The Three Traditionally Identified Components of the Mind: Affect, Cognition, and Conation

[DISCLAIMER]

If asked to describe the mind to someone who was unfamiliar with the topic, how would you do so? Would you comprehend enough to succinctly designate it as the function of the brain? For context, the American Psychological Association (APA) thusly defines the mind:

1. broadly, all intellectual and psychological phenomena of an organism, encompassing motivational, affective, behavioral, perceptual, and cognitive systems; that is, the organized totality of an organism’s mental and psychic processes and the structural and functional cognitive components on which they depend.

The term, however, is also used more narrowly to denote only cognitive activities and functions, such as perceiving, attending, thinking, problem solving, language, learning, and memory.

The nature of the relationship between the mind and the body, including the brain and its mechanisms or activities, has been, and continues to be, the subject of much debate. See mind–body problem; philosophy of mind.

2. the substantive content of such mental and psychic processes.

3. consciousness or awareness, particularly as specific to an individual.

4. a set of emergent properties automatically derived from a brain that has achieved sufficient biological sophistication. In this sense, the mind is considered more the province of humans and of human consciousness than of organisms in general.

5. human consciousness regarded as an immaterial entity distinct from the brain. See Cartesian dualism; ghost in the machine.

6. the brain itself and its activities. In this view, the mind essentially is both the anatomical organ and what it does.

7. intention or volition.

8. opinion or point of view.

9. the characteristic mode of thinking of a group, such as the criminal mind or the military mind.

As some of these definitions conflict with one another (e.g., highlighting the “cognitive activities and functions” of the mind versus “the mind essentially is both the anatomical organ and what it does”), for the sake of clarity, I conceptualize the mind simply as the function of the brain.

Noteworthy, the APA definitions of the mind include the terms “affective” and “cognitive.” As it pertains to this blogpost, the APA defines the term “affect” as:

[A]ny experience of feeling or emotion, ranging from suffering to elation, from the simplest to the most complex sensations of feeling, and from the most normal to the most pathological emotional reactions.

Often described in terms of positive affect or negative affect, both mood and emotion are considered affective states. Along with cognition and conation, affect is one of the three traditionally identified components of the mind.

In simple terms, affect is the experience of bodily sensations (e.g., heaviness throughout the body) and emotions (e.g., sadness). Regarding the term “cognitive” that was listed in a definition of the mind, the APA defines cognition, which was also in the definition of affect:

1. all forms of knowing and awareness, such as perceiving, conceiving, remembering, reasoning, judging, imagining, and problem solving. Along with affect and conation, it is one of the three traditionally identified components of mind.

2. an individual percept, idea, memory, or the like.

In simple terms, I view cognition as the mind’s active process of knowing and maintaining awareness. Additionally, I’ll touch on “the three traditionally identified components of the mind” element in a moment. For now, the APA thusly defines conation:

[T]he proactive (as opposed to habitual) part of motivation that connects knowledge, affect, drives, desires, and instincts to behavior.

Along with affect and cognition, conation is one of the three traditionally identified components of mind. The behavioral basis of attitudes is sometimes referred to as the conative component. See also bases of an attitude; tripartite model of attitudes.

Succinctly, conation is an active component of motivation that ties together other mental processes. In definitions for cognition and conation, the APA noted “the three traditionally identified components of mind.” Now, I’ll address this concept. According to one 1980 source:

For two hundred years many psychologists took for granted that the study of mind could be divided into three parts: cognition, affection, and conation. They disagreed on whether these should be considered faculties of the mind or merely a classification of aspects of mental activity, but the threefold division was repeatedly revived.

In the last twenty-five years, if we judge from the titles of books and journal articles, scientific psychology—whether its focus is on perception, learning and memory, development, or personality and social psychology—has become engaged with one of these aspects, now called cognitive psychology.

Admittedly, social and cognitive psychology isn’t my field of practice. Nevertheless, I find it useful to maintain at least a cursory level of comprehension about the three traditionally identified components of the mind: affect, cognition, and conation.

Thus, the definitional standards contained herein may benefit my personal and professional practice of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT). Namely, I can distinguish between the mind and the brain, as well as identify the three components which comprise the former.

Although this blogpost may appear as a throwaway entry, whereby I merely define terms, I find it helpful to have at least minimal familiarity with mental terms so that I can competently practice REBT. In short, I like to know what I’m talking about when helping myself and others.

If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.

As a psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues ranging from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.

At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!

Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW

Photo credit, Designed by Freepik, fair use

References:

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