RUHS, Jaipur, M.Sc Nursing Entrance Exam-2019
Applied Psychology
Easy

Thinking is also known as?

Appeared in: RUHS, Jaipur, M.Sc Nursing Entrance Exam-2019

Explanation

  • Cognition is the broad, general term used to describe all higher mental processes.
  • Thinking is a core cognitive process that involves the manipulation of mental representations of information from the external world.
  • Cognition encompasses a wide range of activities including thinking, reasoning, decision-making, problem-solving, and language.
  • Therefore, thinking is best understood as a primary activity within the larger domain of cognition.

Why Other Options Were Wrong

  • Option A: Memory is the process of encoding, storing, and retrieving information. While thinking relies heavily on memory, it is a distinct process. Memory is about the past, while thinking is an active, present process of manipulation.
  • Option B: Motivation refers to the internal or external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested and committed to a job, role, or subject, or to make an effort to attain a goal. It drives behavior but is not the mental process of reasoning itself.
  • Option D: Attention is the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring other things. It is a necessary component for thinking to occur, but it is not the act of thinking itself.

Related Visual

Visual explanation — Related Visual
Clinical Relevance
  • Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain The relationship between thinking and other psychological processes, specifically cognition as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
  • Assessing a patient's cognitive function is a crucial nursing responsibility. Changes in thinking, memory, or attention can be early signs of delirium, dementia, depression, or other neurological and psychiatric conditions.
  • Nurses use tools like the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) to screen for cognitive impairment, which evaluates orientation, attention, memory, and language.
  • What if? - If a patient who was previously alert and oriented suddenly shows confused thinking, the nurse's priority action changes from routine care to immediate assessment for acute conditions like hypoxia, hypoglycemia, infection, or stroke.
How to Approach the Question
  • First, identify the key term in the question stem, which is 'Thinking'.
  • Define 'thinking' in your own words: it's the process of using your mind to reason, form ideas, and make decisions.
  • Next, evaluate each option to see how it relates to your definition.
  • Memory is about remembering, not the active process of reasoning.
  • Motivation is about the 'why' behind actions, not the mental process itself.
  • Attention is about focusing, which is needed for thinking but isn't the same thing.
Concept Tested & Keywords
  • Concept Tested: The relationship between thinking and other psychological processes, specifically cognition.
  • Stem keywords: Thinking, known as
  • Lead-in keywords: BEST, MOST RELEVANT CLUE
  • Negative lead-in flag: false

Question ID

QXA5TGtyymTO5kpMx62GT8

Reference Book

E6 Psychology Baron Misra 5e Part 1 p. 235-237

E6 Robert Boland, Marcia L. Verduin - Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Text of Psychiatry-Wolters Kluwer Health (2024) (pp 1-16525 of 16525) p. 2380-2382

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