Picking up a phone and dialing it and fully expecting to reach a particular person at the other end of the line is so common in the United States as to be considered a very natural act and expectation. But the users at both ends of the line have understood and can apply complex forms of information about the telephone system. Beyond that, the two users have knowledge of, comprehend, and can apply what they know about language and verbal communication to the vast quantity of information that makes up a language. The next higher level of cognition is analysis . One can take a simple seven-digit telephone number and analyze it.
Most people know that the first three digits of a telephone number are the phone company exchange.
But let's take this telephone discussion one step further, on to synthesis of information. Synthesis Synthesis involves the ability to take different bits of information and put them together in unique ways. Synthesis allows you to blend or integrate information form a number of sources or multiple bits of information from a single source. If I dial 2720 and someone other than my chair answers, then I must evaluate the accumulation of knowledge I have about phones, the campus phone system, and my chair's extension. If I am unable to evaluate the information then I am unable to determine its usefulness in reaching my chair.