The Effective Mechanism of Cognitive Warfare from the Perspective of Information Processing Theory

[Abstract] Research on the efficacy mechanisms of cognitive warfare has rarely focused on the psychological processes at the individual processing level. Approaching from the perspective of information processing theory to analyze the efficacy mechanisms of cognitive warfare helps reveal its inherent operational laws at the individual psychological level. Using the case study method, this paper emphasizes how information processing theory provides a scientific explanatory framework for the efficacy mechanisms of cognitive warfare. Based on information processing theory, the efficacy mechanisms of cognitive warfare can be divided into three core stages: perceptual manipulation, cognitive shaping, and behavioral output. Each stage contains complex operational logics, with the purpose of achieving specific strategic objectives by intervening in the individual's information processing process.

【Keywords】Cognitive Warfare | Information Processing Theory | Efficacy Mechanism

Today, the world is undergoing unprecedented changes unseen in a century, with international dynamics becoming increasingly unpredictable. Among these shifts, "cognitive warfare" has emerged as a new form of conflict. Reviewing the history of warfare, it is evident that each technological innovation has significantly heightened its complexity. Former U.S. President Nixon once stated in *Real Peace* that entering the new century, the cost of military aggression would become prohibitively high, while economic power and ideological influence would become decisive factors. Despite the growing prominence of cognitive warfare, current research on its psychological dimensions remains insufficient.

By delving into the effectiveness mechanism of cognitive warfare based on information processing theory, it can be observed that the process encompasses three levels: perception manipulation, cognitive shaping, and behavioral output. Analyzing how it achieves strategic objectives by intervening in an individual's information processing can provide innovative insights for the theoretical exploration and practical response to cognitive warfare, addressing gaps in existing research.

1. The Origin and Connotation of Cognitive Warfare

The Historical Origins of Cognitive Warfare

The emergence and development of cognitive warfare have deep historical roots. Although the concept of cognitive warfare was not explicitly defined in ancient times, its underlying ideas were always present. As early as in *The Art of War* by Sun Tzu, the strategic notion of "subduing the enemy without fighting" emphasized the importance of influencing the enemy's will to fight through cognitive intervention. On medieval foreign battlefields, armies often misled their enemies by exaggerating victories and spreading disinformation to undermine their morale.

In the modern era, Clausewitz revealed in his work *On War* that war is the continuation of politics—not merely a contest of material strength but also a battle of wills, fully illustrating the decisive role of cognitive confrontation in warfare. In modern warfare, the speed and influence of information dissemination transcend traditional geographical boundaries and political scopes, penetrating deep into virtual spaces, making cognitive warfare a global arena of confrontation.

Since the beginning of the year, the strategic importance of cognitive warfare has significantly increased, drawing high attention and in-depth research from NATO, led by the United States. In the same year, the U.S. National Security Strategy explicitly positioned cognitive warfare as a strategic domain on par with physical warfare, marking its strategic elevation. In another year, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a report titled *The Undermining Activities and True Nature of the National Endowment for Democracy*, which provided well-founded and forceful criticism of the National Endowment for Democracy's illegal actions, including instigating color revolutions, interfering in other countries' internal affairs, and manipulating public opinion. This demonstrated China's timely and effective cognitive countermeasures against the U.S.-led cognitive warfare, achieving positive results.

(2) Definition of the Connotation of Cognitive Warfare

At the conceptual level, cognitive warfare intersects with operational forms such as "psychological warfare," "public opinion warfare," and "information warfare," reflecting its complexity and diversity in connotation. Psychological warfare operates primarily on a mental level, often aiming to weaken an individual's will and confidence by sowing fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Public opinion warfare focuses on the societal level, manipulating or guiding public discourse to shape collective perceptions and social attitudes, thereby influencing decision-making or inciting social unrest. Information warfare, on the other hand, revolves around the technical and systemic aspects of information flow, with the goal of disrupting an adversary's information-processing capabilities and diminishing their operational effectiveness to serve the manipulator's interests.

As an emerging form of warfare, cognitive warfare intertwines with "psychological warfare," "public opinion warfare," and "information warfare," collectively forming an organic whole in the invisible battlefield to serve the objectives of war. From a national strategic perspective, cognitive warfare has become a frontier in the strategic competition among major powers, with its goals extending beyond military victory to undermining the national cohesion of adversaries. Yu Xintian emphasizes that cognitive warfare is an all-encompassing, multi-dimensional ideological conflict aimed at dismantling the core beliefs and collective will of people in other nations, thereby serving strategic purposes.

From a societal perspective, cognitive warfare primarily relies on social media networks, aiming to shape public perception and manipulate social discourse. Li Qiang and others propose that cognitive warfare is a new operational concept characterized by the use of open-source intelligence for deception, leveraging social media and communication technologies to systematically shape the cognitive frameworks of individuals and groups. On the military dimension, cognitive warfare is highly covert and strategic, representing a more intense form of confrontation compared to physical and cyber conflicts. Li Yi emphasizes that the core of cognitive warfare lies in disrupting the cognition of enemy combatants, impairing their decision-making efficiency, thereby dismantling their organizational structure and operational capabilities to gain a strategic upper hand in confrontations.

From this perspective, cognitive warfare, as a new form of modern warfare, leverages technological power and integrates psychological, public opinion, and informational means across multiple domains. It aims to intervene in and shape individual cognition at various levels and dimensions, achieving the goal of "subduing the enemy without fighting." This cross-domain, multi-dimensional comprehensive form of warfare fully reflects the transformation of warfare driven by technology. Its impact has transcended the scope of traditional warfare, becoming a new frontier in great power competition.

