WGU D570 Cognitive Psychology EXAM | 2026 STUDY
GUIDE | DETAILED ANSWER EXPLANATIONS
• biological milestones -✓✓ANSWER: universal developmental events, such as
puberty
• cognition -✓✓ANSWER: all mental abilities, including perceiving, learning,
remembering, thinking, reasoning, and understanding
• cognitive development -✓✓ANSWER: development of thinking and reasoning
abilities
• developmental milestones -✓✓ANSWER: normative events marking stages in
development
• fluid intelligence -✓✓ANSWER: information processing abilities, such as logical
reasoning, spatial ability, and reaction time
• genotype -✓✓ANSWER: genetic makeup influencing traits
• learning -✓✓ANSWER: the improvement of an organism's response to the
environment through the acquisition of new information
• memory -✓✓ANSWER: the study of the capacity and fragility of human memory,
focusing on acquisition, storage, and retrieval
,• Neuroplasticity -✓✓ANSWER: the brain's capacity to reorganize and adapt
• normative approach -✓✓ANSWER: study of age-related averages for
developmental milestones
• object permanence -✓✓ANSWER: understanding that objects continue to exist
even when out of sight
• psychosocial development -✓✓ANSWER: development related to emotions,
personality, and social relationships
• action potential -✓✓ANSWER: propagated electrical potential responsible for
transmitting neural information and for communication between neurons. Action
potentials typically travel down a neuron's axon.
• Broca's area -✓✓ANSWER: in the frontal lobe, identified as specialized for
language production
• cerebral cortex -✓✓ANSWER: a layer of tissue about 3 mm thick covering the
brain, responsible for many cognitive functions
• connectome -✓✓ANSWER: the structural description of the network of
elements and connections forming the human brain, often referred to as the
wiring diagram of neurons in the brain
, • Default Mode Network (DMN) -✓✓ANSWER: a network of brain structures that
respond when a person is not involved in specific tasks. The DMN is associated
with mind wandering and becomes active during rest
• distributed processing -✓✓ANSWER: the idea that different areas of the brain
are involved in a particular type of cognition and are interconnected, allowing
communication between them
• distributed representation -✓✓ANSWER: cognitions activate several areas of
the brain, which is evident in responses to faces, memories, and language
processing
• experience-dependent placicity -✓✓ANSWER: a phenomenon where the
structure of the brain is changed by experience, leading to alterations in neural
connections
• hierarchical processing -✓✓ANSWER: a progression from lower to higher areas
of the brain, where neurons at higher levels respond to more complex stimuli
• localization of function -✓✓ANSWER: principle of brain organization where
specific areas of the brain serve specific functions
• neurotransmitter -✓✓ANSWER: a chemical released at the synapse of a neuron,
facilitating the transmission of signals across the gap to another neuron
• brain imaging -✓✓ANSWER: a technique that measures brain activity by
capturing images of the brain, often using methods such as functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI).
GUIDE | DETAILED ANSWER EXPLANATIONS
• biological milestones -✓✓ANSWER: universal developmental events, such as
puberty
• cognition -✓✓ANSWER: all mental abilities, including perceiving, learning,
remembering, thinking, reasoning, and understanding
• cognitive development -✓✓ANSWER: development of thinking and reasoning
abilities
• developmental milestones -✓✓ANSWER: normative events marking stages in
development
• fluid intelligence -✓✓ANSWER: information processing abilities, such as logical
reasoning, spatial ability, and reaction time
• genotype -✓✓ANSWER: genetic makeup influencing traits
• learning -✓✓ANSWER: the improvement of an organism's response to the
environment through the acquisition of new information
• memory -✓✓ANSWER: the study of the capacity and fragility of human memory,
focusing on acquisition, storage, and retrieval
,• Neuroplasticity -✓✓ANSWER: the brain's capacity to reorganize and adapt
• normative approach -✓✓ANSWER: study of age-related averages for
developmental milestones
• object permanence -✓✓ANSWER: understanding that objects continue to exist
even when out of sight
• psychosocial development -✓✓ANSWER: development related to emotions,
personality, and social relationships
• action potential -✓✓ANSWER: propagated electrical potential responsible for
transmitting neural information and for communication between neurons. Action
potentials typically travel down a neuron's axon.
• Broca's area -✓✓ANSWER: in the frontal lobe, identified as specialized for
language production
• cerebral cortex -✓✓ANSWER: a layer of tissue about 3 mm thick covering the
brain, responsible for many cognitive functions
• connectome -✓✓ANSWER: the structural description of the network of
elements and connections forming the human brain, often referred to as the
wiring diagram of neurons in the brain
, • Default Mode Network (DMN) -✓✓ANSWER: a network of brain structures that
respond when a person is not involved in specific tasks. The DMN is associated
with mind wandering and becomes active during rest
• distributed processing -✓✓ANSWER: the idea that different areas of the brain
are involved in a particular type of cognition and are interconnected, allowing
communication between them
• distributed representation -✓✓ANSWER: cognitions activate several areas of
the brain, which is evident in responses to faces, memories, and language
processing
• experience-dependent placicity -✓✓ANSWER: a phenomenon where the
structure of the brain is changed by experience, leading to alterations in neural
connections
• hierarchical processing -✓✓ANSWER: a progression from lower to higher areas
of the brain, where neurons at higher levels respond to more complex stimuli
• localization of function -✓✓ANSWER: principle of brain organization where
specific areas of the brain serve specific functions
• neurotransmitter -✓✓ANSWER: a chemical released at the synapse of a neuron,
facilitating the transmission of signals across the gap to another neuron
• brain imaging -✓✓ANSWER: a technique that measures brain activity by
capturing images of the brain, often using methods such as functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI).
