Chapter 7 Psychology

Thinking

the process of representing and manipulating information in the mind

Mental Image

a picture in your mind of an event or object

Heuristic

a rule-of-thumb problem-solving strategy

Algorithm

A step-by-step procedure guaranteed to solve a problem

Decision-Making

selecting an option from a set of alternatives 

Creativity

thinking that leads to original and meaningful solutions to problems

Mental Set

tendency to rely on strategies that worked in the past

Definition

Functional Fixedness

Inability to see new uses for familiar objects

Confirmation Bias

tendency to notice and remember information that supports our beliefs

Representativeness Heuristic

making decisions based on how something fits a prototype

Availability Heuristic

basing judgements on how easily examples come to mind (often influenced by media)

Language

systems of communication comprised of symbols and rules for combining them

Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis

language determines how we perceive and think about the world

Intelligence

capacity to think and reason clearly, act purposefully, and adapt effectively to pursue goals

Standardization

establishing norms for a test by administering it to a large group

Reliability

consistency of test results across time

Validity

extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure