Final answer:
Stimulus and cognition are interlinked processes that contribute to giving meaning to our experiences. When a stimulus is received by our sensory structures, it undergoes cognitive processing in our brain, which includes comparing the stimulus with other stimuli and memories. This integration process leads to the generation of a specific response and the derivation of meaning from the stimulus.
Step-by-step explanation:
Integration. Stimuli that are received by sensory structures are communicated to the nervous system where that information is processed. This is called integration. Stimuli are compared with, or integrated with, other stimuli, memories of previous stimuli, or the state of a person at a particular time. This leads to the specific response that will be generated.
Stimulus and cognition are two important components in the process of giving meaning to stimuli. When a stimulus is received by our sensory structures, it triggers a cognitive process in our brain. This cognitive process involves comparing the stimulus with other stimuli, memories, or our current state. Through this integration process, we derive meaning from the stimuli and generate a specific response. For example, when a baseball is pitched to a batter, the batter's cognition comes into play as they consider the trajectory and speed of the ball, the count, and their team's situation before deciding whether to swing or not. This shows how the combination of stimulus and cognition leads to the meaning behind our actions.
Hormones, incoming sensory information, and cognitive processing are interconnected in determining our brain state. When we encounter a stimulus, our brain goes through an arousal process that directs our attention towards processing the new information. This focusing of cognition is known as attention. Our cognitive priorities can be influenced by various factors like hunger, fatigue, belief, unfamiliar information, or threat. For instance, the fight-or-flight response triggered by threat activates specific brain structures and impacts our cognitive processing. Therefore, the combination of stimulus and cognition plays a crucial role in giving meaning to our experiences.