Cognitive and literal theories are significant in the explanation of the varied aspects related to human behaviour. While the two theories have clear explanations and support of their arguments, cognitive theory is clearer and provides a concrete, scientific and fact based explanation of human behaviour thus forming the foundation of literature theory. This paper is an argumentative essay about the two theories with an emphasis of what the cognitive theory offers the literal theory. It is organized into various sections which are the definition of terms used, literature review done from existing books, websites and journals about the topic, the analysis of the results that forms the argument and conclusion of the whole work done.

Definition of terms

Cognitive theory is a concept in education psychology, which is concerned with the development of a person’s thinking process. In this sense, cognitive theory looks at how the thought process affects people understanding, and they interact with the world (Hutt, 2003). On the other hand, literary theory also known as critical theory consists of a set of ideas and intellectual assumptions that are used to explain or interpret literary texts. It implies that a literary theory is a set of principles originating from internal analysis texts or even the knowledge derived from external texts, which are applied in multiple interpretative conditions. It is from the understanding of these differences and components that a comparison is drawn

Literature review

Cognitive theory is concerned with the way people and computers think where meanings are extracted or evoked through the reading and writing required while thinking (Antony, 2003). On the other hand, literary theory is concerned with the sense evoked by literary texts. As per the establishment, written texts and other literary works offer a rich source of data, and information, which essentially originates from cognition. Huge thoughts go into the producing as well as interpreting texts, and this is the baseline on what cognitive theory offers to literary theory. It is because cognitive scientists do not synthesize information and data obtained from the mind matter, and this creates an opportunity for more learning and interpretation deduced from literary theory (Barker, 2013).

As a psychology theory of human development cognitive theory is a broad theory of interdisciplinary whose main tributaries are artificial intelligence, evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, cognitive linguistics, and mental philosophy.

In fact, Mary Crane’s Shakespeare’s Brain, the reading with cognitive theory is one of the most considerable references, which attempts to bring cognitive materials such as language, psycholinguistics, neuroscience, and human thought process into perspective that involves literary interpretation (Michael, 2003). This implies that a cognitive theory offers many approaches to literary texts. However, focus is laid on the spatial structures, and pattern obtained from early experiences of embodiment and cognitive theorists conceive this as the basis of human language and thought. Therefore, it is wise to conclude that cognitive theory offers an expansive room for theorists to deduce literary theory. However, literary theorists are ignorant of social sciences even though most of them acknowledge Freud and Marx very few are aware of contemporary cognitive theory. Alternatively, it is worth noting that cognitive scientists are also ignorant of literary criticism even though they do mention it rarely.

Coupled with the above perspective, cognitive has a lot to offer in literary theory as cognitive scientist bridges between the two. In this case, the cognitive scientist sketches the thought process when analyzing the psychology of human development. It is done through writing and reading a variety of texts that we call literary theory (Writing Commons, 2014). On the other hand, as literary theory is concerned with the interpretation of various doctrines, a literary theorist intending to interpret though process requires cognitive theories in order to draw conclusions about his or her interpretative effort. Therefore, both cognitive and literary theories mutually benefit each other on a broad spectrum.

In addition, literary theory is concerned with offering interpretation of texts covering narratives from different lenses of ideas such as art, literature, and even culture (Susan, 2013). For instance, if a theorist or a literary critic intends to work with certain Marxist theories, she or he usually focus on a variety of issues such as behaviours of the characters within the narrative among other themes such as interaction based on their social, political, and economic situation. On the other hand, cognitive theory is deeply inclined towards acceptance of the narrative and this makes it an essential filed within literary criticism. This is evidenced by the early cognitive developers of narratives such as Robert Abelson and Roger Schank who came up with stories to describe their efforts to create computer programs capable of handing out natural language discourses. Criticism on these narratives is a guiding principle to ascertain that cognitive theory greatly contributes to literary theory.

It is also worth noting that cognitive psychology coupled with discourse processing theory is a traditional narrative. Presupposing that all knowledge in the study of cognitive psychology, which is in traditional narrative, is in unitary order of nature, then it is maintained that cognitive theory offers literary theory a chance to critic. There is evidence that the cognition theory has changed through discoveries in sciences making it different varied to literature theory. These include the mirror neuron structure and its responsibility in understanding, addressing the question such as if cognitive theory relates to literary theory is an obviously clear thing as what brain activities sparks when we read literature, is what we instinctively interpret (Richard, 2004). Therefore, literary works and scholarship can inform the cognitive sciences.

Analysis

            In reality, cognitive theory offers a lot to literature theory by forming its foundation. It is the cognition of human beings is the origin of thoughts and thought process. It is these thoughts that the literature theory forms its basis for an explanation of outward behaviors expressed by human beings. Human thoughts evolve with the development and exposure to different environments and circumstances which in turn results in behaviour changes. It is this changes that literature theory uses to explain the changes in behaviour.

With continued research and new finding that appear to explain human cognition in an in depth manner, various aspects of literature theory have been discredited, calling for its proposers to rethink along the new evidence raised by their cognitive counterparts. As a result, it has brought to new developments in the literature with the aim of explaining the current and contemporary issues brought about by the new discoveries in cognitive science (Fredrick, 2010).

