Classic Authors

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Descriptions by Various Authors

Understanding Cognitive Functions from Different Perspectives

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Introduction

The following are short descriptions of Jung’s eight cognitive functions by various theorists or writers. Presented without comment.

Myers & Briggs

Source: myersbriggs.org

Si Introverted Sensing: Compares present facts and experiences to past experience. Trusts the past. Stores sensory data for future use.
Ni Introverted Intuition: Looks at consistency of ideas and thoughts with an internal framework. Trusts flashes from the unconscious, which may be hard for others to understand.
Se Extraverted Sensing: Acts on concrete data from here and now. Trusts the present, then lets it go.
Ne Extraverted Intuition: Sees possibilities in the external world. Trusts flashes from the unconscious, which can then be shared with others.
Ti Introverted Thinking: Seeks internal consistency and logic of ideas. Trusts own internal framework, which may be difficult to explain to others.
Fi Introverted Feeling: Seeks harmony of action and thoughts with personal values. May not always articulate those values.
Te Extraverted Thinking: Seeks logic and consistency in the outside world. Concern for external laws and rules.
Fe Extraverted Feeling: Seeks harmony with and between people in the outside world. Interpersonal and cultural values are important.

Beebe

Source: Energies & Patterns in Psychological Type

Si implementing / verifying / accounting
Ni imagining / knowing / divining
Se engaging / experiencing / enjoying
Ne entertaining / envisioning / enabling
Ti naming / defining / understanding
Fi judging / appraising / establishing the value
Te regulating / planning / enforcing
Fe validating / affirming / relating

Nardi

Source: Neuroscience of Personality

Si compare something to expected details and reliable precedents
Ni realize a greater level of awareness to transform yourself
Se take tangible action relevant to the moment and current context
Ne flow with imaginative potential possibilities as they emerge
Ti analyze a problem using a framework, and find an angle or leverage by which to solve it
Fi choose and stick to what you believe is congruent with your personal identity
Te create structures, reason by measures and evidence, and implement plans
Fe connect with people by sharing values and taking on their needs and yours

Berens

Source: Understanding Yourself & Others

(S) Sensing: tangible, experiential awareness
(N) Intuiting: symbolic, conceptual awareness
(T) Thinking: assesses based on criteria/principles
(F) Feeling: assesses based on appropriateness/worth

When Si is the preferred process:

You tend to continually compare “what is” against what was before and then against what is expected to be.
Information from the past comes as a “knowing” that is rich in detail, and everything that is connected with that memory comes forward in sequence. Such experiences are truly energizing in their familiarity.
You focus on facts and stored data, often to get a more set understanding.
Your behavior is heavily influenced by prior experiences.
If something new doesn’t match something familiar, then you may ignore or forget it unless it is strongly experienced.
A whole host of past associations is easily triggered and reviewed before you accept current information as worthwhile.

When Ni is the preferred process:

You usually feel a certainty about what is going to happen, often without must detail and without being able to trace the actual data that would support the prediction.
You focus on “what will be”.
You are energized by transformational visions of how someone can grow or of a completely original approach to get there.
You are drawn to make those visions manifest.
Frequently you experience flashes of insight that present themselves as very broad themes and complex whole patterns or systems of thought without being triggered by external events.
Inner images come as a knowing that taps into universal symbols and with a certainty that they are true.

When Se is the preferred process:

You fully experience the immediate context to the point of “oneness” with whatever is going on.
You get energized when very in touch with the tangible environment and able to express yourself physically.
“What is” is appreciated for what it is and nothing beyond that.
You have very keen senses, intensifying rich sensory details and liking lots of stimulation and variety in activity.
You focus on facts and ask lots of questions when you’re not getting a clear picture.
You pay attention and respond quickly to the rapidly shifting information in a random and constantly changing scene, attending to what is most relevant at the time and ignoring the rest.

When Ne is the preferred process:

Much reading “between the lines” occurs.
Potential possibilities and meaning are “revealed” and must be explored.
You feel fully engaged in emerging new approaches to doing things and are energized by discovering other perspectives in an ever-shifting succession of ideas or insights triggered by the particular situation, much like brainstorming.
You frequently experience a flight of ideas that brings relevant pieces of information from one context into another.
“What is” is not seen for what it is but for its relationship to other things.
Everything is perceived in a context of a web of relationships. Nothing stands alone or is disconnected.

