ap psych unit 5 vocab

cognition

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, & communicating

concepts

mental groupings of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

formed by prototypes

ex. the idea of a chair

prototypes

a mental image or best example of a category. new items can be matched to this example to easily categorize them

ex. comparing feathered creatures to a classic bird

metacognition

an awareness of your own thought processes and the patterns behind them

algorithm

methodical, logical rule that guarantees a solution to a problem

• can take a very long time and a lot of effort

• will not make any errors though

heuristics

a simple thinking strategy that allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently

• speedier than an algorithm but also more error-prone

insight

a sudden realization of a problem’s solution

confirmation bias

a tendency to seek information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence

• we also don’t look for evidence that disproves our assumptions!

fixation

an inability to see a problem from a new perspective once we’ve formed our belief

caused by confirmation bias

mental set

our tendency to approach a problem in a particular way that has been successful in the past 

perceptual set vibes

schema

a mental framework or concept that helps organize + interpret information

• a pattern of thought and behavior that represents our unique knowledge, beliefs, and expectations

assimilation

the process of incorporating new information into existing schemas

accomodation

the process of modifying schemas or creating new ones to incorporate new information

functional fixedness

cognitive bias limiting us to use objects only in the way they’re traditionally used

executive function

a set of cognitive processes that allow us to plan, organize, and regulate behavior

ex. problem-solving, impulse control

intuition

effortless, immediate, automatic thought

representativeness heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on how well they match particular prototypes

• may lead us to ignore relevant information

• ex. how after 9/11 young arab men were seen as terrorists (even though they were regular people)

availability heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory

• we perceive events as common when they come easily to mind

• ex. wins are loud but losses are quiet in casinos, so we think that we win more than we do

priming

unconscious activation of associations, predisposing one’s memory/perception/response

nudge

an attempt to influence the behavior, choices, judgements, or feelings of an individual/group in a predictable way without forbidding options or changing incentives

• subtly influences behavior in ways that are easily avoidable

• ex. putting fruit at eye level in the cafeteria

gambler’s fallacy

belief that the probability of a random event occurring in the future is influenced by previous instances of that type of event

• ex. believing that a coin must land on tails next after landing on heads 3x

sunk-cost fallacy

when someone refuses or is reluctant to abandon a strategy/course of action because they’ve invested a lot into it… even though abandonment would be more beneficial!

overconfidence

our tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgements

belief perseverance

clinging to one’s initial conceptions after they’ve been discredited or disproved

framing

the way an issue is posed

• significantly effects our stances and judgements

• ex. “pro-life” vs. “anti-abortion”

creativity

the ability to produce novel, valuable ideas

convergent thinking

narrowing down available solutions to find the single best one

• used on standardized multiple-choice test

• requires aptitude

divergent thinking

expanding the number of possible solutions

• creative thinking does this

language

our spoken/written/signed words and the ways we put them together to form meaning

phonemes

smallest distinctive units of sound in a language

not syllables! literal sounds like b, a, and t in ‘bat’

morphemes

smallest units of language that have meaning.

ex. prefixes like re- and pre-, and short words like bat or gentle

grammar

a language’s set of rules that enable people to communicate and understand each other

semantics

the set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds

literally about what words, phrases, and sentences mean

syntax

the set of rules for combining words into grammatically compliant or sensible sentences

universal grammar

a universal human predisposition to know or easily learn grammar rules

• all languages have similar building blocks

receptive language

the ability to understand and process language

• starts developing when you’re a baby! you will be especially good at it during that time

productive language

the ability to produce words

cooing

production of soft vowel-like sounds (e.g. ‘coo’ or ‘goo’) between 6-8 weeks

babbling

infant utters various sounds unrelated to the household language. begins ~4 months, at ~10 months will sound like home language

• usually sounds that are easy to form

• babies will lose their ability to discriminate between tones if they aren’t exposed to them

one-word stage

child speaks mostly in single words 1-2 years old

• will begin to use sounds to communicate meaning

• learn way more words by 1.5 y/o

two-word stage

child speaks mostly in 2-word statements ~2 years old

• starts using telegraphic speech

• starts following syntax rules of language

• after 2 years, speech rapidly develops into full sentences

telegraphic speech

pattern of speech used by little kids that literally sounds like a telegram, using mostly just verbs and nouns

ex. “go car”, “want juice” 

critical period

specific time during childhood development when certain aspects of language can most readily be mastered

