Glossary

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Agnosia

A neurological condition in which a person has difficulty recognising familiar objects, faces, places, sounds, or other sensory stimuli despite intact basic sensory function and general cognition. Specific subtypes include visual agnosia (difficulty recognising objects or…

Alexithymia

A subclinical condition in which a person has marked difficulty identifying, describing, and distinguishing their own emotions, often accompanied by an externally oriented thinking style and limited imagination about inner states. Alexithymia commonly co-occurs with autism,…

Amnesia(also: Memory Loss, Amnestic Disorder)

A neurological condition characterised by the partial or complete inability to recall past experiences (retrograde amnesia) or to form new memories (anterograde amnesia). Amnesia results from damage to brain structures responsible for memory processing, commonly caused by…

Anterograde Amnesia

A form of amnesia in which a person is unable to form new memories following the onset of the condition, while memories from before the injury or illness may remain largely intact. Anterograde amnesia typically results from damage to the hippocampus or surrounding medial…

Attention Tunneling(also: Visual Tunneling, Attentional Tunneling, Cognitive Tunneling)

A phenomenon in which a user concentrates so narrowly on a primary information source - typically a visual overlay, head-up display, or instrument - that they fail to notice relevant events, objects, or hazards in their surrounding environment. In augmented and mixed reality,…

Auditory Processing(also: Auditory Processing Disorder, Central Auditory Processing)

The brain ability to interpret and make sense of sounds, particularly speech. Auditory processing difficulties—which commonly co-occur with ADHD—can make it challenging to distinguish speech from background noise, process rapid speech, and maintain attention to spoken content.…

Borderline Intellectual Functioning(also: BIF, borderline intellectual disability, slow learners)

A condition describing individuals with IQ scores roughly between 70 and 85—above the diagnostic threshold for intellectual disability (IQ below 70) but below the neurotypical range. Representing about 13.6% of the general population, BIF individuals typically have working…

Cognitive Accessibility(also: Cognitive A11y)

The practice of designing digital content and interfaces to be usable by people with cognitive, intellectual, learning, and neurological disabilities. Cognitive accessibility addresses barriers related to attention, memory, problem-solving, comprehension, and executive function.…

Cognitive Cycle(also: Cognitive Processing Time, Cognitive Response Time)

In the Model Human Processor framework, the cognitive cycle represents the time required for a person to process perceived information and make a decision about how to respond. A single cognitive cycle is approximately 70-110 milliseconds. Research with motion-impaired users has…

Cognitive Disability(also: Cognitive Impairment, Intellectual and Developmental Disability)

A broad category of disabilities affecting cognitive functions such as memory, attention, problem-solving, learning, and information processing. Cognitive disabilities may be developmental (present from birth or early childhood, such as Down syndrome or intellectual disability)…

Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning(also: CTML, multimedia learning theory)

A theory developed by Richard E. Mayer proposing that people learn more effectively from words and pictures together than from words alone, because the brain processes visual and auditory information through separate working-memory channels. CTML underpins design principles such…

Collaborative Memory(also: Distributed Cognition, Shared Memory)

The process by which memory tasks and cognitive load are distributed across multiple people, typically within families or close social groups. In the context of disability and caregiving, collaborative memory refers to how family members collectively manage the memory needs of a…

Cross-Modal Perception(also: Multisensory perception, Cross-modal integration)

The neural and perceptual integration of information arriving through two or more sensory channels — such as vision, hearing, touch, and proprioception — into a coherent experience of the world. Cross-modal perception explains phenomena such as the McGurk effect,…

Distractibility(also: Attentional Distractibility, Susceptibility to Distraction)

A cognitive characteristic in which a person has difficulty maintaining focus on a task due to sensitivity to irrelevant stimuli in their environment. Distractibility is a feature of many conditions including ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and traumatic brain injury, and can also be…

Easy-to-Read(also: E2R, Easy Read, ETR)

A content-simplification approach that presents information in short sentences, plain vocabulary, and clear structure to support readers with cognitive disabilities, learning difficulties, low literacy, or who are reading in a non-native language. Easy-to-Read is increasingly…

Emotion Regulation(also: Affect Regulation, Self-Regulation of Emotion)

The processes by which a person monitors, evaluates, and modifies emotional reactions to achieve goals or meet situational demands — including selecting or changing situations, directing attention, reframing meaning (cognitive reappraisal), and adjusting outward expression.…

Executive Function(also: Executive Functioning, Cognitive Control, Executive Control)

A set of cognitive processes that enable goal-directed behavior, including planning, working memory, attention, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility. Executive functions allow individuals to organize, initiate, and monitor tasks in daily living. In accessibility…

Hyperactivity

A core symptom of ADHD characterized by excessive movement, restlessness, difficulty remaining seated or still, and feeling driven as if by a motor. In adults, hyperactivity often manifests as internal restlessness rather than obvious physical activity. For digital…

Impulsivity(also: Impulsiveness)

A core symptom of ADHD characterized by acting without forethought, difficulty waiting, interrupting others, and making hasty decisions without considering consequences. In digital contexts, impulsivity can lead to premature form submissions, unintended purchases, accidental…

Inattention(also: Inattentiveness)

A core symptom of ADHD characterized by difficulty sustaining focus, being easily distracted by irrelevant stimuli, difficulty following through on instructions, and appearing not to listen when spoken to directly. In digital accessibility, inattention impacts the ability to…

Intrusive Thoughts(also: Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts)

Unwanted, distressing thoughts, urges, or images that enter a person’s mind involuntarily and are typically experienced as ego-dystonic (contrary to the person’s values or intentions). Intrusive thoughts are the defining feature of the obsessions in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder…

Lexical Access(also: Lexical Retrieval, Word Access)

The cognitive process of retrieving words from the mental lexicon during language production or comprehension. Lexical access involves activating the phonological, semantic, and syntactic properties of a word stored in memory. Disorders of lexical access, such as those seen in…

Material Perception(also: Material recognition)

The perceptual processes by which people identify and characterize the materials that objects are made of — such as wood, metal, glass, leather, fabric, or stone — using visual, tactile, auditory, and sometimes thermal cues. Material perception goes beyond recognizing object…

Memory(also: Human Memory)

The cognitive capacity to encode, store, and retrieve information and past experiences. Memory is typically distinguished into short-term/working memory, long-term memory (which includes episodic, semantic, and procedural subtypes), and autobiographical memory of one's own life.…

Mindfulness(also: Mindfulness Meditation, Mindfulness-Based Practice)

The practice of directing non-judgmental attention to present-moment experience — bodily sensations, breath, thoughts, and emotions — typically cultivated through structured meditation, body-scan exercises, or informal awareness in daily activity. Rooted in Buddhist…

N-back Task(also: N-back, 2-back Task)

A working-memory paradigm in which participants view or hear a sequence of stimuli (letters, digits, positions) and, on each trial, respond when the current stimulus matches the one presented N steps earlier. Higher N levels place greater load on working memory and executive…

Perceptual Integration(also: Perceptual Binding)

The process by which the brain combines information arriving through different sensory channels — vision, hearing, touch, proprioception — into a single coherent percept of an object or event. Perceptual integration depends on temporal synchrony (cues arriving within roughly 100…

Perceptual Learning(also: Visual Perceptual Learning, PL)

A long-studied phenomenon in vision science in which repeated exposure to, or training on, specific perceptual features — color, orientation, spatial location, shape — produces durable improvements in a person’s ability to detect and discriminate those features. Perceptual…

Planning Fallacy

A well-documented cognitive bias, identified by Kahneman and Tversky and elaborated by Buehler and colleagues, in which people systematically underestimate how long their own tasks will take and overestimate how much they can finish, even when they have direct evidence that…

Restricted Interests(also: Circumscribed Interests, Special Interests, Focused Interests)

A characteristic of autism spectrum disorder where individuals develop intense, narrowly focused interests in specific topics, objects, or activities. These interests may be unusual in their subject matter (such as specific letters, numbers, or mechanical objects) or in their…

