# Cognitive complexity

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**Cognitive complexity** describes [cognition](/source/Cognition) along a simplicity-complexity axis. It is the subject of academic study in fields including [personal construct psychology](/source/Personal_construct_psychology),[1] [organisational theory](/source/Organizational_studies)[2] and [human–computer interaction](/source/Human%E2%80%93computer_interaction).[3]

## History

First proposed by [James Bieri](/source/James_Bieri) in 1955[1] with *Cognitive complexity-simplicity and predictive behavior* which was published that year in *The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology.*[4] In the article, he tests two hypotheses:

- There should be a positive relationship between degree of cognitive complexity and predictive accuracy.
- There should be a negative relationship between cognitive complexity and assimilative projection.[4]

## In artificial intelligence

In an attempt to explain how humans perceive relevance, cognitive complexity is defined as an extension of the notion of [Kolmogorov complexity](/source/Kolmogorov_complexity). It amounts to the length of the shortest description *available to the observer*. For example, individuating a particular [Inuk](/source/Inuit) woman among one hundred people is simpler in a village in Congo than it is in an Inuit village.

Cognitive complexity is related to probability (see [Simplicity theory](/source/Simplicity_theory)): situations are cognitively improbable if they are simpler to describe than to generate. Human individuals attach two complexity values to events:

- description complexity (see above definition)
- generation complexity: the size of the minimum set of parameter values that the 'world' (as imagined by the observer) needs to generate the event.

To 'generate' an event such as an encounter with an Inuk woman in Congo, one must add up the complexity of each event in the causal chain that brought her there. The significant gap between both complexities (hard to produce, easy to describe) makes the encounter improbable and thus narratable.

## In computer science

Further information: [Complexity](/source/Complexity)

In [human–computer interaction](/source/Human%E2%80%93computer_interaction), cognitive (or psychological) complexity distinguishes human factors (related to [psychology](/source/Psychology) and human cognition) from, for example, [computational complexity](/source/Computational_complexity_theory).[5]

## In psychology

Cognitive complexity is a [psychological](/source/Psychological) characteristic or psychological variable that indicates how complex or simple is the [frame](/source/Framing_(social_sciences)) and [perceptual](/source/Perception) skill of a person.

A person who is measured high on [cognitive](/source/Cognitive) complexity tends to perceive nuances and subtle differences while a person with a lower measure, indicating a less complex cognitive [structure](/source/Structure) for the task or activity, does not.

an aspect of a person's cognitive functioning which at one end is defined by the use of many constructs with many relationships to one another (complexity) and at the other end by the use of few constructs with limited relationships to one another (simplicity)

— *[Lawrence Pervin](/source/Lawrence_Pervin),*Personality*[3]*

It is used as part of one of the several variations of the viable non-empirical evaluation model [GOMS](/source/GOMS) (goals, operators, methods, and selection rules); in particular the [GOMS/CCT](/source/GOMS/CCT) methodology.

Cognitive complexity can have various meanings:

- the number of mental structures we use, how abstract they are, and how elaborately they interact to shape our perceptions.
- "an individual-difference variable associated with a broad range of communication skills and related abilities ... [which] indexes the degree of differentiation, articulation, and integration within a cognitive system".[6]

## Related terms

Related to cognitive complexity is the term **behavioral complexity**, used by some researchers in [organizational studies](/source/Organizational_studies), [organizational culture](/source/Organizational_culture) and [management](/source/Management).[7]

## See also

- [Cognitive dimensions of notations](/source/Cognitive_dimensions_of_notations)
- [Cognitive ergonomics](/source/Cognitive_ergonomics)
- [Consciousness](/source/Consciousness)
- [General semantics](/source/General_semantics)
- [Language of thought](/source/Language_of_thought)
- [Learning theory (education)](/source/Learning_theory_(education))
- [Simplicity theory](/source/Simplicity_theory)
- [Social complexity](/source/Social_complexity)

## References

1. Bell, R.C. (2004-02-14). ["Cognitive complexity"](https://www.pcp-net.org/encyclopaedia/cogcom.html). *The Internet Encyclopaedia of Personal Construct Psychology*. The Psychology of Personal Constructs. Retrieved 2010-04-30.

1. Villanova University. ["Analyzing Organizations Through Cognitive Complexity"](https://www83.homepage.villanova.edu/richard.jacobs/MPA%208002/Powerpoint/cogcomp/). Retrieved 29 April 2010.

1. Rauterberg, Matthias (1996). [*How to Measure Cognitive Complexity in Human–Computer Interaction*](http://en.scientificcommons.org/17603063). Thirteenth European Meeting on Cybernetics and Systems Research. Vol. II. Robert Trappl (ed.). pp. 815–820. ISBN 3-85206-133-4.