• closes gradually, and if you get too old without learning language, you won’t be able to

overgeneralization

when the rules of grammar are applied too broadly, beyond exceptions. often done by children while learning language

ex. “I goed” vs. “I went”, “I rided” vs. “I rode”

linguistic determinism

Whorf’s hypothesis that language determine the way we think

• but we can think about things we have no words for… + we can think about images… so not really true

linguistic relativism

more chill version of linguistic determinism, says that language influences worldview and cognition

• lots of evidence supporting this one!

intelligence

the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

general intelligence (g)

Spearman’s idea that we have one intelligence that underlies all mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence task

factor analysis

a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of test items that reflect a particular trait

Spearman used it to build his theory of general intelligence, because he saw that people who were particularly great in one area were also above average in other areas

savant syndrome

condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability is exceptional at a specific skill (such as art, memory)

multiple intelligences

Gardner’s theory that our abilities are best classified into 8/9 independent intelligences, including a broad range of skills outside of school smarts

triarchic theory

Sternberg’s theory of intelligence, proposes that we have 3 intelligences: analytical (well-defined problems, things with 1 right answer), creative (innovation, adaptation), and practical intelligence (everyday poorly defined tasks w/ many solutions)

emotional intelligence

the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions

intelligence test

method for assessing and comparing individuals’ mental aptitudes using numerical scores

achievement tests

designed to assess what you’ve learned

aptitude tests

designed to predict your future performance and show your capacity to learn (ex. SAT, ACT)

alfred binet

French psychologist who designed the first intelligence test. did it for an assignment to determine the learning potential of Parisian schoolchildren, and he chose to measure the kids’ mental age

mental age

the level performance typical of children of a certain age

lewis terman

stanford guy who revised Binet’s mental age test and made the Stanford-Binet intelligence test

stanford-binet intelligence test

version of Binet’s intelligence edited by Stanford

intelligence quotient

term derived from Binet/Stanford tests, originally an actual quotientbut now a derivation from the average performance at a certain age. the average is 100

wechsler adult intelligence scale (WAIS)

the most commonly used intelligence test

contains verbal and nonverbal/performance subtests

psychometrics

the field of psychology that focuses on measuring psychological attributes (intelligence, personality, attitudes) using standardized tests and statistics

longitudinal study

research design where data gathering happens over an extended period with just one group

cross-sectional study

observational research analyzing data from a population at a specific point in time. like a snapshot of the population

standardization

defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group

normal curve

symmetrical curve describing the distribution of many types of data. most scores fall around the mean and few fall around the extremes

Flynn effect

worldwide phenomenon where IQ scores are improving over time

• Flynn says it’s due to our modern world requiring more mental skills

reliability

the extent to which a test yields consistent results

split-half reliability

splitting the test into two and comparing how a person does on one half of a test and on the other half to measure how reliable the test is

test-retest reliability

testing someone, then testing them again later to measure how reliable the test is

validity

the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it’s supposed to

content validity

describes how well a test samples the behavior it’s interested in

predictive validity

the success with which a test predicts the behavior it’s designed to predict. tests should predict the criterion (standard) of future performance

construct validity

the extent to which a test represents the concept/construct it’s trying to measure

cohort

a group of people sharing a common characteristic

• intelligence remains stable in the same cohort until late in life, but cross-sectional studies show a decline in intelligence for older folks

crystallized intelligence (gc)

our accumulated knowledge + verbal skills

increases with age

fluid intelligence (gf)

our ability to reason speedily and abstractly

• tends to decrease with age

Cattel-Horn-Carroll Theory

comprehensive theory of intelligence, combining the theory of fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, and three-stratum theory which describes intelligence as having 3 levels that go from specific to very broad

intellectual disability

condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an IQ score of less than or equal to 70 and difficulty adapting to the demands of life

gifted

a child who does very well on aptitude tests

they tend to be very successful later in life

heritability

the proportion of variation among people in a group that can be attributed to genes. depends on the range of populations and environments studied

heritability of intelligence

• it’s ~50-80% heritable

• identical twins have very similar intelligence and other talents

• polygenic trait

• environment has a modest influence on intelligence

growth mindset

a focus on learning and growing. helps kids become more motivated and hard-working so that they can become successful!

fixed mindset

viewing one’s own level of ability as unchanging

stereotype threat

self-affirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype

• ex. someone will do worse on a reading test if you tell them right before that people like them are bad at reading

stereotype lift

increase in a group’s test performance due to not being part of a negative stereotype

ex. men do better on a math test after being told that men are better than women at math