This paper introduces the Structural Cognitive Topology Assessment (SCTA), a systems-oriented cognitive framework developed within the cognitive branch of the Paton System. Rather than treating intelligence as a fixed hierarchical ranking based on isolated performance metrics, the SCTA models cognition as a dynamic structural topology operating under recursive load, interruption pressure, environmental coupling, sensory saturation, and continuity-maintenance demands. The framework proposes a shift away from asking: “How smart is someone?” toward: “How does a cognitive system preserve continuity while traversing complexity?” The paper reframes cognition through: continuity preservation, environmental compatibility, recursive load management, interruption recovery, transduction cost, and structural coherence under pressure. Key concepts include: Recursive Layer Integration Density (RLID) Continuity Maintenance Capacity (CMC) Persistence Locking Mechanisms (PLM) Cognitive Transduction Tax Environmental Load Coupling (ELC) Recursive Saturation Thresholds Terrain-based cognitive topology Structural vector-space cognition mapping The framework intentionally rejects superiority-based interpretations of cognition and instead models different cognitive architectures as differently optimized systems possessing different strengths, vulnerabilities, energetic costs, reconstruction capacities, and environmental compatibilities.
Andrew John Paton (Tue,) studied this question.