psych chapter 8

concept

the mental representation of an object, event, or idea

categories

clusters of interrelated concepts

rule-based categorization

categorizing objects or events according to a certain set of rules or by a specific set of features

graded membership

the observation that some concepts appear to make better category members than others

sentence verification technique

A technique in which the participant is asked to indicate whether a particular sentence is true or false. For example, sentences like "An apple is a fruit" have been used in studies on categorization.

exemplar

a specific example that best represents a category

prototype

mental representation of an average category member

semantic network

interconnected set of concepts and the links that join them to form a category

basic-level categories

moderately specific categories

unique qualities:
- used most often in conversation
- easiest to pronounce
- levels at which prototypes exist
- level at which most thinking occurs

superordinate categories

more general, less descriptive

subordinate-level categories

very specific

priming

the activation of individual concepts in long-term memory

lexical decision task

A procedure in which a person is asked to decide as quickly as possible whether a particular stimulus is a word or a nonword.

category specific visual agnosia

Patients with damage to the temporal lobes sometimes have trouble identifying certain categories of objects.

folk biology

the ways people in various communities and cultures think about the natural world in their daily lives.

research on north americans vs japanese people

People raised in North America tend to focus on a single characteristic, whereas Japanese people tend to view objects in relation to their environment.

Whorfian hypothesis

the theory that the language we learn influences how we think

problem solving

accomplishing a goal when the solution or the path to the solution is not clear

algorithm

problem-solving strategies based on a series of rules

heuristics

problem-solving strategies that stem from prior experiences and provide an educated guess as to what is the most likely solution

nine dot problem

The goal of this problem is to connect all nine dots using only four straight lines and without lifting your pen or pencil off the paper.

mental set

is a cognitive obstacle that occurs when an individual attempts to apply a routine solution to what is actually a new type of problem

functional fixedness

the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem solving

Benign Violation Theory

Theory about humor dating from 1998, popularized by Peter McGraw, that posits that something is funny when it seems wrong or unsettling but is actually harmless.

eg: friend falling down the stairs. isnt funny if friend is hurt, is funny if its benign, so now you laugh

parts of brain activated during humour

ncongruity detection and resolution activated areas in the temporal lobes and the medial frontal lobes (close to the middle of the brain). Elaboration activated a network involving the left frontal and parietal lobes

conjunction fallacy

when people think that two events are more likely to occur together than either individual event

representativeness heuristic

making judgments of likelihood based on how well an example represents a specific category

availability heuristic

making a decision based on the answer that most easily comes to mind

eg: when asked if "there are more words starting with letter K" or if "there are more words with K as the 3rd letter" we choose that there are more words with K as first letter because more words with first letter K come to mind

anchoring effect

occurs when an individual attempts to solve a problem involving numbers and uses previous knowledge to keep the response within a limited range

belief perseverance

tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them

confirmation bias

a tendency to search for information that confirms one's preconceptions

satisficers vs. maximizers

good enough vs best possible outcome

paradox of choice

the observation that more choices can lead to less satisfaction
Barry Schwartz