AP Psychology Notes 2.2

Concepts

Form the basis for thought and organize our understanding of the world

• Help us classify and group objects, experiences, and ideas

Prototypes

The ideal example of a concept

• Prototypes make it easier to understand and compare new info

(A robin is a prototype of the concept “bird”)

Schemas

Framework for thinking which evolves with new info

• contains assimilation and accomodation

Assimilation

New info that doesn’t affect the schema

Accomodation

New info that does affect the schema

Algorithms

Problem-solving methods that attempt all possible solutions until the right one is found

• guaranteed a solution, but it takes a ton of time and effort

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts helping with quick judgements

• error-prone

Representativeness Heuristic

Judging based on stereotypes and prior expectations

Availability Heuristic

Judging based on the most vivid or recent example that comes to your mind

Mental Set

Previous successful strategies influencing future decisions

Priming and Framing

Decisions are affected by how the info is presented and primed

Gambler’s Fallacy

Believing that past random events influence future events

Sunk-Cost Fallacy

Continuing with a decision because of a previous investment even if it isn’t beneficial

Executive Functions

Cognitive processes that allow people to plan, organize, and carry out goal-directed behaviors

• Essential for decisions, problem-solving, and managing tasks

Creativity

Creating valuable ideas

Divergent Thinking

Creating multiple solutions to a problem

Convergent Thinking

Deciding on one possible solution

Functional Fixedness

A cognitive bias that limits a person to only using an object for its intended purpose

• discourages creativity

• Overcoming this can lead to flexibility