Chapter 7B

cognition

thinking, knowing, remembering

cognitive psychologists

study the way we think and learn

convergent thinking

focuses on reaching one well-defined solution to a problem

divergent thinking

a thought process used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions

concepts

mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

prototype

mental image

piaget’s schemas

units of understanding that can be hierarchically categorized as well as webbed into complex relationships with one another

algorithm

step by step rule that guarantees the right solution to a problem

heuristic

a rule of thumb, fast but can be error prone

availability heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in our memory

representative heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events in terms of how well they represent particular prototypes (stereotypes)

insight

Aha! moment that just pops into your head

conformation bias

we look for evidence to support out beliefs

fixation

mental set doing things a present way

functional fixedness

doing things in terms of typical uses

overconfidence

we tend to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs

belief perseverance

our tendency to cling to our initial beliefs even if they have been discredited

framing

the way an issue or idea is presented to you

language

spoken, written, or signed word used to communicate

phonemes

smallest distinctive unit of sound

morphemes

smallest language unit that carries meaning

semantics

study of meaning in language

syntax

set of rules for combining words in a sentence

receptive language

ability to understand

expressive language

ability to verbally express things

language development

we have a critical (sensitive) period

skinner : operant learning

language is learning like everything else, through learning principles

chomsky : inborn universal grammar

we are prewired to learn language

whorf

language determines the way that we think

implicit memory

we can think in words, but more often we think in images