theory of preformation(n = noun.cognition) preformation - a theory (popular in the 18th century and now discredited) that an individual develops by simple enlargement of a tiny fully formed organism (a homunculus) that exists in the germ cell;
is a kind of theory

arrhenius theory of dissociation, association theory, atomic theory, atomist theory, atomistic theory, big bang theory, big-bang theory, bohr theory, cell theory, communication theory, control theory, corpuscular theory, corpuscular theory of light, domino theory, economic theory, einstein's general theory of relativity, einstein's special theory of relativity, einstein's theory of relativity, field theory, galois theory, game theory, general relativity theory, general theory of relativity, germ theory, grand unification theory, grand unified theory, gravitational theory, group theory, holistic theory, in theory, information theory, kinetic theory, kinetic theory of gases, kinetic theory of heat, malthusian theory, newton's theory of gravitation, ostwald's theory of indicators, philosophical theory, plate tectonic theory, political theory, preformation, probability theory, quantum field theory, quantum theory, relativity theory, scientific theory, set theory, side-chain theory, special relativity theory, special theory of relativity, string theory, theory, theory of dissociation, theory of electrolytic dissociation, theory of evolution, theory of games, theory of gravitation, theory of gravity, theory of indicators, theory of inheritance, theory of organic evolution, theory of punctuated equilibrium, theory of relativity, undulatory theory, vortex theory, wave theory, wave theory of light