UNIT 2.2A AND 2.2B: THINKING, PROBLEM SOLVING, JUDGMENTS AND DECISION MAKING AP PSYCHOLOGY

Cognition

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Metacogntion

awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes.

Concept

A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people to simplify our thinking

Prototypes

a mental image or best example of a category

Schemas

A broader mental framework or collection of knowledge that helps organize and interpret information

Assimilation

Fitting new information directly into an existing schema without changing the schema.

Accommodation

Adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

Creativity

the ability to produce new and valuable ideas

Convergent Thinking

narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

Divergent Thinking

Expanding the number of possible solutions by thinking in multiple different directions. This is the hallmark of brainstorming and creative flexibility.

Trial and error

Making random, repeated attempts to solve a problem until something finally works. It is highly inefficient.

Algorithm

A methodical, step-by-step logical rule or formula that guarantees a correct solution if followed perfectly

Heuristic

Mental shortcuts or "rules of thumb" that often lead to a solution (but not always)

Insight

a sudden realization of a problem's solution. Associated with a burst of neurological activity in the right temporal lobe

Confirmation Bias

a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence

Fixation

The general inability to look at a problem from a fresh, new perspective.

Mental Set

a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past

Functional Fixedness

The tendency to think of things only in terms of their typical functions.

Representativeness Heuristic

Judging the probability of something based on how well it matches or represents your internal prototype or stereotype

Availability heuristic

Estimating the likelihood of an event based on how mentally available or vivid the memory is.

Overconfidence

The tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our own beliefs, knowledge, and judgments, making us more confident than we are correct.

Belief perseverance

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

Framing

The way an issue or choice is worded or presented, which can drastically alter people's decisions and judgments.

Nudge

framing choices in a way that encourages people to make beneficial decisions

Gamblers Fallacy

The incorrect belief that past random outcomes in an independent sequence influence future probabilities

Sunk Cost Fallacy

Continuing to invest time, money, or effort into a losing plan or bad situation simply because you have already invested heavily in it.

Planning Fallacy

The systematic tendency to drastically underestimate how much time, money, or effort it will take to successfully complete a task.

Executive functions

The suite of higher-order cognitive skills coordinated by the prefrontal cortex that work together to help us plan, focus attention, remember instructions, organize goals, and regulate impulse control.