Self-Insight

The capacity to accurately understand one's own emotions, motivations, strengths, and patterns of thought and behaviour. Self-insight is a core outcome of therapy, journaling, and reflective practice, and is associated with improved emotion regulation, life satisfaction, and…

Self-Reflection(also: Reflective Practice)

The deliberate process of examining one's own thoughts, feelings, actions, and experiences to gain insight, adjust behaviour, or support personal growth. Self-reflection is central to therapeutic models (cognitive-behavioural therapy, mindfulness, reminiscence therapy),…

Semantic Network(also: Semantic Web, Associative Network)

A knowledge representation structure in which concepts are represented as nodes and the relationships between them as links or edges. In accessibility and AAC contexts, semantic networks model how words and concepts are associated in the human mind, enabling vocabulary tools to…

Sensemaking(also: Sense-making)

The cognitive and social process of giving structure to ambiguous, incomplete, or unfamiliar information so that one can act on it. In HCI and information science, sensemaking is studied as iterative cycles of foraging for information, building mental representations, testing…

Sensory-Motor Processing(also: Sensorimotor Processing, Sensorimotor Integration)

Sensory-motor processing refers to the brain's ability to receive sensory input (visual, auditory, tactile, proprioceptive) and coordinate appropriate motor responses. This includes fine motor control for tasks like typing and mouse manipulation, as well as the integration of…

Shared Visual Attention(also: Collective Visual Attention, Visual Joint Attention)

A core feature of Deaf-centred interaction in which all participants coordinate their gaze, body orientation, and signing space so everyone can see the current signer, referenced content, and each other. Shared visual attention is foundational to Deaf pedagogy and DeafSpace…

Situation Awareness(also: SA, Situational Awareness)

The perception and understanding of one's current environment, including the identification of relevant elements, comprehension of their meaning, and projection of their future status. In accessibility and assistive technology contexts, situation awareness refers to systems that…

Spatial Reasoning

The cognitive process of understanding where objects are, how they are oriented, and how they relate to each other in three-dimensional space. Spatial reasoning is central to tasks like assembling products, navigating environments, reading diagrams, and manipulating tools. Blind…

Speech Prosodics(also: Prosodic Features, Suprasegmental Features)

Speech prosodics refers to the nonverbal acoustic features of speech that convey meaning beyond the words themselves, including pitch (fundamental frequency), rhythm, stress, intonation patterns, pausing, and speaking rate. In accessibility research, prosodic analysis serves as…

Stimulation Seeking(also: Sensation Seeking, Novelty Seeking)

A behavioral tendency common in people with ADHD to actively seek out novel, exciting, or highly engaging stimuli. This trait is linked to differences in dopamine regulation in the ADHD brain. In digital environments, stimulation seeking can make users particularly drawn to…

Unity Assumption

A concept from multisensory-perception research (Welch and Warren, 1980; Welch, 1999) describing the observer's implicit judgement that signals arriving through different senses originate from the same underlying event or object. When the unity assumption holds, the brain fuses…

Visual Dispersion(also: Visual Attention Splitting, Gaze Switching)

The challenge faced by deaf and hard of hearing individuals when they must divide their visual attention between multiple simultaneous information sources, such as a speech-to-text display, presentation slides, a whiteboard, and the speaker. Unlike hearing individuals who can…

Visual-Spatial Processing(also: Visuospatial Processing, Visual-Spatial Cognition)

Visual-spatial processing is the cognitive ability to perceive, analyze, and mentally manipulate spatial relationships and visual information. It encompasses skills such as judging distances, understanding maps, recognizing shapes and patterns, and mentally rotating objects.…

Word-Finding Difficulty(also: Word-Finding Deficit, Word Retrieval Difficulty)

A language impairment characterised by difficulty retrieving specific words during conversation or communication, despite the person knowing the word and its meaning. Word-finding difficulties are a hallmark symptom of aphasia and anomia but can also occur in other neurological…

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