When Ti is a preferred process:

Identifying, naming, and classifying are second nature and almost impossible to avoid.
Often a refined categorization scheme is used that is not necessarily made public until something doesn’t fit and then inconsistencies will be quickly pointed out.
Delineating categories and articulating principles can be as energizing as analyzing and critiquing what is wrong with something.
There is a tendency to stay in a mode of detached analysis while getting at the root of things for effective problem solving.
You focus on finding just the right way to say something, often reporting only the essential characteristics rather than explanatory detail.
If something doesn’t fit the existing framework, you either reject it or thoroughly take it apart to see how it works. Sometimes the whole framework may have to be revised.

When Fi is a preferred process:

Often you have a gut feeling about whether personal, group, organizational behavior is congruent with values.
You often check behavior for authenticity and against beliefs to maintain inner harmony. When that harmony exists there is a sense of peace.
When you feel strongly, you point out contradictions and incongruities.
Fundamental truths are often the basis of your actions and standing up for these truths is energizing and compelling.
Often, you do not put your values and beliefs upon others or share them publicly until they are violated. These values can be highly specific to the individual or universals such as freedom, loyalty, and goodness.
You tend to see everything as having value (or worth), and view things in constant relation to one another.

When Te is a preferred process:

Organizing space, things, and ideas comes easily. Putting things in efficient order is an energizing activity in and of itself.
You map contingency plans, breaking things into workable elements and steps in order to be sure things get done.
There is a tendency to create and use organizing systems, new and conventional, like alphabetizing, numerical, sequences, PERT charts, organizational charts, matrices, tables, and so on.
Information is assessed based on the “laws” of either science or society, and logical explanations are sought for everything.
You actively influence others through reason, weight of measurable facts/data, and using a common vocabulary.
You are at ease with setting boundaries or limits and detaching while interacting with others.

When Fe is a preferred process:

You give attention to creating and maintaining harmonious relationships, often using social convention to keep harmony, to make people feel comfortable and included, and to keep the group intact.
Often you are at ease with social conversations and knowing just the right words to say to someone.
You easily disclose personal details to encourage others to express themselves.
You place importance on making space for the expression of feelings - positive and negative.
You organize time, space, and things in relation to the effects on people.
You often feel pulled to take care of everyone or even whole groups, either physically or emotionally. Meeting the needs of others is energizing until your own needs are ignored for too long.

Pearman

Source: I’m Not Crazy, I’m Just Not You

Si

Si is a function drawn to the concrete and specific details of any information presented. This leads to carefully moderated responses to questions or tasks. People with this preference believe in economy of effort, that performing a task consistently and persistently now will conserve the energy that otherwise would have to be spent later to correct mistakes. Because they are pulled to immediate concrete information, they often seem very realistic.

Descriptors: thoughtful realist, unhurried, tests ideas with facts, careful/calm/steady, consistent/reliable, fastidious, loyal, unassuming

Under Stress: stingy, unemotional, overly conventional

Ni

Ni is pulled toward the future and toward possibilities. This function is like an inner eye focused on what could be, rather than what is. As a consequence, individuals with this preference often seem scholarly or studious, as if looking toward the center of a problem. This tendency may show up as, for example, a knack for summarizing a long conversation in one sentence. Interpersonally, individuals who prefer Introverted Intuition are seen by others as calm and capable of concentrated attention.

Descriptors: values knowledge for its own sake, introspective, scholarly, likes ideas and theory, evaluates motives, sees to the heart of important problems, appreciative, formal, values intellectual matters

Under Stress: withdrawn, retiring, dreamy, hardheaded, reserved

Se

Se is expressed in quick-paced reporting in factual, pragmatic terms. Often pulled toward action-oriented responses, individuals with this preference seem efficiently forceful about getting the job done. After giving thorough attention to the specifics of any given situation, such people often have a good-natured response that suggests that whatever the problem, it can be solved.

