ABSTRACT
The Cognitive Pyramid is comprised of four hierarchical, unidirectional components: cognitive requirements, cognitive mediators, cognitive functional components, and integrated cognition. Cognitive requirements are biologically based, and address the presence of consciousness * mitigating factors relate primarily to the presence of glucose, oxygen and the absence of trauma. Cognitive mediators are primarily physiological factors that can impact cognition and include fatigue, hydration, noise, vibration, thermal stress, and illness. In and of themselves, they are wholly non-cognitive, but their influence on cognition can be profound. The cognitive functional components include the traditional cognitive constructs of memory, attention, and decision-making processes. Lastly, integrated cognition is perhaps best captured by the construct of situational awareness - the coherent, unitary picture emergent from the cognitive components. The Cognitive Pyramid approach will permit the range of cognitive issues to be investigated in both laboratory and applied settings. This paper will discuss the utility of sensing these components in the laboratory and operational environments, as well as future directions for the development of this approach.
