PYSCH CHAP 8

Cognition:

the mental activity that includes thinking and the understandings that result from thinking

Thinking:

the mental manipulation of representations of knowledge about the world • Thinking allows us to take information, consider it, and use it to build models of the world, set goals, and plan our actions accordingly.

Analogical representations:

mental representations that have some of the physical characteristics of objects; they are

analogous to the objects

Symbolic representations:

Abstract mental representations that do not correspond to the physical features of objects or ideas

Concept:

a category, or class, of related items; it consists of mental representations of those items

Prototype model:

a way of thinking about concepts: within each category, there is a best example—a

prototype—for that category

Exemplar model:

a way of thinking about concepts: all members of a category are examples (exemplars); together they form the concept and determine category membership

Schemas are:

cognitive structures that help us

perceive, organize, and process information

Script:

a schema that directs behavior over time within a situation

• Schemas and scripts are adaptive in that they enable us to make quick judgments with little effort.

• Stereotypes:

cognitive schemas that allow for easy, fast processing of information about people based on their membership in certain groups

Decision making:

attempting to select the best alternative among several options

Problem solving:

finding a way around an obstacle to reach

a goal

Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky

For most of Psychology’s history, the prevailing theory was that people are rationale, and make decisions by choosing the objectively best one

• Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky shattered this

intuition by showing that people are far from calm and

rational thinkers

Heuristics:

shortcuts (rules of thumb or informal guidelines) used to reduce the amount of thinking that

is needed to make decisions

Anchoring:

the tendency, in making judgments, to rely on the first piece of information encountered or information that comes most quickly to mind

Framing:

in decision making, the tendency to emphasize the potential losses or potential gains from at least one alternative •

E.g. Would you rather take a course with a 70% pass rate, or a 30% fail rate?

Loss Aversion:

the tendency for people to be more concerned about losses than gains

• losing 50 bucks compared to gaining 50 bucks

Availability heuristic:

making a decision based on the answer that most easily comes to mind

Representativeness heuristic:

placing a person or an object in a category if that person or object is similar to one’s prototype for that category

• Restructuring:

a new way of thinking about a problem that aids its solution •

Mental sets:

problem-solving strategies that have worked in the past

• Functional fixedness:

• in problem solving, having fixed ideas about the typical functions of objects

MacGyver was famous for overcoming ……….

Insight:

the sudden realization of a solution to a problem

Köhler demonstrated that chimpanzees, as well as humans, have insightful moments. • Maier’s study with the string and pliers provides an example of how insight can be achieved when a problem initially seems unsolvable.

How Can You Make Good Choices?

• In The Paradox of Choice (2004), Schwartz offers advice we can all use to navigate choices.

• Here are some of his ideas applied to the decision of which major to select in college:

1. Approach the decision with the mindset of a satisficer.

2. Promise yourself that you will stick with your decision.

3. Have realistic expectations.

4. Practice an attitude of gratitude.

Intelligence:

the ability to use knowledge to reason, make decisions, make sense of events, solve problems, understand complex ideas, learn quickly, and adapt to environmental challenge

Standarized Tests:

Binet proposed that intelligence is best understood as a collection of high-level mental processes.

• Psychometric tests of general intelligence include the Stanford-Binet test, which measures intelligence using the intelligence quotient, or IQ score.

• In 1939, the psychologist David Wechsler developed an intelligence test for adults. what is this test

• Wechsler was dissatisfied with various features of the Stanford-Binet scale, including its reliance on verbal information and its assessment of intelligence by a single score.

• The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale has two parts: • verbal • performance

Mental age:

an assessment of a child’s intellectual standing compared with that of same-age peers; determined by comparing the child’s test score with the average score for children of each chronological age

Intelligence quotient (IQ):

an index of intelligence computed by dividing a child’s estimated mental age by the child’s chronological age, then multiplying this number by 100

Charles Spearman found that…..

most intelligence test items tended to cluster as one factor.

• General intelligence

(g): the idea that one general factor underlies intelligence. Spearman

Fluid intelligence:

intelligence that reflects the ability to process information, understand relationships, and think logically, particularly in novel or complex circumstances

• Crystallized intelligence:

intelligence that reflects both the knowledge acquired through experience and the ability to use that knowledge

Multiple intelligences:

the idea that there are different types of intelligence that are independent of one another •

Gardner proposed that people can be intelligent in any number of ways, such as being musically or athletically talented

Emotional intelligence (EI):

a form of social intelligence that emphasizes the abilities to manage, recognize, and understand emotions and use emotions to guide appropriate thought and action

EI is correlated with the quality of social relationship

Galton believed that intelligence

was related to the speed of neural responses and the sensitivity of the sensory/perceptual systems, and he speculated that intelligent people have larger, more efficient brains.

intelligence is supported by low-level cognitive functions, such as mental processing, working memory, and attention

Language:

a system of communication using sounds and symbols according to grammar

Morphemes:

the smallest language units that have meaning,

including suffixes and prefixes

Phonemes:

the basic sounds of speech, the building blocks of

language

A language’s syntax is…

the system of rules that govern how words are combined into phrases and how phrases are combined to make sentences

Semantics is the study …

of the system of meanings that underlie words, phrases, and sentences.

• Aphasia:

a language disorder that results in deficits in language comprehension and production

When Broca’s area is damaged, patients develop expressive

aphasia (also called Broca’s …….), which interrupts their

ability to speak

Wernicke’s area:

an area in a region of the left hemisphere in the temporal lobe, involved in speech

comprehension

• Receptive aphasia (or Wernicke’s aphasia): patients have

trouble understanding the meaning of words

Extensive damage to the left hemisphere can cause

global aphasia, where the person cannot produce or

comprehend language.

The right hemisphere also contributes to language in

important ways, such as:

• processing the rhythm of speech

• interpreting what is said, especially understanding metaphors

Benjamin Whorf (1956) hypothesized that language ….

reflects how people think.

• Linguistic relativity theory: the claim that language determines thought

Telegraphic speech:

The way toddlers speak, using rudimentary sentences that are missing words and grammatical markings but follow a logical syntax and convey a wealth of meaning

Noam Chomsky (1959) transformed the field of linguistics when he hypothesized that language …

must be governed by universal grammar.

Surface structure:

• Deep structure:

in language, the sound and order of words

in language, the implicit meanings ofsentences