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

Herbert A. Simon was a pioneer of artificial intelligence and cognitive psychology.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 11, 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

“Showcase how your start-up combines A.I. with other fields, such as cognitive psychology, linguistics or neuroscience, to create innovative solutions,” ChatGPT said.

From New York Times • Mar. 29, 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