (sound systems)
- Morphology (word formation)
- Syntax (sentence structure)
- Semantics (meaning)
- Pragmatics (language use)
Localization
Cognitive function brain localization; complex neural networks distributed across brain regions form anatomically distinct modules.
History: Phrenology was an early (erroneous) attempt to localize mental properties based on skull shapes.
Logic
Philosophy and mathematics studying rational reasoning, reasoning systems, and symbolic notations representing them.
Types:
- Propositional logic
- Predicate logic
- Modal logic
Logical Behaviorism
A metatheoretical position where mental/cognitive term statements can logically translate into purely behavioral statements without meaning change.