Descriptors: action-oriented realist, practical, reliable, forceful, thorough, excitable, good-natured, knows who/what/when/where, good at easing tensions

Under Stress: unscrupulous, unkind, opportunistic, rigid

Ne

Ne has an enormous appetite for external possibilities. This leads to quick pursuit of ideas in conversations, fast-paced search for information, and interpersonal style that seems to adapt at will. Because individuals with this preference are drawn to many different experiences, they often have a resource bank of ideas to call on to aid them in discussions. This function exerts a fun-loving attitude—an interpersonal style of active engagement in whatever is going on.

Descriptors: action-oriented innovator, adaptable, verbally fluent, resourceful, active/enthusiastic, friendly/jolly, uninhibited, likes rapid tempo

Under Stress: distracted, impulsive, unrealistic in expectations, hasty, noisy

Ti

Ti is a pattern often experienced by others as a detached curiosity. This curiosity leads those who prefer it toward active but quiet analysis of nearly everything. Reveling in the complexity required to deal with the world, they are frequently seen as independent minded. Interpersonally, they may express skeptical acceptance of the world around them.

Descriptors: reflective reasoner, quiet, detachedly curious, analyzes inwardly, organizes ideas, values intellectual matters, seen as independent and autonomous, often critical and skeptical, original and imaginative, often unconventional

Under Stress: rebellious, nonconforming, restless, self-centered, defensive

Fi

Fi is often exhibited in quiet, deferent attitudes. Individuals expressing these preferences seem sensitive to the environment around them. Because the first response of Introverted Feeling is to accept the other person, a great deal of energy is spent helping the other to be comfortable. Given the inclination to focus on values as a basis for reacting to events, individuals with this preference seem unconventional to those with a focus on logical answers.

Descriptors: reflective harmonizer, quiet, deferent, cares about values and people, artistic (aesthetic), introspective, unusual or unconventional thinking, arouses liking and acceptance in people, sensitive

Under Stress: irritable, touchy, suspicious, undependable

Te

Te is a mental pattern of actively analyzing experience and information, and expressing this analysis in an energetic fashion. Individuals with this preference are often seen as having a plan, or model, to help adapt to and manage the world around them. Resourceful with ideas and suggestions, Extraverted Thinkers are often fluent critics and have ideas on how to improve just about anything put before them.

Descriptors: action-oriented thinker, critical, resourceful, proactive and systematic, has a basic formula about the world, energetic, prefers a rapid pace, reasonable and analytical, expressive, fluent, mentally versatile, high aspirations

Under Stress: arrogant and condescending, reckless and aggressive, opportunistic

Fe

Fe is expressed in an energetic, cooperative fashion with attention to social interaction in sympathetic and friendly behaviors. Often given to expressive engagement with others, when Extraverted Feeling is being used it appears to be drawn to others seeking inclusion in social affairs. While given to a cooperative spirit, individuals with this preference act quickly to address issues they see, believing they can achieve an idealistic goal that could help improve the human condition.

Descriptors: action-oriented cooperator, sympathetic, sociable and friendly, empathetic, affiliative, warm, wants inclusion, outgoing, gregarious, idealistic, facially expressive, energetic

Under Stress: impulsive, hasty, sentimental, fussy, self-dramatizing

Haas & Hunziker

Source: Building Blocks of Personality Type

Unique strengths of Si:

awareness of when something is out of place, whether it is an object in a room or a step in a process, by comparison to a remembered internal image of the same environment or procedure
learn from past experience, to rarely make the same mistake twice
a reliable knowledge of the steps, in sequence, involved in most events or projects
lend substance to the current situation by providing historical context
bring structure to the current task or situation based up on what has or has not worked before
careful attention to detail
detailed, vivid memory
stability

Unique strengths of Ni:

a capacity for seeing the shape of possible futures, unrestricted by time, place, concrete data, or events
grasping the whole context in a flash of insight
a tendency to fill the roles of prophets and visionary leaders to inspire cultural change toward new models of what can be
a talent for teaching a deeper level of understanding
connecting society to the intangible, metaphysical world (shamans)
a knack for putting things in a bigger context: a universal context of meaning
connecting to the collective unconscious

Unique strengths of Se:

accurate, objective, and detailed observation of a wide range of experiences in the current environment
enjoyment of life
can see all sides of an issue
an aptitude for hands-on work
extremely reliable visual perception
a talent for teaching others, by example, to smell the roses
a knack for bringing excitement and life to any group
realism and practicality

