cog final

saying is believing effect

tailoring a message about an event to suit a given audience causes subsequent inaccuracies in memory for that event

flashbulb memories

vivid and detailed memories of dramatic and significant events

repression

motivated forgetting of tramatic or other very threatening events

recovered memories

childhoof traumatic or threatening memories that are remembered many years after the relevent events or experinces

false memories

apparent recovered memories that refer to imagined rather than genuine events or experinces

childhood amnesia

the inability of adults to recall autobiographical memories from early childhood

reminiscence bump

the tendency of older people to recall a disproportionate number of autobiographical memories from the years of adolencence and early adulthood

life script

the typical major life events for indivuduals living within a given society; sample life events are getting married and having children

post event misinformation effect

the distorting effects on eyewitnesses memory of misleading informtion provided after the crime or other event

source misattribution

errors in long term memory that occur when the rememberer is mistaken about the source of origin of a retrieved memory

unconscious transference

the tendency of eyewitnesses to misidentify a familiar(but innocent) face as belonging to the person responsible to the crime

cross race effect

the finding that recognition memory for same-race faces is more accurate than other race faces

confirmation bias

distortions of memory caused by the influence of expectations concerning what is likely to happen

weapon focus

the finding that eyewitnesses pay so much attention to some crucial aspect of the situation that they ignore other details

own age bias

the tendency for eyewitnesses to identify the culprit more often when she/he is a similar age to the eyewitneess

cognitive interview

based on the finding that recall depends on the overlap between recall context and that during an incident. in general is more effective than a normal interview

retrospective memory

memory for events, words, people, and so on encountered or experienced in the past

prospective memory

remembering to carry out some intended action in the absence of any explicit reminder to do so

time based prospective memory

remember to carry out an intended action at a particular time

meta memory

beliefs and knowledge about ones own memory including strategies for learning in memory

autobiographical memory

memory of personal experiences and events in one's life, including the context of time and place.

well-defined problems

Problems in which the initial state, the goal, and the methods available for solving them are clearly laid out

ill-defined problems

problems in which the definition of the problem statement is imprecisely specified; the initial state, goal state, and methods to be used to solve the problem may be unclear

knowledge-rich problems

problems that can only be solved through the use of considerable amounts of relevant prior knowledge

knowledge-lean problems

Problems that can be solved without the use of much prior knowledge; most of the necessary info is provided by the problem statement

functional fixedness

the inflexible focus on the usual function or functions of an object in problem solving

mental set

a readiness to think or act in a given way, often because this has been shown to be successful in the past

insight

the experience of suddenly realizing how to solve a problem

incubation

a stage of problem solving in which the problem is put to one side for some time; it is claimed to facilitate problem solving

means-ends analysis

a heuristic for solving problems based on creating a sub goal designed to reduce the difference between the current state of a problem and the end goal state

hill climbing

a simple heuristic used by problem solvers in which they focus on making moves that will apparently put them closer to the goal or problem soultion

algorithm

a systematic set of step by step operations that covers the entire problem space and guarantees a solution if one exists

heuristic

rule of thumb that is cognitively undemanding and often produces approximately accurate answers

subgoal

a smaller, intermediate goal that helps achieve a larger, ultimate goal. Breaking down a complex task into subgoals makes it easier to manage and solve step-by-step.

analogical problem solving

a type of problem solving based on detecting analogies or similarities between the current problem and problems solved in the past

hypothesis testing

an approach to problem solving based on forming a hypothesis or tentative explanation, which is then subjected to one or more tests

protocol analysis

a research method where participants think aloud while performing a task. Their verbalized thoughts are analyzed to understand cognitive processes like problem-solving and decision-making.

unusualness heuristic

a cognitive shortcut where people judge the likelihood or validity of something based on how unusual or rare it seems. If an event or situation appears uncommon or out of the ordinary, people may assume it’s more significant or likely, even if this is not supported by evidence.

expertise

a very high level of thinking and performance in a given domain, achieved from many years of practice

deliberate practice

a very useful form of practice in which the learner can repeat the task, correct his/her errors, and is given performance feedback

problem space

model used by Newell and Simon that compares problem solvers to people trying to find their way in a maze; problem solvers make a mental journey from the initial problem state to the desired goal state via a sequence of intermediate states

progress monitoring

this is a heuristic used in problem solving in which insufficiently rapid progress toward solution leads to the adaptation of a different strategy

avalibility heuristic

this is the heuristic that makes us use the first solution that comes to mind and that makes us judge the difficulty of a problem on the basis of the ease with which such a first solution is found

illusion of knowing

the conviction people have that they know more about topics than they actually do

motivated reasoning

the observation that people tend to reason in ways that make the conclusion they favor more likely

judgment

this involves an assessment of the likelihood of a given event occurring on the basis of incomplete information; it often forms the initial process in decision making

decision making

this involves making a selection from various options; full information is often unavailable, so judgment is required

base-rate information

this is generally expected probability of an event or outcome; it is often ignored when individuals make a judgment

representativeness heuristic

the rule of thumb that an object or individual belongs to a specified category because it is representative of that category; it is used in judgment and produces the wrong answer when it leads the individual to ignore base-rate info

