College · PSYC 110
Cognitive Psychology (PSYC 110) — study guide & practice questions
Memory, attention, judgment, language, problem solving and intelligence.
Study guide
Sensory Memory & Attention
- Iconic (visual) and echoic (auditory) sensory memory hold a brief, near-complete copy of input; selective attention filters what gets processed further, though meaningful stimuli can still break through.
- Attention is a limited resource; practiced tasks become automatic, freeing capacity for controlled, effortful processing elsewhere.
Short-Term & Working Memory
- Short-term capacity is often cited as "7 ± 2" items (Miller), refined by later work to about 4 chunks; chunking increases effective capacity.
- Baddeley's model: a central executive coordinates the phonological loop, the visuospatial sketchpad, and the episodic buffer.
Long-Term Memory: Encoding & Storage
- Deeper (semantic) processing and elaborative rehearsal produce stronger retention than shallow processing or maintenance rehearsal.
- Explicit memory splits into episodic and semantic; implicit memory includes procedural memory and priming, and can survive damage to explicit memory.
Retrieval & Forgetting
- Encoding specificity: recall is best when retrieval cues match the conditions present at encoding.
- Interference (proactive: old disrupts new; retroactive: new disrupts old) and Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve explain why we lose access to memories; spaced repetition counters it.
Memory Errors & Reconstruction
- Memory is reconstructive, not a recording; the misinformation effect shows post-event information can distort recall of the original event.
- Eyewitness confidence doesn't guarantee accuracy; even vivid flashbulb memories decay and distort like ordinary ones.
Attention & Cognitive Load
- The Stroop effect shows automatic processing (reading) interfering with controlled processing (naming ink color).
- Cognitive load theory says minimizing extraneous load frees working memory for learning; "multitasking" is often just costly attention-switching.
Heuristics & Biases in Judgment
- Availability heuristic: judging likelihood by how easily examples come to mind, not actual frequency. Representativeness heuristic: judging by similarity to a stereotype, ignoring base rates.
- Anchoring and adjustment: relying too heavily on an initial number. Confirmation bias: favoring information that confirms existing beliefs.
Dual-Process Theory & Decision-Making
- System 1 (fast, automatic) drives most heuristics; System 2 (slow, deliberate) can override it but takes effort.
- Framing effects and prospect theory's loss aversion show how presentation shapes decisions; bounded rationality explains "satisficing" over exhaustive optimization.
Course modules
8 foundation modules free to read here; 2 advanced modules with Pro. Every module ends with a quiz in the app.
1. Sensory Memory & Attention Free
The brief snapshot that precedes memory, and how attention decides what survives it.
Read the 4 lessons →2. Short-Term & Working Memory Free
The limited-capacity system that holds information active, and Baddeley's model of how it's organized.
Read the 4 lessons →3. Long-Term Memory: Encoding & Storage Free
How information makes it into lasting memory, and the different forms that memory takes.
Read the 4 lessons →4. Retrieval & Forgetting Free
What makes a memory findable again, and the competing explanations for why we lose access to it.
Read the 4 lessons →5. Memory Errors & Reconstruction Free
Why memory isn't a recording, and how that shapes what happens to eyewitnesses and vivid memories alike.
Read the 4 lessons →6. Attention & Cognitive Load Free
How automatic and controlled processes interact, and what happens when working memory gets overloaded.
Read the 4 lessons →7. Heuristics & Biases in Judgment Free
The mental shortcuts that make quick judgments possible — and the systematic errors they produce.
Read the 4 lessons →8. Dual-Process Theory & Decision-Making Free
Two systems of thought, and how the way choices are framed can matter more than their substance.
Read the 4 lessons →9. Language & Thought Pro · AP Psych · Cognition
The building blocks of language, how children acquire it, the brain areas behind it, and whether language shapes thought.
10. Problem Solving, Reasoning & Intelligence Pro · AP Psych · Cognition
Strategies and obstacles in problem solving, deductive vs. inductive reasoning, theories of intelligence, and how intelligence tests are built and judged.
Sample practice questions
From module 1, Sensory Memory & Attention. Pick your answers, then check them in the app, with an explanation for every question.
1. What is the "cocktail party effect"?
2. Why is dividing attention between two verbal tasks typically harder than a verbal and spatial task together?
Sample flashcards
4 of the cards in this course's deck. Tap a card to flip it.
MemoryWhat are the three stages of the Atkinson–Shiffrin memory model?
Sensory memory → short-term (working) memory → long-term memory, with attention and rehearsal/encoding moving information along.
MemoryWhat is the capacity of short-term memory?
Miller's "7 ± 2" items; later work suggests closer to about 4 chunks. Chunking increases how much you can hold.
Working MemoryName the components of Baddeley's working memory model.
The central executive, the phonological loop, the visuospatial sketchpad and the episodic buffer.
RetrievalWhat is the encoding specificity principle?
Recall is best when the cues at retrieval match those present at encoding (Tulving), which is why context can help or hurt memory.
The full course is in LectureMate's Course Library: every module quiz with explanations, the complete flashcard deck with spaced repetition, and a 6-step strategy for Cognitive Psychology questions. Foundation modules are free; advanced modules need Pro.