cognize

To know, perceive, or become aware of.

[T]hey must possess organs of sight—some method of cognizing their environment—akin to that of vision in man.

To make into an object of cognition (the process of acquiring knowledge through thought); to cogitate.

Cognizing about mind is a ubiquitous human activity; we consistently construe each other as agents undertaking intentional action based on our underlying beliefs and desires (and not as "bags of skin stuffed into pieces of cloth")

“Thinking a lot” also involves other types of cognizing as well, such as cognizing about depressive themes such as being left by a wife for another man or being separated from relatives.