What you'll learn
Cognition covers memory, thinking, problem-solving, and language — how we process information.
Memory model
The three-stage model: sensory memory → short-term/working memory (~7±2 items, ~20s) → long-term memory (effectively unlimited).
- Encoding: getting information in (effortful vs automatic; deep/semantic encoding is strongest).
- Storage: retaining it. Retrieval: getting it out (recall vs recognition).
Improving & explaining memory
- Chunking and mnemonics aid encoding.
- Spacing effect and testing effect: distributed practice and self-testing beat cramming.
- Serial position effect: better recall of first (primacy) and last (recency) items.
- Long-term memory types: explicit (facts/events, via hippocampus) and implicit (skills/conditioning).
Forgetting
- Encoding failure, decay, interference (proactive: old disrupts new; retroactive: new disrupts old), and retrieval failure (tip-of-the-tongue).
- Misinformation effect: post-event information distorts memory (Loftus).
Thinking & problem-solving
- Algorithms (systematic, guaranteed) vs heuristics (mental shortcuts, fast but error-prone).
- Biases: confirmation bias, availability and representativeness heuristics, framing, anchoring.
- Obstacles: fixation, mental set, functional fixedness.
Language
Phonemes → morphemes → grammar (syntax/semantics). Stages: babbling → one-word → telegraphic speech. Debate over language and thought (linguistic influence).
Exam tips
- Apply terms to scenarios (the exam loves application).
- Distinguish proactive vs retroactive interference; recall vs recognition.
Common mistakes
- Confusing the two interference types.
- Calling every shortcut an 'algorithm' (shortcuts are heuristics).