1. Bieri, J. (1955). Cognitive complexity-simplicity and predictive behavior. *The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 51*(2), 263–268. [doi:10.1037/h0043308](https://doi.org/10.1037/h0043308)

1. Thomas, John C. & Richards, John T. (2008). ["Achieving Psychological Simplicity: Methods And Measures To Reduce Cognitive Complexity"](http://www.isrc.umbc.edu/HCIHandbook/). *The human–computer interaction handbook: Fundamentals, Evolving Technologies and Emerging Applications*. 2nd ed. Sears, Andrew (ed.). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. pp. 498–507. ISBN 978-0-8058-5870-9.

1. Burleson, B.R., & Caplan, S.E. (1998), "Cognitive complexity". In J.C. McCroskey, J.A. Daly, M.M. Martin, & M.J. Beatty (Eds.), *Communication and personality: Trait perspectives* (233–286). Creskill, NJ: Hampton Press

1. See Robert Hooijberg, *Behavioral complexity and managerial effectiveness: a new perspective on managerial leadership*, University of Michigan, 1992; [Daniel R. Denison](/source/Daniel_R._Denison), Robert Hooijberg, Robert E. Quinn, [Toward a theory of behavioral complexity in managerial leadership](https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/35553/1/b1714508.0001.001.txt), University of Michigan, September 1993

## Further reading

- Bell, R.C. (2004-02-14). ["Cognitive complexity"](https://www.pcp-net.org/encyclopaedia/cogcom.html). *The Internet Encyclopaedia of Personal Construct Psychology*. The Psychology of Personal Constructs. Retrieved 2007-02-20.
- Bryan, S. (2002). "[Cognitive complexity, transformational leadership, and organizational outcomes](https://web.archive.org/web/20100705084932/http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-0410102-134451/unrestricted/Bryan_dis.pdf)". Dissertation in the Department of Communication Studies, Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College.
- Chater, N. (1999). [The search for simplicity: A fundamental cognitive principle?](https://web.archive.org/web/20120303151605/http://www.dectech.org/publications/LinksNick/FoundationsTheoryAndMethodology/The%20Search%20for%20Sim%20plicity%20A%20Fundamental%20cognitive%20principle.pdf) *The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology*, 52 (A), 273–302.
- Dobosh, M.A. (2005). "[The impact of cognitive complexity and self-monitoring on leadership emergence](http://www.udel.edu/communication/web/thesisfiles/melissadoboshthesis.pdf)". Master's Thesis in the Department of Communication, Graduate Faculty of the University of Delaware.
- McDaniel, E., & Lawrence, C. (1990). "[Levels of cognitive complexity: An approach to the measurement of thinking.](https://books.google.com/books?id=eWh9AAAAMAAJ)" New York: Springer-Verlag.
- Lee, J., Truex, D.P. (2000). "[Cognitive complexity and methodical training: enhancing or suppressing creativity](http://csdl2.computer.org/comp/proceedings/hicss/2000/0493/07/04937007.pdf)". Proceedings of the 33rd Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences.
- Sanders, T.J.M. "[Coherence, causality and cognitive complexity in discourse](https://web.archive.org/web/20081005121747/http://w3.univ-tlse2.fr:8880/erss/index.jsp?perso=bras&subURL=sem05%2Fproceedings-final%2F03-Sanders.pdf)".
- Streufert, S., Pogash, R.M., Piasecki, M.T. (1987). "[Training for cognitive complexity](https://web.archive.org/web/20120225065931/http://stinet.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA181828&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf)". ARI Research Note 87–20, AD-A181828.
- Linville, Patricia W. Linville (1985). "Self-Complexity and Affective Extremity: Don't Put All of Your Eggs in One Cognitive Basket". *Social Cognition*. **3**: 94–120. [doi:10.1521/soco.1985.3.1.94](https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.1985.3.1.94)
- David A. Snowdon; Susan J. Kemper; James A. Mortimer (1996). "Linguistic Ability in Early Life and Cognitive Function and Alzheimer's Disease in Late LifeFindings From the Nun Study". *JAMA*. **275** (7): 528–532. [doi:10.1001/jama.1996.03530310034029](https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1996.03530310034029). [PMID 8606473](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8606473). [S2CID 13613023](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:13613023)

## External links

- [A tutorial on Simplicity Theory (Simplicity, Complexity, Unexpectedness, Cognition, Probability, Information)](https://www.simplicitytheory.org)
- [COGNITIVE COMPLEXITY CLASSIFICATION OF FCATTEST ITEMS](http://www.cpalms.org/textonly.aspx?ContentID=23&UrlPath=/page23.aspx)
- [Cognitive Complexity/Depth of Knowledge Rating](http://www.cpalms.org/textonly.aspx?ContentID=23&UrlPath=/page23.aspx)
- [ANALYZING ORGANIZATIONS THROUGH COGNITIVE COMPLEXITY](https://www83.homepage.villanova.edu/richard.jacobs/MPA%208002/Powerpoint/cogcomp/)
- [Cognitive Complexity as a Personality Dimension](http://faculty.css.edu/dswenson/web/Cogcompx.htm)

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