Cognitive theory analyzes the mind in a structural manner with interrelated components. Each component is considered to have a particular function exhibited externally through human behaviors such as learning, speech, hearing and language. Literature theory copies the same structure and utilizes it to explain other human characteristics such as learning and interpretation of literal information and, therefore, borrowing a lot from it. In relation to the age aspect of the two theories, cognitive theory has a focus on the earlier stages of development in human beings and proposes the stages at which most of the developmental changes occur in relation to human behavior. The literature theory utilizes the information raised by cognitive theory to argue its ideas on learning and language, giving the different stages of them their effects on the human being at the different ages of life (Jasper, 2007)

From its broad nature, cognitive theory draws its conclusions from many subjects including neuroscience and neuropsychology which deals with the brain. The information forms a broad basis of analysis and augmentation making it more accurate and scientific. On the other hand, literature theory draws its conclusions from subjects such as arts lacking a scientific aspect. Though both of them aim at explaining various complex aspects of human nature and with close relations, through the utilization of various experiments, cognitive theories raise more information about the mental functioning of the individual. It is through this data by which literature theories apply and utilize in its explanations (John, 2009).

In its researches, cognitive theories utilize non-human subjects to gather data on various effects of the brain. The data raised from this is later related to that of human beings. It is these behaviors that literature theory attempts to explain. Each behavior has a similar and specific cognitive function as per the cognitive theory. In the reading and interpretation of texts, a person cannot derive meaning from the text without the use of the cognitive aspect of the mind. It calls for understanding of what the author of a certain text meant the having a deeper thought of the text. This creates an implication that literature theory may not fully exist without the support of the cognitive theory (Stephen, 2011).

The cognitive theory closely utilizes conceptual metaphor, the principle of understanding the underlying process in the text that promotes the understanding content being read and deriving the sense in it. It is through thoughts that we shape our ways in the handling of arguments in the different languages. People who have impaired cognition have difficulties in explanations through talking and other behaviours. On the other hand, literary theory deals with the text alone and cannot explain the problems associated with text interpretations among different people.  The cognitive theory guides on how the to interpret the text as well as the other actions that one will take upon the text in context. It is the same metaphor that enables an individual to connect and link the various texts making a better understanding of meaning and language used in the literature theory (Terry, 2011)

The use of cognitive approach aids in the development of knowledge. It is because, through cognitive theory, there is a deep inquiry to its meaning and how it relates to the whole context. Through it, one learns about new ideas through the building of the available ones. It also leads to the construction and understanding of complex components of language such as laws mostly done through cognitive constructivism. The developed principles then apply in the literature theory enabling the development of new approaches to it through application of understanding that is derived from one concept then applying it to another example being learning of mathematical concepts. Through it, an individual can avoid misconceptions that may arise from a given literature text or content. It occurs through First internalizing the information and later understanding its meaning in relation to the applied context (Sara, 2010).

When the different levels of cognition undergo analysis in learners, cognitive theory forms the basis of evaluations. It includes the evaluation of literature contents learned such as different words and texts. The learner uses the cognitive theory in deducing the meanings of the texts provided, interprets them, then applies them in a given work he or she is being evaluated. It is through it that a learner can make continuous and related conclusions from a single text. According to memory and retention of information studies, the memory gained by learners on the literal texts is closely related to his or her cognitive abilities. When one encounters a text for the first time, the learner has to make comprehensive relations and interpretation to it in order to ease future retrieval from one’s memory. Lack of proper internalization of the text provided leads to poor storage and future interpretations of the texts in the future which may affect the learners’ future abilities (Antoine, 2004)

Literature theory classifies works of literature into various aspects that have different meanings. These texts in various aspects of literature can be very much limiting if read in a single critical perspective which may also affect the cohesion of language across different people making communication difficult. The works of literature may not be useful if the learner does not learn anything from them. The lessons from the works of the literature studies can only be met through the use of a cognitive approach. In these lessons, the reader understands the various components in the works of literature, and then critically analyses it to get the meanings of each and finally relating each component of the literature to each other, enabling him or her derive the lesson from it. Studies involving the brain have sought to explain some of the activities influenced by the unconscious mind, with an aim to bringing more evidence on the impact of cognitive works. When one is unconscious, he or she may not be read and interpret some texts though can exhibit some behaviours. Texts occurring at this time may not be read just as they are, due to the state in which they occur. It is only by the understanding of the cognitive activities of the mind that can cause the occurrence of these activities. Literature theory utilizes the data gathered from these studies to advance in its works (Richard, 2005).

Conclusion

In conclusion, cognitive theory offers literary theory information and data that is acquired through reading and writing texts. In this case, the cognitive data and information is used by the literary theorists for their interpretative purposes. This is because when a reader attends to words in written text, several symbols and structures form in their mind, and certain things start to come to their awareness. It denotes that psychological process is evoked, and the mind is set to release certain meanings of various components of the text into attention (Simon, 2005). In connection to this, the released meanings are what literary theorists consider as interpretation of the text. Therefore, literary theory highly depends on cognitive theory through cognitive sciences where human mind is the subject matter in processing texts, and literature cannot be successful without the two approaches.

References

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Writing Commons. (2014). Literary Criticism. Retrieved 2014, from Writing Commons: http://writingcommons.org/open-text/genres/academic-writing/literary-criticism/28-literary-criticism.