Cognitive Foundations
Current version rendered 2025-07-11
About
About the Book
This open-access textbook introduces the core topics in cognitive psychology for anyone teaching or taking a survey course on the subject. It is designed to be accessible to students from all backgrounds, including those with no prior coursework in psychology. The book covers foundational concepts such as perception, attention, memory, language, reasoning, and problem solving, introducing classic research alongside contemporary perspectives.
The textbook represents the work of dozens of authors and collaborators. The first edition aggregated multiple Open Educational Resources, which were then edited into a single book with consistent voice and formatting. For the second edition, a team of graduate student content experts comprehensively reviewed and updated the materials. The current version includes ongoing improvements and revisions.
Celeste Pilegard, Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, San Diego, leads the book project. The full list of authors and contributors appears in the version history and attributions below.
The book was formatted using bookdown, an R package.
Adoption and Contact Information
ISBN Information
ISBN 979-8-9912306-0-5 corresponds to the PDF version of Cognitive Foundations v2.0, published July 25, 2024, permanently available at https://github.com/pilegard/cogfoundations/releases/tag/v2.0.
This ISBN is provided for instructors whose institutions require one for textbook adoption. Since ISBNs must reference a stable document, this ISBN refers to the specific v2.0 release. However, this book is continuously updated with improvements and corrections. You are viewing the current version of Cognitive Foundations with ongoing improvements since v2.0, available at https://pilegard.github.io/cogfoundations/.
Feedback and Contact
Please let us know if you adopt the book in your course – we love hearing how it’s being used! To provide feedback or report errors:
- Use our feedback form to tell us about your adoption, report errors, or submit general comments
- Submit technical issues or suggestions via GitHub
- Send an email with “Cognitive Foundations OER” in the subject line for specific inquiries
Version History
Brief descriptions of each textbook edition are given below; for a full description of edits see License and Attributions.
Current Version
Revisions since second edition:
- Bill Pepe (Knowledge) – Final CDIIP-funded graduate student content expert revision
- Revisions to History and Research Methods, Reasoning and Decision Making, and all chapter intros by C. Pilegard
Second Edition
The second edition of this book builds on the first edition with updates, improvements, and edits by a team of UC San Diego graduate student content experts:
- Catherine Arnett (Language)
- Pria Daniel (Attention)
- Mohan Gupta (Long-Term Memory)
- Leo Kleiman-Lynch (Reasoning and Decision Making)
- Hayden Schill (Perception, Working Memory)
- Anne Yilmaz (Memory in Context)
Additionally, Annie S. Ditta (UC Riverside) completed the second edition edits to the Problem Solving chapter. M. Gupta and C. Pilegard converted the book to bookdown. C. Pilegard redesigned the book layout, updated figures throughout, updated the chapter on History, and edited all chapters. We thank John Wixted for his feedback on portions of the chapters on memory.
The second edition of this book was supported by a Course Development and Instructional Improvement Program grant awarded to C. Pilegard. The program is sponsored by the Division of Undergraduate Education at the University of California, San Diego.
First Edition
The first edition of this book was remixed from multiple Open Educational Resources by Celeste Pilegard. The original authors of the work aggregated for the first edition of the book are listed below:
- Mehgan Andrade, College of the Canyons
- Mara Aruguete, Lincoln University
- David B. Baker, University of Akron
- Laura Bryant, Eastern Gateway Community College
- Barbara Chappell, Walden University
- Kathryn Dumper, Bainbridge State College
- Frances Friedrich, University of Utah
- William J. Jenkins, Mercer University
- Arlene Lacombe, Saint Joseph’s University
- Cara Laney, Reed College
- Julie Lazzara, Paradise Valley Community College
- Elizabeth F. Loftus, University of California, Irvine
- Marilyn D. Lovett, Spelman College
- Tammy McClain, West Liberty University
- Richard Milich, University of Kentucky
- Gregory Murphy, New York University
- Barbara B. Oswald, Miami University
- Marion Perlmutter, University of Michigan
- Walter Roberts, University of Kentucky
- Christie Napa Scollon, Singapore Management University
- Heather Sperry, University of Akron
- Rose M. Spielman, Formerly of Quinnipiac University
- Charles Stangor, University of Maryland
- Mark D. Thomas, Albany State University
- Jennifer Walinga, Royal Roads University
- Neil Walker, College of the Canyons
- Authors of the Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience Wikibook
- Wikipedia authors
C. Pilegard authored original portions of the first edition where noted below.
Many thanks to the original authors for their work and for choosing open licenses.
License and Attributions
Unless otherwise noted, this work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.
Front cover photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash.
The detailed attributions below are provided to meet Creative Commons licensing requirements and to acknowledge all contributors’ work. All revisions were made by C. Pilegard unless otherwise noted.