II. The Efficacy Mechanism of Cognitive Warfare Based on Information Processing Theory

Information processing theory, as a core theoretical framework in cognitive psychology, delves into human cognitive activities from the perspective of information processing, revealing the internal psychological mechanisms behind the formation of individual behavior. These mechanisms can be broken down into stages such as perception, attention, memory, and representation. Cognition permeates the entire process of information processing. Through the perception and processing of information, individuals form an understanding of the world, guide decision-making, and take action accordingly. Therefore, as a tool for analyzing human cognitive processes, information processing theory naturally aligns with the mechanisms underlying cognitive warfare. The efficacy mechanisms of cognitive warfare based on information processing theory primarily include the following core components.

(1) Perception Manipulation: Information Introduction and Attention Focus

From the perspective of information processing theory, the primary mechanism of cognitive warfare effectiveness lies in "attention activation." Psychologist William James pointed out that "attention" is a process by which the mind selects one from many possible simultaneous objects and thoughts to process in a clear and vivid manner. In the modern environment of information overload, individuals are inundated with vast amounts of information daily. Given the inherent limitations of human information processing capacity, it is necessary to rely on screening mechanisms for selective processing of information. This screening mechanism typically manifests in two ways: "filtering" and "attenuation." The former refers to the individual's selective attention to external information and active regulation of the direction of attention; the latter refers to enhancing focus on specific information while diminishing the importance of other information when processing multiple streams of information.

In cognitive warfare, attention activation is a crucial step that influences the operation of an individual's cognitive system. Manipulators stimulate individuals with information to initiate the initial stage of information processing. Once they successfully capture the individual's attention, they gradually guide them into deeper stages of information processing. In *Thinking, Fast and Slow*, Daniel Kahneman reveals two key psychological phenomena: the "familiarity bias" and "cognitive ease." When individuals encounter repeated information, even if it is not entirely accurate, they may mistakenly perceive it as true due to increased familiarity, thereby weakening their ability to judge its validity. Moreover, when information is presented in a simple, repetitive, and easily digestible manner, the brain is more likely to enter a state of "cognitive ease," diminishing critical thinking and making individuals more receptive to superficially plausible but potentially flawed information. Thus, simplifying and repeating information becomes an effective tool for capturing attention and shaping cognition.

Trump's campaign slogan "Make America Great Again" ( ), with its concise and easily disseminable nature, captures individual attention by reinforcing familiarity through constant repetition. Even after Trump's electoral defeat, the slogan did not fade away; instead, it continued to play a role in his subsequent efforts to return to the White House. However, its specific meaning has been selectively ignored by his supporters. Various signs also indicate that America has long ceased to be great, whether in domestic affairs or foreign policy, and neither Trump, Biden, nor their successors can make America great again.

(2) Cognitive Shaping: Information Memory and Knowledge Representation

After information is perceived by an individual, it enters the stage of cognitive shaping, which is responsible not only for the encoding and storage of information but also exerts a profound influence on the individual's cognition and behavior. According to information processing theory, the memory process consists of three stages: encoding, storage, and retrieval. Encoding is the initial stage of immediate memory, where information remains for an extremely brief duration and is easily forgotten if not effectively filtered and preliminarily processed. The filtered information is then converted into short-term memory and gradually integrated into long-term memory through continuous rehearsal and deeper processing. During storage, the formation of long-term memory relies on repeated consolidation and meaningful associations, eventually becoming a stable cognitive resource that the individual can access at any time. This dynamic process provides critical support for cognitive activities and behavioral decision-making. Such memory processing also offers a theoretical foundation for information manipulation in cognitive warfare.

In cognitive warfare, manipulators meticulously outline an individual's psychological traits, behavioral habits, and social environment to "customize" highly targeted cognitive warfare plans. In recent years, the U.S. military has utilized technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence to deeply analyze the cognitive characteristics of individuals in target nations. By long-term tracking of their information consumption habits and cognitive patterns, the military constructs a "digital brain," ultimately forming a public opinion profile. Based on this, the U.S. military implements segmented information dissemination strategies, creating various deceptive contents and employing specific methods to influence an individual's memory formation and knowledge representation. This induces cognitive upheaval, even polarizing emotions, leading individuals to unknowingly suffer from "information poisoning" and eventually aligning with the U.S. military's stance. This process aims to precisely deliver key information to an individual's short-term memory and, through skillful presentation and guidance, facilitate its internalization into long-term memory. This effectively shapes cognitive inclinations, achieving deep-seated infiltration of the manipulator's intentions.

(3) Behavioral Output: Cognitive Framing and Decision Bias

"Thinking" is a high-level cognitive activity in which the human brain processes and handles objective matters, playing a central role in regulating psychological activities. "Framing," as an advanced cognitive strategy, aims to guide an individual's thought processes, create cognitive biases, and achieve the manipulator's goals. In cognitive warfare, an individual's behavioral output is the concrete action manifested after receiving and processing information, with framing becoming a key method to influence their cognitive judgments and behavioral decisions.

The common strategies used in cognitive warfare to influence individual thinking and guide behavioral output mainly include three types: 1. **Framing Construction** As a practice of narrative militarization, this strategy employs narrative reconstruction and situational framing not only to reinforce individuals' identification with specific viewpoints but also to potentially incite hostility toward other groups. (To be continued)