WGU D570 Cognitive Psychology EXAM | UPDATED
2026 REVIEW | ACCURATE ANSWERS | STEP-BY-STEP
SOLUTIONS
• psychologist who studied the quantitative measurement of mental processes -
✓✓ANSWER: Ebbinghaus
• psychologist who wrote the first psychology textbook; some of his observations
are still valid today. Observation of his own mind. -✓✓ANSWER: James
• system that creates mental representations of the world and controls mental
functions -✓✓ANSWER: mind
• mental processes involved in perception, attention, memory, language, problem
solving, reasoning, and decision making -✓✓ANSWER: cognition
• scientific study of the mind and mental processes -✓✓ANSWER: cognitive
psychology
• measurement of how long it takes to respond to presentation of a stimulus -
✓✓ANSWER: reaction time
• measurement of how long it takes to respond to a single stimulus -✓✓ANSWER:
simple reaction time
,• measurement of how long it takes to react to one of multiple stimuli -
✓✓ANSWER: choice reaction time
• approach to psychology that explained perception as the combination of small
elementary units called sensations -✓✓ANSWER: structuralism
• procedure in which trained participants described their experiences and
thought processes in response to stimuli -✓✓ANSWER: analytic introspection
• physiologist who performed the first cognitive psychology experiment -
✓✓ANSWER: Donders
• scientist who established the first laboratory of scientific psychology -
✓✓ANSWER: Wundt
• measure used by Ebbinghaus to determine the magnitude of memory left from
initial learning -✓✓ANSWER: savings
• plot showing the amount remembered versus the time between initial learning
and testing -✓✓ANSWER: savings curve
• approach by John Watson stating that observable conduct provides the only
valid data for psychology -✓✓ANSWER: behaviorism
• pairing of a stimulus with a neutral stimulus changes the response to the neutral
stimulus -✓✓ANSWER: classical conditioning
,• theory that behavior is strengthened by presentation of positive reinforcers or
withdrawal of negative reinforcers -✓✓ANSWER: operant conditioning
• mental conception of a spatial layout -✓✓ANSWER: cognitive map
• shift in psychology from the behaviorist approach to explaining behavior in
terms of the mind -✓✓ANSWER: cognitive revolution
• occurs when there is a shift in thinking from one scientific paradigm to another -
✓✓ANSWER: scientific revolution
• system of ideas that dominate science at a particular time -✓✓ANSWER:
paradigm
• change of a system of ideas that dominate science at a particular time -
✓✓ANSWER: paradigm shift
• concept of psychology that describes the mind as processing data through a
sequence of stages -✓✓ANSWER: information-processing approach
• ability of a computer to perform tasks usually associated with the human mind -
✓✓ANSWER: AI
• study of the behavior of people with brain damage -✓✓ANSWER:
neuropsychology
, • measurement of electrical responses of the nervous system -✓✓ANSWER:
electrophysiology
• technique that creates pictures of the brain -✓✓ANSWER: brain imaging
• Rejected analytic introspection / Little Albert Experiment / relationship btw
environment stimuli and behavior -✓✓ANSWER: Watson
• Operant Conditioning / Pos Reinforcement -✓✓ANSWER: Skinner
• Introduced cognitive map by rat in a maze experiment -✓✓ANSWER: Tolman
• Performed attention experiment -✓✓ANSWER: Cherry
• Wrote 1st Cog Psych Book & emphasized info-processing approach -
✓✓ANSWER: Neisser
• 1st Flow Diagram of the mind -✓✓ANSWER: Filter Model of Attention,
Broadbent
• In Filter Model of Attention what blocks unattended messages? -✓✓ANSWER:
Filter
2026 REVIEW | ACCURATE ANSWERS | STEP-BY-STEP
SOLUTIONS
• psychologist who studied the quantitative measurement of mental processes -
✓✓ANSWER: Ebbinghaus
• psychologist who wrote the first psychology textbook; some of his observations
are still valid today. Observation of his own mind. -✓✓ANSWER: James
• system that creates mental representations of the world and controls mental
functions -✓✓ANSWER: mind
• mental processes involved in perception, attention, memory, language, problem
solving, reasoning, and decision making -✓✓ANSWER: cognition
• scientific study of the mind and mental processes -✓✓ANSWER: cognitive
psychology
• measurement of how long it takes to respond to presentation of a stimulus -
✓✓ANSWER: reaction time
• measurement of how long it takes to respond to a single stimulus -✓✓ANSWER:
simple reaction time
,• measurement of how long it takes to react to one of multiple stimuli -
✓✓ANSWER: choice reaction time
• approach to psychology that explained perception as the combination of small
elementary units called sensations -✓✓ANSWER: structuralism
• procedure in which trained participants described their experiences and
thought processes in response to stimuli -✓✓ANSWER: analytic introspection
• physiologist who performed the first cognitive psychology experiment -
✓✓ANSWER: Donders
• scientist who established the first laboratory of scientific psychology -
✓✓ANSWER: Wundt
• measure used by Ebbinghaus to determine the magnitude of memory left from
initial learning -✓✓ANSWER: savings
• plot showing the amount remembered versus the time between initial learning
and testing -✓✓ANSWER: savings curve
• approach by John Watson stating that observable conduct provides the only
valid data for psychology -✓✓ANSWER: behaviorism
• pairing of a stimulus with a neutral stimulus changes the response to the neutral
stimulus -✓✓ANSWER: classical conditioning
,• theory that behavior is strengthened by presentation of positive reinforcers or
withdrawal of negative reinforcers -✓✓ANSWER: operant conditioning
• mental conception of a spatial layout -✓✓ANSWER: cognitive map
• shift in psychology from the behaviorist approach to explaining behavior in
terms of the mind -✓✓ANSWER: cognitive revolution
• occurs when there is a shift in thinking from one scientific paradigm to another -
✓✓ANSWER: scientific revolution
• system of ideas that dominate science at a particular time -✓✓ANSWER:
paradigm
• change of a system of ideas that dominate science at a particular time -
✓✓ANSWER: paradigm shift
• concept of psychology that describes the mind as processing data through a
sequence of stages -✓✓ANSWER: information-processing approach
• ability of a computer to perform tasks usually associated with the human mind -
✓✓ANSWER: AI
• study of the behavior of people with brain damage -✓✓ANSWER:
neuropsychology
, • measurement of electrical responses of the nervous system -✓✓ANSWER:
electrophysiology
• technique that creates pictures of the brain -✓✓ANSWER: brain imaging
• Rejected analytic introspection / Little Albert Experiment / relationship btw
environment stimuli and behavior -✓✓ANSWER: Watson
• Operant Conditioning / Pos Reinforcement -✓✓ANSWER: Skinner
• Introduced cognitive map by rat in a maze experiment -✓✓ANSWER: Tolman
• Performed attention experiment -✓✓ANSWER: Cherry
• Wrote 1st Cog Psych Book & emphasized info-processing approach -
✓✓ANSWER: Neisser
• 1st Flow Diagram of the mind -✓✓ANSWER: Filter Model of Attention,
Broadbent
• In Filter Model of Attention what blocks unattended messages? -✓✓ANSWER:
Filter
