MODERN STANDARD OF EUROPEAN EDUCATION: COGNITIVE PARADIGM

Abstract

Summary. Introduction. The contemporary European educational paradigm is grounded on the enhancement of students’ cognitive competence, which entails developing critical thinking, creativity, and the capacity for lifelong learning. The foundation of this process lies within cognitive science, which investigates the mechanisms of knowledge perception, storage, and transmission.

The aim of the article is to investigate cognitive activity through the lens of the cognitive paradigm.

Results. The cognitive approach views learning as a conscious organization of cognitive activity. The process of cognition is governed by two levels: the neurophysiological (genetically inherited knowledge and instincts) and the cognitive (accumulated information utilized for problem-solving). The implementation of the cognitive approach involves a universal algorithm (experience, reflection, conceptualization, and experimentation) and the employment of various strategies: metacognitive (planning), cognitive (classification), social, and affective.

In the article, intelligence is defined as a complex synthesis of innate and acquired abilities for rational behavior and adaptation. Four primary approaches to its study are identified: biological (hereditary determination of brain functions), sociocultural (adaptive capacity), psychometric (measurement of abilities via IQ tests), and everyday (the ability to solve life tasks).

A special emphasis in this article is placed on R. Sternberg’s hierarchical model, which includes meta-components (governance), performance components (operations), and knowledge-acquisition components. Within his model, intelligence is regarded as a specific form of organizing mental experience, consisting of three levels: cognitive (operational information processing), metacognitive (regulation and control of intellectual resources), and intentional (intellectual inclinations and subjective criteria for selecting cognitive paths). Mental experience is manifested through mental structures (information packages or concepts) that actualize mental space – a dynamic form in which the interpretation of events occurs through verbalization and theorization.

Conclusion. The primary objective of modern higher education is the cultivation of cognitive competence through the development of cognitive flexibility and the student’s ability to consciously manipulate learning strategies to resolve problematic tasks during cognitive activity.