Cognitive Complexity

Cognitive complexity describes how we make sense of information involving multiple possibilities, relationships, or competing perspectives. Two important components are differentiation — recognizing distinctions, nuances, and alternative perspectives — and integration — recognizing how those different pieces relate and fit into a larger understanding. Cognitive complexity can be thought of as a continuum rather than a fixed type: people may think more or less complexly depending on the subject, situation, experience, motivation, and resources they bring to it. Greater complexity is not necessarily better; some problems really do have relatively straightforward answers.