Knowledge

Types of Knowledge

Knowledge can be broadly categorized into several distinct types, each with its own characteristics and applications:

Explicit Knowledge

• Definition: Knowledge that can be easily articulated, documented, stored, and retrieved. Think of manuals, reports, articles, and databases.
• Characteristics: Objective, logical, technical, easily shareable.
• Examples: Company data sheets, research reports, written customer service scripts. 

Implicit Knowledge

• Definition: Knowledge that is understood and applied but not formally documented, often gained through experience. It is the practical application of explicit knowledge.
• Characteristics: Less transparent and harder to explain than explicit knowledge, often acquired unconsciously.
• Examples: Knowing how to effectively communicate in different situations, understanding team dynamics, discerning a customer’s mood based on non-verbal cues. 

Tacit Knowledge

• Definition: Deeply embedded, intuitive, and experiential knowledge that is difficult to articulate or transfer. It is often unconscious and personal.
• Characteristics: Personal, context-specific, acquired through experience, intuitive, and informal.
• Examples: Language fluency, intuition, wisdom, experience gained through hands-on practice, riding a bicycle, kneading dough, knowing when a customer is getting frustrated.  

Declarative Knowledge

• Definition: Knowledge about facts, concepts, and principles – the “knowing that”.
• Characteristics: Can be declared or stated, provides the foundation for other forms of knowledge.
• Examples: Knowing that snow is white, knowing the rules of grammar, understanding historical facts. 

Procedural Knowledge

• Definition: Knowledge of how to do something or how to perform a task – the “knowing how”.
• Characteristics: Exercised in the performance of a task, often difficult to articulate.
• Examples: Knowing how to change a flat tire, playing an instrument, navigating to a room, using a specific computer program.  

A Priori Knowledge

• Definition: Knowledge that is independent of experience, relying on reason and logic.
• Characteristics: Can be known through pure thought, deduction, or reflection.
• Examples: Mathematical truths (e.g., 1 + 1 = 2), tautologies (e.g., “all bachelors are unmarried”), logical deductions.  

A Posteriori Knowledge

• Definition: Knowledge that is justified based on observational or empirical evidence, and experience.
• Characteristics: Requires input from the senses or reliance on experience.
• Examples: Personal experiences, scientific knowledge, historical knowledge, knowing that broccoli is green because you’ve seen it. 

Metacognitive Knowledge

• Definition: An individual’s understanding of their own cognitive abilities, learning strategies, and when to apply specific strategies.
• Characteristics: Includes declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge about one’s own thinking processes.
• Examples: Knowing that you learn best through visual aids, understanding how to use a mind map for studying, recognizing the effectiveness of summarization for certain subjects.  

Other Notable Types

• Conceptual Knowledge: Understanding the underlying ideas and principles.
• Embedded Knowledge: Knowledge ingrained in an organization’s processes, systems, products, and culture.
• Institutional Knowledge: The collective understanding, skills, processes, and historical context accumulated by an organization over time.
• Domain Expertise: Specialized knowledge within a particular area or field. 

These types of knowledge are interconnected and often work together to contribute to an individual’s or an organization’s overall understanding and capabilities.