Definition
Cold cognition is a concept used to describe information processing – be it conscious and/or unconscious (i.e., implicit/automatic) – which does not have a direct impact on emotional responses.
Introduction
The distinction between hot and cold cognitions steams from the cognitive theories of emotions (e.g., Abelson and Rosenberg 1958; Lazarus 1982; Lazarus and Folkman 1984). Such theories assume that emotional responses are generated by the cognitive processing – be it conscious and/or unconscious (i.e., implicit/tacit) – of the information coming from the environment. In the simplest perspective, the distinction between hot (i.e., appraisal/evaluative) and cold cognitive processing is reflected in the impact which such cognitions have on the emotional responses of the individual. Hot cognitions are responsible for processing the emotionally relevant features of the representations of the stimuli...
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David, D., Matu, S. (2020). Cold Cognition. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_967
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_967
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