The cognitive component is a positive particle-swarm parameter below two. It controls how strongly a particle is pulled toward its own personal best position, encouraging independent exploration instead of blindly following the swarm. section 7.8
The constant changes the swarm’s behavior:
- High cognitive and low social settings make particles “nostalgic loners” that spread out and revisit their own discoveries. section 7.8
- Low cognitive and high social settings make particles follow the current leader and converge quickly, possibly on a local optimum. section 7.8
Pulling a particle toward its best position
The cognitive acceleration is calculated from the cognitive constant and a random factor, then multiplied by the difference between the particle’s personal-best and current coordinates. That result contributes to the updated velocity.