Chapter 1. History and Research Methods
First edition
Rise of Cognitive Psychology
Source: Spielman, R. M., Dumper, K., Jenkins, W., Lacombe, A., Lovett, M., & Perlmutter, M. (2014). Psychology. Houston, Tx: OpenStax.
Psychology by Spielman et al. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.
Condensed from original
Source: Baker, D. B. & Sperry, H. (2019). History of psychology. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. Retrieved from http://noba.to/j8xkgcz5
History of Psychology by David B. Baker and Heather Sperry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Condensed from original
Research Methods in Psychology
Source: Scollon, C. N. (2019). Research designs. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. Retrieved from http://noba.to/acxb2thy
Research Designs by Christie Napa Scollon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
Condensed from original; Example experiment under “Experimental research” changed to Mueller and Oppenheimer (2014).
Chapter 2. Perception
First edition
Perception
Source: Stangor, C. and Walinga, J. Introduction to Psychology – 1st Canadian Edition. Victoria, B.C.: BCcampus. Retrieved from: https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontopsychology/
Introduction to Psychology - 1st Canadian Edition by Charles Stangor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Changes and additions (c) 2014 Jennifer Walinga, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Condensed from Walinga version; American spellings used; Imperial measurements used; some content adapted to suit course.
Chapter 3. Attention
First edition
Attention
Source: Friedrich, F. (2019). Attention. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. Retrieved from http://noba.to/uv9x8df5
Attention by Frances Friedrich is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Condensed from original version; some content adapted to suit course.
Source: Milich, R. & Roberts, W. (2022). Adhd and behavior disorders in children. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. Retrieved from http://noba.to/cpxg6b27
ADHD and Behavior Disorders in Children by Richard Milich and Walter Roberts are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Condensed from original version; some content adapted to suit course.
Second edition
Second edition revisions by Pria Daniel: Chapter edited throughout for clarity. Section on Controlling Attention added. Sections on Divided Attention and Multitasking condensed and added to Controlling Attention. Box about Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) added. Learning Objectives, Key Takeaways, Exercises, and Glossary added.
Cover photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash.
Chapter 4. Working Memory
First edition
Working Memory
Source: Multiple authors. Memory. In Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience. Wikibooks. Retrieved from https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cognitive_Psychology_and_Cognitive_Neuroscience
Wikibooks are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Condensed from original version. American spellings used. Content added or changed to reflect American perspective and references. Context and transitions added throughout. Substantially edited, adapted, and (in some parts) rewritten for clarity and course relevance. Chapter introduction added. Content added including transition from STM to WM approach, description of episodic buffer, description and evidence for working memory components, addition of episodic buffer.
Chapter 5. Long-Term Memory
First edition
Long term memory
Source: Stangor, C. and Walinga, J. (2014). Introduction to Psychology – 1st Canadian Edition. Victoria, B.C.: BCcampus. Retrieved from: https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontopsychology/
Introduction to Psychology - 1st Canadian Edition by Charles Stangor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Changes and additions (c) 2014 Jennifer Walinga, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Condensed from Walinga version; American spellings used; Imperial measurements used; some content adapted to suit course.
Serial position curve information from: Andrade, M., & Walker, N. (n.d.) Cognitive Psychology. Cognitive Psychology by Mehgan Andrade and Neil Walker is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution4.0 International License.
Encoding, Retrieval, and Consolidation
Source: The following entries accessed from http:/www.en.wikipedia.org/ served as sources for this chapter: Memory Rehearsal; Levels-of-processing Effect; Testing Effect; Encoding Specificity Principle; Transfer-Appropriate Processing; Memory Consolidation.
Wikipedia text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Chapter introduction added. Transitions and images added. Edited for content and clarity throughout.
Some encoding specificity principle information from: Andrade, M., & Walker, N. (n.d.) Cognitive Psychology.
Cognitive Psychology by Mehgan Andrade and Neil Walker is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution4.0 International License.
Second edition
Second edition revisions by Mohan Gupta: Simplified the differences between computers and brains. Additional section of the testing effect and an explanation of a possible mechanism. Addition of the spacing effect and the current mechanisms that we know contribute to it. Clarification of memory consolidation and its relation to sleep. Sleep does not cause more learning, it only reduces interference from other memories. Addition of targeted memory reactivation box during sleep, where it is possible to increase the memory strength during sleep. Language updated to reflect Wixted (2024) on the Atkinson/Shiffrin model.
Cover photo by Tao Yuan on Unsplash.
