Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary study of the mind. Its focus is on the nature of cognition: thinking, learning,
problem solving, language and its interactions with conceptual structure, and other aspects of mental life. It embodies a convergence of cognitive
psychology with computer science, developmental studies, and work in linguistics, artificial intelligence, anthropology, neuroscience, and philosophy. What brings these
disciplines together is the central tenet that a broad range of mental processes are computational in nature and that these processes operate on mental representations.
There is a considerable overlap in topic matter between cognitive science and cognitive psychology. Both disciplines aim to model human mental processes and the nature of cognition. Cognitive science, however, is more inclusive in the methodologies it brings to bear on these issues. In addition to the experimental work traditionally done in cognitive psychology, cognitive science draws on other models of representation and processing. From linguistics it takes analyses of the structure of language. It employs the investigations of neuroscience into how the brain connects with the mind. From anthropology it takes ethnographies that reveal the variety of systems of belief. Finally, it draws on philosophical arguments as to how all these currents link with one another and with the great issues of human thought.
There is also a subtle difference in focus, in that cognitive science centers mainly on higher-order processes such as causal reasoning, planning, and analogical mapping. It is less concerned than cognitive psychology with the nature of lower-level mental processes.