An overview of the main developments in the field of cognitive science since its emergence in the mid-1950s along with, and in parallel to, the evolution of Cognitive Translation Studies from its disciplinary origins in the Leipzig school. The distinction between “micro-” and “macrocognition” is used as a topical thread in order to critically discuss some theoretical and methodological approaches, such as the models used to understand cognition and the locus where it is approached, the situatedness and distributedness of cognitive processes, their relation with emotions, and the compatibility of ethnographic studies and laboratory research.