Abstract

Contemporary cognitive science offers limited conceptual tools for describing systematic variation in how individuals maintain coherence under conditions of high informational load. While existing models address attention, working memory, predictive processing, and cognitive style, they do not adequately capture deeper structural differences in how minds compress, integrate, and stabilize representations of reality. This paper proposes a conceptual framework of cognitive compression styles: distinct information-processing architectures that organize perception, meaning-making, and coherence through different compression strategies. The framework identifies seven compression styles. Pattern-sensitive, associative, immersive, sequential, narrative, social-reflective, and integrative. Examining how each exhibits characteristic failure modes under conditions of environmental overload, optimization pressure, and constraint loss. The model is descriptive rather than diagnostic and is intended as a theoretical lens for understanding differential cognitive stability in contemporary high-noise digital environments.