Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive psychology explores the branch of mental science that deals with motivation, problem-solving, decision-making, thinking, learning, memory, and attention.
woman writing math formula on glass
Developing Logical Mathematical Intelligence
woman looking out
Why Am I Having a Premonition?
image of the word "square" repeated over and over again
Semantic Satiation: Why Do Some Words Suddenly Become Meaningless?
a person eating a bowl of alphabet soup, with the letters in their spoon spelling out the word yes. The soup shows the person's reflection as well.
What Does It Mean If You Have Apophenia?
young woman thinking
Prospective Memory and How to Remember Your Future Intentions
book club
A Comprehensive Guide to Verbal Linguistic Intelligence
Two woman vacationing together in Europe, stop to admire the paintings at an outdoor market stall.
How to Develop Interpersonal Intelligence
young woman putting a puzzle together
Understanding and Developing Visual-Spatial Intelligence
woman looking up to the sky, illuminated
Intrapersonal Intelligence: A Comprehensive Guide
double exposure of mans head and green trees
Naturalistic Intelligence and the Power of Environmental Awareness
Person's hand holding a human skull
Terror Management Theory: How Humans Cope With the Awareness of Their Own Death
variety of instant film travel photos laid out on a table
Eidetic Memory: The Reality Behind the 'Photographic' Mind
older man driving car
How Automatic Processing Shapes Our Everyday Experiences
man standing in front of holographic background
The Flynn Effect: What's Behind Rising IQ Scores?
Young college girl taking exam and getting stressed
Does Rote Memorization Actually Help Us Learn New Things?
Woman at home listening to music and drinking coffee with a cat on her shoulder
The Science Behind Echoic Memory: How Sound Lingers in Your Mind
Woman working on a puzzle at a table in the living room of her modern comfortable house. Girl doing jigsaw game challenge for mental health and to relax while having cup of coffee in a lounge at home
How Does the Forebrain Function?
Fortune teller hands and tarot cards on wooden table
Are You a Victim of the Barnum Effect? Understanding the Psychology of Generalizations
Unkind teenagers looking laughing at black classmate, focus on mixed race unhappy shy and frustrated girl wearing glasses sitting at closed posture arms crossed feeling insecure having low self-esteem
Signs of Different Types of Biases and How to Overcome Each of Them
World Trade Center, Tribute in Light and the Statue of Liberty on 9/11
Flashbulb Memory: What to Know About Vivid Recall
businessman leaving an office lobby
The Sunk Cost Fallacy: How It Affects Your Life Decisions
Woman using laptop computer at home and thinking
Does Everyone Have an Inner Monologue?
Memories box in book shelf
Different Types of Memories
A woman sitting at her desk in an office.
How We Use Abstract Thinking
Woman smiling
An Overview of Broaden and Build Theory
Man holding an instant film photo of the Basilique Du Sacre Coeur in front of the scene
The Mandela Effect: How Masses of People Can Have the Same False Memory
Boy struggling to remember
The Recency Effect in Psychology
A woman envisioning a galaxy and a man unable to envision anything
What It's Like to Have Aphantasia
Woman listening music bending on street
What Is Willpower?
Symptoms of confabulation
Confabulation: Why We Generate False Memories
Yellow red green stroop effect test
How the Stroop Effect Works
The Dunning-Kruger Effect
How the Dunning-Kruger Effect Works
Repression vs. suppression
Repression in Psychology
Smiling senior women walking in a sunny park
How to Prevent Brain Shrinkage With Age
Anterograde amnesia
What Is Anterograde Amnesia?
Brunette woman wearing swimsuit smiles and wades in the ocean at sunset
What Is Sensory Memory?
Hispanic woman looking at restaurant menu
How the Status Quo Bias Affects Our Decisions
average iq chart
What's the Average IQ?
The conscious mind
Freud's Unconcious, Preconscious, and Conscious Minds
Learning disabilities often come with a higher IQ.
What Is a Genius IQ Score?
Happy female runner holding water bottle
Intrinsic Motivation: How Internal Rewards Drive Behavior
Training dog
Acquisition in Classical Conditioning
difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation
Intrinsic Motivation vs. Extrinsic Motivation: What's the Difference?
two elementary school girls using tablet in classroom
How Latent Learning Works According to Psychology
Male student with hands on his head in classroom
How Mental Sets Can Prohibit Problem Solving
illustration of woman in the middle of components of general intelligence
How General Intelligence (G Factor) Is Determined
Opponent process theory of color vision
The Opponent Process Theory of Color Vision
Close up of yellow flower petals
The Psychology of the Color Yellow
Aerial view of Pacific Islander woman running in parking lot
How Cognitive Biases Influence the Way You Think and Act
plastic brain plugged into computer to represent implicit and explicit memory formation
Implicit Memory vs. Explicit Memory
cognitive dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance and the Discomfort of Holding Conflicting Beliefs
Two female friends cheering
How the Overjustification Effect Reduces Motivation
two asian children playing chess at a table outside
Genetic and Environmental Influences on Intelligence
Woman brainstorming while looking at notes on office wall
How Long-Term Memory Retrieval Works
A brain maze representing a heuristic or mental shortcut
What Are Heuristics?
Students making notes at picnic table while adult woman looks on
Kolb's Cycle of Learning
Vases and figures optical illusion
Figure-Ground Perception in Psychology
closeup of an eye
Iconic Memory and Visual Stimuli
Woman looking through photo album
What Is Episodic Memory?
States of Consciousness
States of Consciousness