Psychology Motivations, Intelligence, and Creativity

Concepts

Mental groupings of similar objects, events, and people.

Ex) Chair —> High chair, reclining chair, dentist chair, chair lift

Prototypes

Mental image/best examle of a concept

Ex) Bird —> Robin

Functional Fixedness

A cognitive bias that limits a person to using an object only in the way it is traditionally used, hindering problem-solving.

Algorithms

Step by step procedures that guarentee solution

Heuristic

A mental shortcut that allows people to solve problems and make judgments quickly and efficiently, often based on experience or common sense.

Using context clues to save time while sacrificing accuracy- Quick decision making.

Mental set

A tendency to approach problems in a particular way based on past experiences, which may hinder the ability to see alternative solutions.

Representative heuristic

Judging likelihoods solely upon the information presented

Ex) Ivy League Professor v. truck nerd question

Availability heuristic

If the vividness of an event is clear, then we perceive the probability of an event as high.

Ex) Getting into top college makes you think it’s a common occurrence.

Gambler’s fallacy

The belief that past independent events can influence the outcome of future independent events, often leading to incorrect assumptions about probabilities.

Ex) You flip a coin to heads side three times in a row. Now you think that you’re due for a tails.

Sunk Cost Fallacy

Continuing an endeavor only based on the fact you’ve already put in a lot of time/effort

Ex) Continuing a toxic relationship

Intelligence

The ability to learn from and adapt to novel situations to create a (+) response

G-factor

A general intelligence factor that underlies specific mental abilities, often measured through IQ tests.

MA/CA x 100

Original IQ formula

Achievement Test

Measures individuals PREVIOUS knowledge in area or skill

Aptitude test

Assesses an individual's potential to succeed in a given activity or field, often predicting future performance.

Reliability

Consistency of a test across multiple groups and trials.

Validity

How well an assessment tests what it is supposed to measure

Content validity

How well a test represents and assesses all facets of a given topic. Ex) The Bar exam tests all there is to know about being a lawyer (at least it tries to)

Construct validity

Does the test actually assess what it’s supposed to measure.

Ex) MMPI gives evidence whether a person has schizophrenia or depression, not anxiety.

Crystallized intelligence

Gathered, stored information and knowledge that goes up over time.

Fluid intelligence

Abstract, on the fly thinking that decreases over time.

Multiple intelligence

The theory that there exists different kinds of intelligences.

Ex) Musical intelligence, athletic intelligence, acting intelligence

Convergent thinking

Process of eliminating properties to find a solution

Ex) MCQ

Divergent thinking

Expanding possibilities to find the solution that occurs in the frontal lobe

Ex) How to hang up a painting

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

A widely used intelligence test for adults and older teenagers. It is designed to measure cognitive ability in several areas, such as vocabulary, comprehension, arithmetic, and reasoning skills.

Happy, sad, disgust, fear, surprise, anger(how sam doesnt find salmon amazing)

The 6 Universal Emotions

Drive reduction theory

Theory that human motivation is centrally rooted around biological needs

Following homeostasis

Ex) We eat to reduce discomfort of hunger

Optimum arousal theory

Personal preference of stimuli and stress that helps a person perform at their best.

Ex) Athletes like a little bit of pressure to get the adrenaline pumping but not too much pressure.

Sensation seeking theory

General umbrella term for wanting to find new moments in life.

Thrill and adventure seeking

Skydiving, bungee jumping, Red Bull Sponsors

Disinhibition

Unrestrained, uncontrolled behavior

Experience seeking

Trying new restaurant, exploring a new country

Yerkes-Dodson Law

A model of the relationship between stress and task performance. It proposes that you reach your peak level of performance with an intermediate level of stress, or arousal.

Overjustification Effect

Reward for performance can lead to lower, rather than higher, interest in activity

Ex) Doing well on a test, you think you’re him

Intrinsic motivation

Incentive to complete tasks due to interest/enjoyment

Ex) Fun hobbies like playing guitar

Extrinsic

Incentive based on meeting an EXTERNAL goal

Ex) Only doing community service for the service hours instead of humanitarian side.

James Lange Theory

Experiencing fear AFTER a physiological response.

Ex) Snake —> Heart rate speeds up —> Body perceives this as fear

Canon-Bard Theory

You experience fear and the physiological response at the same time.

Ex) You see a snake and your heart rate/breathing speeds up at the same time as you feel the unbearable fear.

2 Factor Theory

Giving a cognitive label to the situation after the fact.

Ex) You see a snake, immediately run, and once you get away, you realize how scary that situation was.

Facial-Feedback hypothesis

If you smile, you feel happy automatically

Universal emotions

People have similar facial expressions based on their feelings.

Display rules

How your culture/society expects you to act in certain scenarios

Ex) Appearing to be happy for a couple at a wedding

Emotion elicitors

A facial emotional expression (e.g., a disgusted face) activates a response that is similar to responses to other emotional stimuli of the same valence