Cognitive psychology
cognitive psychology
n.

Cognitive psychology is a theoretical perspective that focuses on the realms of human perception, thought, and memory. It portrays learners as active processors of information--a metaphor borrowed from the computer world--and assigns critical roles to the knowledge and perspective students bring to their learning. What learners do to enrich information, in the view of cognitive psychology, determines the level of understanding they ultimately achieve.

Bruning (1995, p. 1):
Bruning, Roger H., Schraw, G. J., and R. R. Ronning. Cognitive Psychology and Instruction. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1995.