AP Psychology · Unit 2

AP Psychology Unit 2: Cognition

Unit 2 is how the mind takes in, stores, and uses information — memory, thinking, intelligence, and language. It's also the unit where AppsychologyLab has the most for you to do, because the classic cognition studies are tasks you can run on yourself.

Memory

Start with the flow of memory: encoding → storage → retrieval. Know the three-stage model — sensory memory, short-term/working memory (about 7 ± 2 items, expandable by chunking), and long-term memory. Study aids that appear on the exam include the spacing effect, the serial position effect (primacy and recency), and retrieval cues like context- and state-dependent memory. For forgetting, know encoding failure, decay, proactive and retroactive interference, and retrieval failure, plus Loftus's misinformation effect. You can feel the capacity limit directly with the memory span test.

Thinking, Problem Solving, and Biases

Distinguish algorithms (slow, guaranteed) from heuristics (fast shortcuts). Master the big biases: the availability heuristic, the representativeness heuristic (and the conjunction fallacy it causes), confirmation bias, anchoring, the framing effect, functional fixedness, and mental set. The cognitive bias test catches several of these in your own thinking, and the Stroop test shows automatic processing interfering with attention.

Intelligence

Compare theories — Spearman's general intelligence (g), Gardner's multiple intelligences, and Sternberg's triarchic theory. For testing, know the history (Binet, Terman, Wechsler) and the psychometric must-knows: reliability, validity, standardization, the normal curve, and the Flynn effect.

Language

Know the building blocks — phonemes, morphemes, grammar — the milestones of language development, and the nature–nurture debate around acquisition (including Chomsky's view of an innate capacity).

How to Study Unit 2

Cognition rewards application over memorization, so don't just define terms — use them. Run each experiment, then write one sentence explaining the mechanism in your own words; that's exactly what application questions ask. Then mix it into full practice on the practice test. Next up: Unit 3: Development and Learning, or revisit the units overview.

AP Psychology Unit 2 — FAQ

What is covered in AP Psychology Unit 2?

Unit 2, Cognition, covers memory (encoding, storage, retrieval, and forgetting), thinking and problem solving including heuristics and biases, intelligence and its measurement, and language.

What is the difference between an algorithm and a heuristic?

An algorithm is a step-by-step procedure that guarantees a correct answer but can be slow. A heuristic is a mental shortcut that is fast but can cause errors — like the availability and representativeness heuristics.

What experiments are in AP Psychology Unit 2?

The classic cognition demonstrations are the Stroop test (selective attention), the digit-span memory test (the 7 ± 2 limit), and cognitive-bias tasks like anchoring and the conjunction fallacy — all of which you can run on yourself here.

What are the most-tested memory terms in AP Psychology Unit 2?

Encoding, storage, and retrieval; the three-stage model (sensory, short-term/working, long-term); the 7 ± 2 capacity limit and chunking; the spacing and serial position effects; and forms of forgetting — encoding failure, interference, and the misinformation effect.

Learn Cognition by Doing It

Measure your own Stroop effect and memory span — then the exam questions write themselves.

Run an Experiment

Aligned to the College Board's redesigned AP Psychology course (2024–25). AppsychologyLab is not affiliated with the College Board.