A Structural Model of Mind and Cognition

This article refines and extends the ideas discussed in a previous article - An Overview of Cognition: The Hardware - and is the basis for the Cognitive Styles Pilot Questionnaire in the last blog posting. Future posts will discuss the functioning of the model, and how it compares to other popular models (i.e., Baddeley's Working Memory model). Summary of results obtained by poll questions about preferences for different types of thinking, and the pilot questionnaire will also be posted in the near future.

Note: Some aspects of this model have been more validated by background literature research than others.

Major theoretical elements and factors:

Based on general distinctions in types of information (modalities), and gross divisions in major information processing routes (pathways) of the brain's cerebral cortex, gleaned loosely from cognitive neuroscience, I present here a model of mind and it's functioning in cognition. It should be noted however, that neuroscience is not the primary focus here, but has been included to be suggestive of ways in which parsimony between the more subjective informational states and processing systems of cognition may link up with the more objective, biological, and anatomical architecture of the brain. As such, any reference to anatomical brain regions should not be taken as definitive, but instead as suggestive. This said, it is from a point of reference to anatomical structure from which this model will be discussed and constructed. The main aim here being to provide an organisational structure by which to understand and order the broad and diverse information that is inherent to cognitive science.

The structure of the human mind and brain can be grossly divided into 4 functional regions, consisting of 5 modalities, with 3 major processing pathways. The 4 major functional regions are internal-management, external-sensory, static-relations, and dynamic-referents. The 5 major modalities are spread across the first two regions and throughout all of the latter two, they are; motivation, orientation, behavioural, communication, and environmental. Finally, the 3 major processing pathways are contextualising, specifying, and translational. All of these functional, modal, and processing pathway structures are interconnected and interact in the production of cognition and thought.

The 4 major functional regions are associated with anatomical divisions of the brain. The first region of internal-management deals with information and processes that are involved in decision making, evaluation, and volitional control. The internal-management region is associated with the frontal, rostral-anterior regions of the cortex in both hemispheres. The second region of external-sensory processes information related to external sensory organs, the eyes and ears. This region is associated with the rear, caudal-posterior regions of the cortex in both hemispheres. The third static-relations region deals with information about fixed interrelationships and is associated with the left-hemisphere. The fourth and final functional region is dynamic-referents, which deals with coordinate, reference point information, and is associated with the right-hemisphere.

The internal-management region consists mainly of two information processing modalities. These modalities are motivation and orientation. The motivation modality processes and stores information about value outcomes, and the orientation modality processes and stores information about domains. The external-sensory region consists mainly of two other modalities. These modalities are communication and environmental. The communication modality stores and processes information about audio, sound, and language, whereas the environmental modality stores and processes information about visual elements like space, hue, and texture. The fifth processing modality is located between the internal-management and external-sensory regions and occupies space in both regions. It is thus considered as both internal-management and external-sensory. This modality is behavioural and processes and stores information about bodily movement.

These modalities are found in both the static-relations and dynamic-referent, hemispheric regions. Individual modalities may however be dominant in one of these regions over the other. For example, the communication modality is dominant in the static-relational region, the left hemisphere. The environmental modality however may well be dominant in the dynamic-referent region, the right hemisphere.

Within hemispheres there are three major information processing routes or pathways. The first pathway runs along the top of the brain, across its superior surface and is called the contextualising pathway. This pathway processes information into contexts and interrelationships and is largely associated with spatial information. The second pathway runs along the lower, inferior surfaces of the brain and is called the specifying pathway. This pathway processes information into specific elements, details, and discrete objects. The final pathway runs from the outer surfaces to the inner surfaces of the brain, lateral to medial, and is called the translational pathway. The outer surfaces of the brain deal with information to do with the reception and apprehension of information, whilst those in the middle deal with information about expression and assertion of information into other regions and modalities.

The 5 modalities can be distinguished into two sub-modalities based on the contextualising and specifying pathways which define different types of information. For the motivation modality the upper, or superior, sub-modality of the contextualising pathway processes information about qualities. The lower, or inferior, sub-modality of the specifying pathway processes information about values. The sub-modalities of the orientation modality are domain (contextualising) and principle (specifying). For the behavioural modality they are coordination (contextualising) and response (specifying). The communication modality has tonal (contextualising) and articulation (specifying). Finally, the environmental modality is divided into spatial (contextualising) and material (specifying).

Overall, functional regions describe the broad purposes of the modalities that they contain. Modalities describe the general types of information that are stored and processed within the long-term memory networks of the cerebral cortex associated with them. Pathways describe information flow in cognitive processing within and across modalities. Lastly, sub-modalities define specific types of information that lend themselves to the logical flow of information in a cognitive process. For example, valued principles applied to a domain produce a sense of quality; value information interacting with principle information within a domain substantiates an evaluation of quality.