availability heuristic

a rule of thumb in which the frequency of a given event is estimated(often wrongly) on the basis of how easily relevant information about that event can be accessed in long term memory

recognition heuristic

a rule of thumb used when a judgment has to be made between 2 objects; it involves selecting the object that is recognized

conjunction fallacy

the mistaken assumption that the probability of 2 events occuring in conjunction or combination is greater than one of these events on its own; most famously studied with the linda problem

omission bias

a preference for risking harm through inaction comparing to risking harm through action; it is shown even when the balance of advantage lies in action rather than inaction

loss aversion

the greater sensitivity to potential losses than to potential gains exhibited by most people in decision making

framing effect

the finding that decisions are often influenced by aspects of the situation(ex. precise wording of a problem) that are irrelevant to good decision making

sunk-cost effect

the finding that individuals who have invested effort, time or money to little avail tend to invest more resources in the hope of justifying the previous investment; it corresponds to “throwing good money after bad”

bounded rationality

the hypothesis that people produce workable solutions to problems in spite of limited processing ability by using various shortcut strategies

deductive reasoning

a form of reasoning in which conclusions an be categorizes as valid or invalid given that certain statements or premises are assumed to be true; conditional reasoning and syllogistic reasoning are forms of deductive reasoning

premises

in deductive reasoning, statements that participants are instructed to assume are true

syllogism

a type of problem solving used in studies on deductive reasoning; there are 2 statements or premises and a conclusion that may or may not follow logically from the premises

belief bias

un syllogistic reasoning, mistakenly accepting believable conclusions that are invalid and rejecting unbelievable ones that are valid

conditional reasoning

a form of deductive reasoning in which “if…then’ statement is followed by a conclusion that is logically valid or invalid

matching bias

as applied to the Wason selection task, selection of cards simply because they match those contained within the rule weather they are correct or incorrect

deontic rules

in reasoning, rules in which the emphasis is on the detection of the rule violations

mental model

used in reasoning, an internal or mental representation of some possible situation or event in the world

principle of truth

including what is true by omitting what is false from a mental represenation or mental model

principle of parsimony

in deductive reasoning. the tendency to form only one mental model even when additional ones could be constructed

informal reasoning

a form of reasoning that involves arguments based on ones relevant knowledge and experience; it is prone to error and differs from deductive reasoning in not being based on logic

myside bias

in informal reasoning, the tendency to evaluate statements in terms of ones own beliefs and behavior rather on their merits

dysrationalia

the failure of reasonably intelligent individuals to think and reason in a rational way

dunning-kruger effect

the finding that less-skilled individuals overestimate their abilities more than those who are skilled

hindsight bias

the tendency to believe, after an event has occurred, that we knew the outcome all along. It leads to overestimating our ability to predict events once we know the result.

inductive reasoning

a type of reasoning that involves making generalizations based on specific observations or evidence. It moves from particular instances to broader conclusions, though the conclusions may not always be certain.

cognitive (re)appraisal

the process of changing the way we think about a situation in order to alter its emotional impact. It involves reinterpreting events or experiences, either by seeing them in a more positive light or by reframing them to reduce negative emotions.

nonconscious processing

refers to mental processes that occur outside of conscious awareness. These processes influence thoughts, decisions, and behaviors without us being actively aware of them, such as automatic reactions or learned skills.

emotional regulation

the use of deliberate and effortful processes to change a spontaneous emotional state produced by an emotion generation process

attentional narrowing

the phenomenon where intense focus on a specific task or stimulus reduces awareness of other surrounding stimuli. It often occurs under stress or high arousal, leading to a more focused, but limited, scope of attention.

mood-state-dependent memory

the finding that memory performance is better when the individuals mood state is the same at learning and retrieval than when it differs

mood congruity

the finding that learning and retrieval are better when the learners mood state is the same as the affective value of the to be remembered material

optimism bias

the tendency to exaggerate our chances of experiencing positive events and to minimize our chances of experiencing negative events relative to other people

Urbach-Wiethe disease

a disease in which the amygdala and adjacent areas deteriorate; it leads to the impairment of emotional processing and memory for emotional material

personal moral dilemma

situation in which we have to make complex judgments and a decision between alternative actions that will harm or kill people; our actions have a direct effect on the well-being of individuals with whom we are interacting in person

attentional bias

the selective allocation of attention to threat-related stimuli when they are presented at the same time as neutral ones

interpretative bias

the tendency to interpret ambiguous stimuli and situations in a threatening fashion

homographs

words that have a single spelling but at least 2 different meanings ; used to study interpretive bias

valence

basic dimension of emotions representing the affective component going from negative(misery) to positive(pleasure)

arousal

basic dimension of emotions indicating how much bodily excitation is stirred, going from absent to strong

amygdala

subcortical structure particularly important for the detection of danger and other emotion-arousing stimuli

distraction

a strategy used in emotion regulation in which the individual disengages attention from emotional processing and focuses on neutral information

reappraisal

a strategy used in emotion regulation in which the individual elaborates emotional information from an event prior to changing its meaning