cognitive psychology

American  

noun

1. the branch of psychology studying the mental processes involved in perception, learning, memory, and reasoning.

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cognitive psychology British  

noun

1. the psychological study of higher mental processes, including thinking and perception

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Etymology

Origin of cognitive psychology

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

This is sometimes called the “desirable difficulty” principle, and it’s one of the most robust findings in cognitive psychology.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

We employ models from social and cognitive psychology to understand how attitudes are formed and the role emotions play.

From Salon • Oct. 1, 2024

The LLMs were given a battery of 12 common tests from cognitive psychology to evaluate reasoning, including the Wason task, the Linda problem and the Monty Hall problem2.

From Science Daily • Jun. 5, 2024

Endel Tulving, whose insights into the structure of human memory and the way we recall the past revolutionized the field of cognitive psychology, died on Sept. 11 in Mississauga, Ontario.

From New York Times • Sep. 27, 2023

There is a concept in cognitive psychology called the channel capacity, which refers to the amount of space in our brain for certain kinds of information.

From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell