Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 29, 2025

Author Spotlight: A Novel Setup to Conduct Naturalistic Laboratory Experiments with Real Human Actors in Scenarios
Published on: August 4, 2023
An Aesthetic Frame for Three Modes of Knowing
Yan Bao1,2,3, Dongxue Zhang3, Chen Zhao3
1School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Abstract:
This is the claim: Human knowledge expresses itself in three different modes: explicit, implicit, and sensory (e.g., visual) knowledge. The reference to knowledge as explicit knowledge only (as it is usually done) neglects the other modes of knowledge. Instead of using the noun "knowledge," it is suggested that we use "knowing" as a term to stress the active mode in cognition. The three modes of knowing are reflected in different mechanisms of cognitive and neural processing; these can already be observed in classical documents of humankind. This unity of the different modes of knowing can also be extracted from cultural artifacts such as poetry. Although possessing different characteristics, the three modes of knowing are related to each other in a complementary way, thus providing an integrative network for cognition. We suggest that a unifying frame of the modes of knowing lies in aesthetic principles. These different modes of knowing with their unifying frame reflect some general features of cognition. We stress that basic concepts in "artificial or machine intelligence" do not match at all human modes of knowing.
Related Concept Videos
Introduction to Special Senses
Structuralism
Titchener's approach to structuralism was unique. He...
Cognitivism
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process...
Gestalt Principles of Perception
Sensory Modalities
General senses refer to the broad category of sensory information detected by receptors in the body and can be further grouped into somatic and visceral senses. Somatic sensations include touch, pressure, temperature, and pain and are essential for navigating our environment and...
Metacognition

