Chapter 8 - Cognition, Language and Creativity

Cognition

process of thinking, gaining knowledge and dealing with knowledge

Experiential Processing

passive, effortless, automatic thought

Reflective Processing

active, effortful, controlled thought

Mental Images

mental pictures or visual depiction used in memory and thinking

Concept

mental category for classifying things based on common features and properties

Prototype

an ideal model used as a prime example of a particular concept

Language

words/symbols, rules for combining them, used for thinking and communication

Phonems

basic speech sounds of a language

Morphemes

smallest meaningful units in a language, such a syllables or words

Grammar

a set of rules for combining language into speech or writing

Syntax

rules for ordering words when forming sentences

Transformational Rules

rules about tense, past, passive, so forth, when it is appropriate

Semantics

study of meaning of words/language

Denotation

objective meaning

Connotation

subjective/personal meaning

Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis

the idea that the words we use not only reflect our thoughts but shape them aswell

Bilingualism

speak 2 languages

Algorithmic Solution

solution achieved by following step by step rules

Logical Thought

drawing conclusions on the basis of formal principles of reasoning

Inductive Thought

thinking in which a general rule or principle is gathered from a series of specific examples

• laws of gravity by observing many falling objects

Deductive Thought

thought that applies to general set of rules to specific situations

• using laws of gravity to predict behaviour of single falling object

Understanding

a deeper comprehension of the nature of a problem

General Solution

correctly states the requirements for success, but not enough detail for further action

Functional Solution

a detailed workable solution

Heuristic

shortcut or rule of thumb for finding a solution

Random Search Strategy

trying possible solutions to a problem in a more or less random order

Insight

a sudden mental recognition of a problem that makes the soltuion obvious

Fixation

tendency to repeat wrong solution of faulty responses, especially as a result of becoming blind to alternatives

Functional Fixedness

tendency to perceive an item only in its most common use

Intuition

quick impulse thought that does not use formal logic or clear reasoning

Framing

in thought, the terms in which a problem is stated or the way that it is stated

Availability Heuristic

mental shortcut or judging if something belongs in a given class based on similarity to other members

Base Rate

the basic rate at which an event occurs over time, the basic probability of an event

Choice Overload

difficulty making a decision in the face of many alternatives

Convergent Thinking

thinking directed to discovery of a single established correct answer, conventional

Creativity

ability to combine mental elements in new and useful ways

Divergent Thinking

thinking that produces many different ideas or alternatives

Fluency

total number of solutions produced

Flexibiity

haw many different types of solutions produced

Originality

how novel or usual solutions are

Problem Finding

the active discovery of problems to be solved

Mental Set

a predisposition to perceive or respond in a particular way

Brainstorming

method of creative thinking that separates the production and evaluation of idea

Cross Stimulation Effect

in group problem solving, the tendency of one person’s ideas to trigger ideas from others