Cognition and Creativity: Key Concepts in Psychology

Cognition

All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and all communicating

Metacognition

Thinking about thinking

Concepts

Mental grouping similar things

Prototypes

Mental images, categories

Schema

Concept or framework that organizes and interprets info in terms of actions/more complex

Assimilation

Interpret new info in light of past info

Accommodation

Adjusting existing schemas to incorporate new material

Human rationality

Illustrated in problem solving strategies

Algorithms

Methodological, step by step, logical rule

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts, fast but prone to error

Insight

Sudden realization of solution contrast with strategic solutions

Confirmation bias

Tendency to search for evidence that supports our preconceptions and ignore contradiction

Fixation

Inability to come to fresh perspective; inability to see problems from new angle

Mental set

Tendency to approach a problem the same way it's been approached in the past

Overconfidence

Overestimate our own ability; more confident than correct

Belief perseverance

You believe something even though there's proof otherwise

Framing effects

How an issue is presented effects how we perceive and respond

Intuition

Effortless, automatic feeling, conscious reasoning adaptive- enables quick decisions

Availability heuristics

Likelihood of events based on the availability of memories

Creativity

Novel and valuable; novel and appropriate

Convergent thinking

Ability to converge on the correct answer or best solution

Divergent thinking

Ability to produce multiple solutions; expanding the number of possible solutions

Communication

To allow an audience to make meaning in new ways; share a vision of the world

Robert Sternberg's 5 components of creativity

1. Expertise- deep knowledge; 2. Imaginative thinking- novel, recognize patterns; 3. Venturesome personality- openness, risk-taking; 4. Intrinsic motivation- driven by interest; 5. Creative environment- support collaboration, contemplation