Cognition refers to the activities that occur inside our brains. A dominant cognitive paradigm or model used in HCI characterises humans as "information processors".

The main steps involved in this information processing are described by Barber (1988) and are shown below:

Encoding (from input) ---> Comparison ---> Response Selection ---> Response Execution

Cognitive analysis involves analysing how people or users learn to use a system and how they behave in general. By carrying out this analysis, systems can be improved after taking into consideration how users actually behave.

The information processing model described above is an abstraction of how humans think and act i.e. it is a simplified model. Models such as these can help designers understand and predict human behaviour.

There are three types or levels of theory related to human cognition:

• Explanatory - simply explains why the user acts in a certain way
• Empirical Laws - predict what the user will do
• Dynamic Models - predict complex activities of users

Information Processing models are very general models. ISD and HCI requires more in-depth analysis of users and their behaviour. There may be many social factors involved in designing an interactive system, and of course, the information processing model does not take into considertion the use of tools of any description (in this case, computers!).

This has led to the development of other cognitive frameworks that include more detail. Users are not simply machines, so more complex models have to be developed in order to represent their cognitive processes. Many social, environmental, and ethical factors affect people and how they behave. One example of another cognitive framework is Distributed Cognition.

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