WGU D570: Cognitive Psychology

What D570 Cognitive Psychology Is Really About

WGU's D570 Cognitive Psychology is a course in the Bachelor of Science in Psychology program, housed in the Leavitt School of Health. It asks a deceptively simple question: how does the mind take in a flood of raw information and turn it into perception, memory, language, and decisions? Over the course you study the machinery of thought itself — how you notice some things and filter out others, how you recognize a face or a word, how memories are formed and lost, and how you solve problems and make choices under uncertainty. The official course description frames it as an examination of how humans sense, interpret, think about, and respond to information, and how they integrate new information with prior experience.

Direct answer: To pass D570, learn the core cognitive models by heart — the memory systems, attention theories, and problem-solving processes — and then practice applying each one to short scenarios instead of just memorizing definitions. Work steadily through the WGU learning resources, take the pre-assessment until you consistently pass it, and you will be ready for the objective assessment.

Most students meet D570 as one of the mid-program psychology courses. It has no prerequisites, so you can take it early, but it rewards you for having some comfort with reading dense conceptual material and keeping track of many named theories and researchers. The payoff is real: the vocabulary and models you learn here reappear across the rest of a psychology degree and underpin fields from education to user-experience design to clinical practice.

Topics the Objective Assessment Covers

D570 is assessed by a single objective assessment (OA) — a proctored, multiple-choice-style exam. There is no paper or performance task to submit. The exam is built directly on the four competencies WGU lists for the course, so those competencies are the most reliable map of what to study:

• Components of human cognition — mental imagery, concepts and categorization, and the structure of language, including how you form categories and represent knowledge.
• States of consciousness — the basic levels and states of awareness, including sleep and altered states.
• Attention, problem-solving, and decision-making — how attention is directed and divided, how problems are represented and solved, and how judgment and decision-making work, including common biases and heuristics.
• Memory models and theories — sensory, short-term, and long-term memory, working memory, encoding and retrieval, and why forgetting happens.

Alongside these, the course material touches pattern recognition and other perceptual processes, concept formation, and language acquisition and use. Expect the exam to lean heavily on recognizing which model or theorist explains a described situation, not just reciting a definition in isolation.

How Hard Is D570, and How Long Should You Budget?

Cognitive psychology is conceptually rich rather than mathematically hard. Many students report that D570 sits at a moderate difficulty level: the ideas are interesting and mostly intuitive, but the sheer number of named models, effects, and researchers makes it easy to blur similar concepts together. If you already have a psychology or education background, you may move through it quickly. If cognition is new to you, plan for more time to let the distinctions settle.

A realistic window for a working adult is roughly two to five weeks of focused study, depending on your background and how many hours a week you can protect. Because it is worth three competency units, it is a lighter course than a four-CU course, but do not let that tempt you into cramming — the material is memory-heavy, and spacing your study out is exactly what the science in this course would tell you to do.

A Study Plan Built for This Course's Content

The beautiful irony of D570 is that the course itself teaches you the best way to study for it. Use its own findings on your prep:

• Active recall over rereading. After each section, close the resource and write out, from memory, the model you just read — the stages of the Atkinson-Shiffrin memory model, the components of Baddeley's working memory, the difference between recognition and recall. Retrieval practice is one of the most robust effects in the whole field, and this exam rewards it directly.
• Spaced repetition for the vocabulary. Build a flashcard deck of terms, effects, and the researchers tied to them (for example, the serial position effect, or the difference between top-down and bottom-up processing). Review a little each day rather than in one marathon. The spacing effect you are studying is the same one working in your favor.
• Scenario drills for application. The OA frequently describes a situation and asks which concept it illustrates. Practice by inventing your own mini-scenarios: "A student can repeat a phone number until distracted, then forgets it — which memory system failed?" Turning definitions into examples is what moves you from recognizing a term to using it.
• Practice testing. Take the WGU pre-assessment early, treat your wrong answers as a study list, and retake it until you pass comfortably. A pre-assessment result that consistently clears the bar is the single best signal that you are ready.
• Contrast maps. Draw side-by-side comparisons of concepts students confuse — sensory vs. short-term vs. long-term memory; heuristics vs. algorithms; encoding vs. retrieval failures. Seeing them together prevents the blur that trips people up on exam day.

Where Students Trip Up in D570

A handful of predictable mistakes account for most retakes:

• Confusing similar memory structures. Short-term memory, working memory, and the various long-term memory types are easy to mix up under exam pressure. Nail down what each one does before moving on.
• Memorizing terms without their theorists or models. The exam often frames a concept through the model that explains it, so a bare definition is not enough — connect each idea to its framework.
• Skipping the application layer. Students who only memorize get blindsided by scenario questions. Always ask "what would this look like in real life?" as you learn.
• Rushing because it is only three CUs. The lighter unit weight fools people into under-preparing. The volume of terminology still needs spaced, deliberate review.
• Ignoring the pre-assessment. Some learners jump to the OA to save time and then have to retake it. The pre-assessment exists to catch your weak spots first.

If you also study health and clinical vocabulary elsewhere in your program, the disciplined term-mapping habits from C804 Medical Terminology transfer neatly to D570's dense cognitive vocabulary.

Your D570 Readiness Checklist

Before you schedule the OA, run through these self-checks. If you can answer yes to most of them, you are in good shape:

• Can you describe sensory, short-term, and long-term memory and explain how information moves between them?
• Can you outline a working-memory model and name its components?
• Can you distinguish top-down from bottom-up perceptual processing with an example of each?
• Can you explain how selective and divided attention work and what limits them?
• Can you name several common decision-making heuristics and the biases they can produce?
• Can you describe the basic states of consciousness, including the role of sleep?
• Can you explain how concepts, categorization, and mental imagery represent knowledge?
• Can you read a short scenario and correctly identify which cognitive concept it illustrates?
• Are you consistently passing the WGU pre-assessment?

FAQ

Is D570 an OA or a PA?

D570 is assessed by a single objective assessment (OA) — a proctored, multiple-choice-style exam. There is no performance assessment or paper to submit for this course.

How many competency units is D570 worth?

According to WGU's official Bachelor of Science in Psychology program guidebook, Cognitive Psychology is a three-competency-unit course. It counts as a lighter course than a four-CU course, but the volume of terminology still warrants steady preparation.

How long does it take most students to finish?

Many students report finishing in roughly two to five weeks, depending on their background and weekly study hours. Learners with prior psychology or education coursework often move faster, while those new to the material benefit from spreading study out over more time.

What should I focus on most?

Memory models and the processes of attention, problem-solving, and decision-making are central, and they map directly onto the course competencies. Learn each model well enough to apply it to a described situation, not just define it.

Do I need prior psychology courses to take D570?

No. WGU lists no prerequisites for Cognitive Psychology, so you can take it relatively early. That said, comfort with reading dense conceptual material and tracking many named theories will make it feel smoother.

What is the best single predictor that I am ready for the OA?

Consistently passing the WGU pre-assessment. Use it early to find your weak areas, study those specifically, and retake it until you clear it comfortably before scheduling the proctored exam.

For more course-by-course study guides, browse the Leavitt School of Health hub, explore related health courses like D443 Health Assessment, or see the full library of WGU exam guides. You can also confirm the current course details on the official WGU psychology program page.