What is Cognitive Response

Thoughts that occur while we are listening to someone talk are called cognitive responses. Cognitive response is not a synonym for decoding a message. “Decoding” refers to a completely separate process. In decoding, sound or visual stimuli are translated back into language. Once we have decoded the message, our idiosyncratic responses or thoughts to those messages are described as our cognitive responses. If we are very interested in the topic, our cognitive responses may be message relevant. Message relevant responses focus on counter-arguments or additional evidence supporting a particular position. If we are not interested in the topic, our cognitive responses may not be particularly message relevant (e.g., “I “I need to get gas on my way home”). In short, our cognitive responses are the things we think of while listening to the messages of others. Cognitive responses occur while reading, watching television, listening to the radio, or surfing the Internet.

Audience Replies to Character Blogs as Parasocial Relationships

James D. Robinson (University of Dayton, USA) and Robert Agne (Auburn University, USA)