Cognition Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards related to cognition, problem-solving, and cognitive biases, based on lecture notes.

Mental Representations

The building blocks of thought, which can be combined to form concepts.

Prototypes

The most typical or average exemplar of a concept.

Conceptual Hierarchies

A way to organize concepts from general to specific (e.g., superordinate, basic, subordinate).

Superordinate concept

The most general level within a conceptual hierarchy (e.g., 'animal').

Basic Concept

An intermediate level of conceptual hierarchy (e.g., 'dog').

Subordinate concept

The most specific level within a conceptual hierarchy (e.g., 'poodle').

Algorithm

A step-by-step procedure that guarantees a solution.

Insight

A sudden conscious change in a person’s understanding of a problem (an “a-ha” moment).

Functional fixedness

A tendency to focus on the typical functions of objects instead of 'thinking outside the box'.

Heuristic

Mental shortcuts that are quick, effortless, and intuitive.

Representativeness Heuristic

A shortcut for judging the likelihood of outcomes that focuses on how representative or prototypical an outcome is of a category.

Availability Heuristic

A strategy for deciding how likely something is based on how quickly it comes to mind.

Overconfidence bias

The tendency to think we know more than we really do; an illusion of explanatory depth.

Hindsight bias

A tendency to assume you would have known something before it became 'common knowledge' or scientifically confirmed.

Confirmation bias

The tendency to seek out and overweight evidence that confirms our pre-existing beliefs.

Belief perseverance

People tend to hold on to their beliefs – or even strengthen them – in the face of disconfirming evidence.