Chapter 6. Memory in Context
First edition
Memory in Context
Kinds of Memory Biases; Misinformation Effect
Source: Laney, C. & Loftus, E. F. (2019). Eyewitness testimony and memory biases. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. Retrieved from http://noba.to/uy49tm37
Eyewitness Testimony and Memory Biases by Cara Laney and Elizabeth F. Loftus is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Condensed from original
Schematic Processing; Source Monitoring; Flashbulb Memories
Stangor, C. and Walinga, J. (2014). Introduction to Psychology – 1st Canadian Edition. Victoria, B.C.: BCcampus. Retrieved from: https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontopsychology/
Introduction to Psychology - 1st Canadian Edition by Charles Stangor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Changes and additions (c) 2014 Jennifer Walinga, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Condensed from original; American spellings used; cultural references updated for American audience
Forgetting
Source: Spielman, R. M. OpenStax, Psychology. OpenStax CNX. http://cnx.org/contents/4abf04bf-93a0-45c3-9cbc-2cefd46e68cc@12.2.
Psychology by Spielman (+ multiple authors) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Condensed from original
Second edition
Second edition revisions by Anne Yilmaz: Edits for clarity and additional context throughout. Added content on distinction between retrieval and recognition. Emphasis added to demonstrate role of memory contamination over time to reflect more recent research. Citations and characterization of eyewitness memory research substantially updated.
Cover photo by Alex Grodkiewicz on Unsplash.
Chapter 7. Knowledge
First edition
Knowledge
Introduction through Theories of Concept Representation
Source: Murphy, G. (2019). Categories and concepts. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. Retrieved from http://noba.to/6vu4cpkt
Categories and Concepts by Gregory Murphy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Condensed from original version.
Concept Organization
Source: Multiple authors. Memory. In Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience. Wikibooks. Retrieved from https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cognitive_Psychology_and_Cognitive_Neuroscience\
Wikibooks are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Condensed from original version. American spellings used. Content added or changed to reflect American perspective and references. Context and transitions added throughout. Substantially edited, adapted, and (in some parts) rewritten for clarity and course relevance.
Cover photo by Alli Elder on Unsplash.
Current version
Revisions since the second edition by Bill Pepe: Section 7.2 Theories of Concept Representation expanded with additional paragraph about Causal Model Theory. Section 7.4 Mental Models added, including overview of mental models and detailed discussion of theory of mind. Research focus box added to mental model section.
Sources for new content:
Theory of Mind by Bertram Malle. (2019). In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. Retrieved from https://nobaproject.com/modules/theory-of-mind.
Theory of Mind by Bertram Malle is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The following Wikipedia entries served as sources: Concept; Mental model; Theory of mind. Retrieved from http://www.en.wikipedia.org/ Wikipedia text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Chapter 8. Language
First edition
Language
Source: Stangor, C. and Walinga, J. (2014). Introduction to Psychology – 1st Canadian Edition. Victoria, B.C.: BCcampus. Retrieved from: https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontopsychology/
Introduction to Psychology - 1st Canadian Edition by Charles Stangor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Changes and additions (c) 2014 Jennifer Walinga, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Condensed from original; American spellings used; cultural references updated for American audience. Bilingualism reverted to Strangor version.
Sentence Processing section from Wikipedia entry (http:/www.en.wikipedia.org/), “Sentence Processing.”
Wikipedia text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Second edition
Second edition revisions by Catherine Arnett: Edited for clarity and restructured throughout. Citations and context updated. Figures added. “Language and Thought” section added. Original writing added throughout. Content added to “What is Language”, “Linguistic Diversity”, and “Language Acquisition” sections from source: Anderson, C., Bjorkman, B., Denis, D., Doner, J., Grant, M., Sanders, N., & Taniguchi, A. (2022). Essentials of Linguistics, 2nd edition. eCampusOntario., licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
Cover photo by Sushil Nash on Unsplash.
Chapter 9. Reasoning and Decision Making
First edition
Reasoning and Decision Making
Source: Multiple authors. Memory. In Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience. Wikibooks. Retrieved from https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cognitive_Psychology_and_Cognitive_Neuroscience
Wikibooks are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Condensed from original version. American spellings used. Content added or changed to reflect American perspective and references. Context and transitions added throughout. Substantially edited, adapted, and (in some parts) rewritten for clarity and course relevance.
Second edition
Second edition revisions by Leo Kleiman-Lynch: Sections 9.1 and 9.2 edited mostly for clarity, with subsection on confirmation bias edited for content as well. Section 9.3 on decision making entirely removed and rewritten from scratch, including new subsections on theories of decision making and constructed preferences.
Chapter 10. Problem Solving
First edition
Problem Solving
Source: Multiple authors. Memory. In Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience. Wikibooks. Retrieved from https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cognitive_Psychology_and_Cognitive_Neuroscience
Wikibooks are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Condensed from original version. American spellings used. Content added or changed to reflect American perspective and references. Context and transitions added throughout. Substantially edited, adapted, and (in some parts) rewritten for clarity and course relevance.