Psychology Chapter 8: cognition, language, and creativity

cognition, language and creativity

cognition

process of thinking, gaining knowledge, and dealing with knowledge

experiential processing

thought that is passive, effortless, and autormatic

reflective processing

thought that is active, effortf

mental iamges

mental picture or visual depiction used in memory and thinking

concept

mental category for classifying things based on common features or properties

prototype

an ideal model used as a prime example of a particular concept

linguistic relativity hypothesis

the idea that the words we use not only reflect our thoughts but can shape then as well

bilingualism

the ability to speak two languages

algorithmic solution

a problem solution achieved by following a series of step-by-step rules

logical thought

drawing conclusions on the basis of formal principles of reasoning

inductive thought

thinking in which a general rule or principal is gathered from a series of specific examples; for instance, inferring the laws of gravity by observing many falling objects

deductive thought

thought that applies a general set of rules to specific situations; for example, using laws of gravity to predict the behaviour of a single falling object

understanding (in problem solving)

a deeper comprehension of the nature of a problem

general solution

a solution that correctly states the requirements for success, but not in enough detail for further action

functional solution

a detailed, practical, and workable solution

heuristic

shortcut or rule of thumb for finding a solution to a problem

random search strategy

trying possible solutions to a problem in a more or less random order

insight

a sudden mental reorganization of a problem that makes the solution obvious

fixation (in problem solving)

the tendency to repeat wrong solutions or faulty responses, especially as a result of becoming blind to alternatives

functional fixedness

tendency to perceive an item only in terms of its most common use

intuition

quick, impulsive thought that does not use formal logic or clear reasoning

behavioural economics

a branch of economics that applies psychology to the study of economic decision-making

framing

in thought, the terms in which a problem is stated or the way it is structured

availability heuristic

mental shortcut that relies on how quickly examples come to mind when evaluating a topic or making a decision

representativeness heuristic

mental shortcut of judging if something belongs in a given class based on similarity to other

base rate

the basic rate at which an event occurs over time; the basic probability of an event

choice overload

difficulty making decision in the face of many alternatives

convergent thinking

thinking directed toward discovery of a single esablished correct answer; conventional thinking

creativity

ability to combine mental elements in new and useful ways

diveregent thinking

thinking that produces many ideas or alternatives; a major element in original or creative thought

fluency

in tests of creativity, fluency refers to the total number of solutions produced

flexibility

in tests of creativity, flexibility is indicated by how many different types of solutions are produced

originality

in tests of creativity, originality refers to how novel or unusual solutions are

problem finding

the active discovery of problems to be solved

mental set

a predisposition to percived or respond in a particular way

kinesthetic images

special types of mental imagery and are used to represent movement and actions