cognitive science

American

noun

the study of the precise nature of different mental tasks and the operations of the brain that enable them to be performed, engaging branches of psychology, computer science, philosophy, and linguistics.

cognitive science British

noun

the scientific study of cognition, including elements of the traditional disciplines of philosophy, psychology, semantics, and linguistics, together with artificial intelligence and computer science

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It also draws on the cognitive science tradition to identify a plausible list of indicators of consciousness based on the structure of information processing.

From Science Daily • Jun. 5, 2026

Berke has a Ph.D. in computational cognitive science from Yale, and she says trying to get effective treatment was more onerous than the six years of getting her degree.

From Slate • Oct. 6, 2025

And yet, thanks to the past century's developments in cognitive science and now artificial intelligence, we have entrenched a view of the brain that doesn't spend much time on this dynamic.

From Salon • Apr. 25, 2025

Christian Cazares, a postdoctoral cognitive science scholar at UC San Diego who researches autism, also receives NIH funding.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 2025

Even in their wildest dreams, computer scientists and researchers in cognitive science and artificial intelligence, who work with intelligent interfaces, do not anticipate such a living interface.

From The Civilization of Illiteracy by Nadin, Mihai

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023