People-focused knowledge management

Cognitive Science: The field that investigates the details of the 
mechanisms and processes of human intelligence (such as learning,
memory, recall, decision making) to determine the procedures and
functions that produce and utilize that intelligence.
Cognitive Style: An individual’s mental approach and reasoning
style. Cognitive styles include preferences for graphic or verbal 
representations of concepts, hemispheric dominance, etc.
Competence: The capacity and capability of a person or other actor
to function with a desired effectiveness — the ability to deliver
quality work within a particular domain.
Completed Staff Work: The study of a problem and presentation of
a solution, with alternatives, to a manager, so that all that remains
for the manager to do is to indicate approval or disapproval of the
completed action.
Computer-Based Training (CBT): Training program delivered by
interactive computers. Modern CBTs include multimedia (sounds,
video clips), hyperlinks, and may also have embedded intelligence
to guide or challenge students. Some CBTs allow students to react
to simulated, real-life situations (such as being confronted by an
angry customer) and will record student behavior as the computer
changes the path of interaction.
Concept: An abstract or general idea often generalized from specific
instances. A concept can be a mental model and be tied to other
concepts through associations.
Glossary
331
GL.qxd 5/3/04 2:26 PM Page 331

---

Concept Hierarchy: A hierarchy of related concepts, particularly as
they relate to a particular position, role, task, or activity. Concept
hierarchies build on concepts that are consolidated through chunk-
ing and are related to semantic nets and knowledge maps.
Concept Net: A net(work) of related concepts, often pertaining to