Unique strengths of Ne:

ingenious at coming up with possible solutions
filling in the blanks with people, objects, or events by connecting all the known information into explanations that fit
perception on a global scale
a knack for serving as a bridge between people, connecting their ideas and looking at alternative scenarios
teaching people new ways of looking at everything
a flair for presenting something familiar in a new and compelling way that induces people to rally in support
open-mindedness
a talent for creating options and opportunities

Unique strengths of Ti:

seeing the underlying framework of assumptions and the logical consequences
evaluation and planning of organizational process flow
a knack for thinking outside the box: unconventional perspectives and insights
detecting the illogic in conventional wisdom and the dysfunction in commonly accepted behavior
a capacity for presenting new explanations or conclusions without ego involvement
cutting through denial
the reassuring aura of stability that comes from always having a principle anchoring decisions and actions
systems thinking

Unique strengths of Fi:

knowing when others are in internal distress
a talent for helping people one-on-one
a knack for accepting and trusting people
exceptional authenticity and sincerity
moral stability
spirituality
gentleness
patience

Unique strengths of Te:

organizing ideas, objects, information, and so on in the external world to help others understand and use them
summarizing and codifying a nation’s or culture’s shared vision and morality into laws
leading logical group decision making
decisiveness
contingency planning
reliability in completing a task
equal treatment of all
objectivity

Unique strengths of Fe:

a talent for taking care of the needs of others
maintaining the social structure, standards, and conventions of a culture
maintaining society’s moral codes
empathy
a knack for appreciating and valuing others for who they are and the gifts that they possess
personal warmth
compassion
serving as the world’s social conscience

Thomson

Source: Personality Type: An Owner’s Manual

(some minor edits for brevity and clarity)

Si doms stabilize immediate sense impressions by integrating them with the ones they remember and care about. They find themselves in whatever is happening. They have the will to accumulate objects and details related to the things that matter most to them. Knowing what’s worth keeping or building again gives them a sense of continuity and security.
Ni doms have an unusual awareness of aspects of reality that aren’t being acknowledged. They are least accessible during the discovery process. They are solitary, sometimes obsessive, trying to fit their inner reality with an outward vocabulary. They may not even know what they’re after, and they won’t involve others in formulating their plans.
Se doms understand life by way of their surface perceptions, and they prefer situations that change quickly enough to hold their attention. Their senses may be so acute that they seem to be anticipating things before they actually happen. Such types need hands-on experience to feel in contact with life.
Ne doms need to see new options, the possibility of change, or room for improvement, otherwise they’re easily restless and bored. When their imagination is engaged, they appear to be falling in love. Whatever may have been felt or thought about yesterday is over, forgotten, without meaning. Their energies are devoted to anticipated prospects.
Ti doms coordinate behaviors with the variables in a situation to achieve their intended effect. They understand reality only in terms of their ability to “converse” with it, to take part in its “becoming”. They experience a symbiotic relationship between their intentions and the underlying structure of a situation. They simply won’t do what strikes them as not worth doing. When they feel related to a situation, they are unfailingly generous and almost without boundaries.
Fi doms bypass structural considerations and put human value first. They have a drive to connect their outward experience to fundamental human ideals. They have a wide range of self-presentations. Some are drawn to life pared to the human essentials, others are determined to help others, some make art, yet others put themselves on the line. In all cases, they hold with ideals that are larger, and more stable, than a universe of chance and possibility can contain, and the effort to do so gives them an almost karmic sense of good and bad.
Te doms have a strong sense of responsibility. They are not fuzzy about the principles they hold. They can articulate them, and they regard them as a basis for the kind of life they actually live. They try to live up to the roles they play in society. They are faithful to the categories of knowledge they’ve received, and they’re proud of their ability to fit themselves into a larger system and succeed on the terms specified.
Fe doms ’ primary focus of attention is people. They are not only energized by their relationships; they need peoples’ opinions and reactions in order to make objective decisions. Accordingly, they spend a fair amount of time in conversation - exchanging observations, getting feedback, offering advice, volleying plans and ideas, telling and hearing stories about things of mutual interest and concern. Unless they know real facts about people, they don’t have enough data to relate to them.

Multiple Perspectives

Each author brings a unique perspective on cognitive functions. Studying different approaches enriches your understanding.