Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of mental processes — how people perceive, attend, remember, think, solve problems, and use language. It examines the internal mechanisms that underlie human thought and behavior.

From the sensory systems that construct our experience of the world, through the attention mechanisms that select what we process, to the memory systems that store and retrieve knowledge — cognitive psychology maps the architecture of the mind.

This reference covers the full landscape — from foundational theories of perception and attention through memory, learning, language, and reasoning, to modern applications in education, clinical practice, AI, and neuroscience.

Mind = f(perception, attention, memory, language, thought)

Key Concepts

Core constructs and processes studied in cognitive psychology.

ATT

Attention

The cognitive process of selectively concentrating on relevant information while ignoring distractions. A fundamental bottleneck in information processing.

Capacity = f(arousal, task demands)

Example

Focusing on a conversation at a noisy party while filtering out background noise (cocktail party effect).

Working Memory

A limited-capacity system for temporarily holding and manipulating information during complex cognitive tasks like reasoning and comprehension.

WM span ≈ 4 ± 1 chunks

Example

Holding a phone number in mind while searching for a pen to write it down.

LTM

Long-Term Memory

The relatively permanent storage system that holds vast amounts of information for extended periods, from minutes to a lifetime.

Strength = f(encoding depth, rehearsal, spacing)

Example

Remembering your childhood home address or how to ride a bicycle decades later.

PER

Perception

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information to produce meaningful experience of the world.

Percept = f(stimulus, prior knowledge, context)

Example

Recognizing a friend's face in a crowd despite varying lighting and angles.

Executive Function

Higher-order cognitive processes that control and regulate other cognitive abilities and behaviors, including inhibition, shifting, and updating.

EF = inhibition + shifting + updating

Example

Suppressing the urge to check your phone while studying for an exam.

ENC

Encoding

The initial learning of information — the process of transforming sensory input into a memory representation that can be stored.

Retention = f(depth, elaboration, distinctiveness)

Example

Creating a vivid mental image to remember a new vocabulary word.

RET

Retrieval

The process of accessing stored information from memory. Success depends on the match between encoding context and retrieval cues.

P(recall) = f(cue-target association, interference)

Example

A familiar scent triggering a vivid childhood memory.

Cognitive Load

The total amount of mental effort being used in working memory. Too much load impairs learning and performance.

CL = intrinsic + extraneous + germane

Example

A poorly designed textbook that overwhelms students with irrelevant graphics increases extraneous load.

REP

Mental Representation

Internal cognitive symbols or structures that stand for external reality, including images, propositions, and schemas.

Representation = encode(stimulus, prior knowledge)

Example

Your mental map of your neighborhood that allows you to navigate without GPS.

AUTO

Automaticity

The ability to perform tasks with minimal conscious attention or effort, typically developed through extensive practice.

RT = a + b · log₂(practice trials)

Example

Experienced drivers shifting gears without conscious thought.

INH

Inhibition

The ability to suppress irrelevant or interfering information and prepotent responses. A core component of executive function.

Interference cost = RT(incongruent) − RT(congruent)

Example

Resisting the impulse to read a word aloud during a Stroop task when asked to name the ink color.

PRI

Priming

The phenomenon where exposure to one stimulus influences the response to a subsequent stimulus, without conscious awareness.

Priming effect = RT(unprimed) − RT(primed)

Example

Reading the word 'doctor' speeds up recognition of the word 'nurse' presented immediately after.

FLEX

Cognitive Flexibility

The mental ability to switch between thinking about different concepts or to think about multiple concepts simultaneously.

Switch cost = RT(switch trial) − RT(repeat trial)

Example

Adapting your communication style when switching from a casual conversation to a formal presentation.

CHK

Chunking

The process of grouping individual units of information into larger, meaningful units to expand the effective capacity of working memory.

Effective capacity = chunks × items_per_chunk

Example

Remembering a phone number as 555-867-5309 rather than ten individual digits.

SCH

Schemas

Organized patterns of thought or behavior that categorize information and the relationships among them. Guide perception, memory, and inference.

Interpretation = schema(stimulus) + context

Example

Your 'restaurant schema' lets you know to wait to be seated, order food, eat, pay, and leave.