What is cognitive psychology primarily concerned with?

Cognitive psychology is primarily concerned with the examination of mental processes, which includes how people perceive, think, remember, and learn. It focuses on understanding the internal processes that influence behavior, encompassing a range of functions such as attention, memory, reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making.

Research in cognitive psychology often involves studying how individuals process information, how memories are formed and recalled, and the ways that knowledge is organized in the mind. This field utilizes various experimental methods to investigate these mental processes, helping to reveal how cognitive functions operate both in normal functioning and in cases of cognitive impairment.

In contrast, the other areas mentioned relate to different fields of study. The study of social interactions falls under social psychology, emotional responses are primarily explored within affective science or emotional psychology, and physical behaviors are typically examined in behavioral psychology. Each of these disciplines offers valuable insights, but they focus on different aspects of human experience compared to cognitive psychology, which is distinctly centered on mental processes.