Cognitive Psychology Vocab Part 1

Memory, Language, Intelligence

Cognition

the process of thinking or mentally processing information such as concepts, languages, and images

Prototype

Mental image or the best example of a specific concept

Convergent Thinking

“Logic“ Focuses on coming up with the single well-established answer to a problem

Divergent Thinking

“Imagination“ exploring many possible solutions (creativity)

Trial and Error

Trying a number of different solutions and ruling out those that do not work

Algorithms

Set of step by step procedures that provides the correct answer to a particular problem

Heuristics

educated guess based on prior experiences (mental shortcuts)

Representative Heuristic

Comparing present situation to most representative mental prototype

Availability Heuristic

decisions on examples and information that immediately spring to mind

Insight

sudden and often completely new realization of the solution to a problem

Mental Set

people use solutions that have worked in the past

Functional Fixedness

view problems only in the usual manner

Overconfidence

tendency to overestimate our own knowledge, skill, judgement

Hindsight Bias

“I-knew-it-along“ view events as more predictable than they truly are

Confirmation Bias

Tendency to search for evidence that supports existing beliefs and to ignore evidence that contradicts what you think is true

Belief Perseverance

tendency to maintain a belief even after the evidence used to form the belief is proven wrong

Framing

acquired response to the formerly neutral stimulus

Language

words or symbols and the rules for combining them meaningfully

Phoneme

Smallest unit of sound in a language

Morpheme

smallest unit of meaning in a language

Semantics

set of rules that we use to derive meaning from words and sentences

Syntax

way in which words are put together to form sentences

Grammar

set of rules that we use to derive meaning from words and sentences

Babbling

repetition of syllables that represent an infant’s first attempt at speech

One-Word Stage

stage of language development during which children tend to use two-word phrases

Two-Word Stage

the stage of language development during which children tend to use two-word phrases

Universal Grammar

theoretical common set of rules that apply to all languages

Intelligence

general cognitive ability and is assessed by a number of different kinds of tests

Factor Analysis

statistical method that identifies common causes of variance in different tests

g factor

general intelligence factor which accounts for a large amount of the variability of IQ scores

Fluid Intelligence

ability to reason think flexibly which diminishes with adult aging

Crystallized Intelligence

accumulation of knowledge, facts/skills (increases with age)

Savant Syndrome

condition in which someone shows exceptional ability in a single skill but limited general mental ability

Multiple Intelligence Theory

Gardner’s theory that proposes 8 different intelligences

Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

Sternberg’s theory that proposes three distinct intelligences (analytical, creative and practical) which work together to make up your overall intelligence