AP psych - cognition

cognition

the mental processes and abilities that help us think, solve problems, remember, and communicate

meta cognition

us thinking about thinking

concept

grouping together similar objects, events, ideas, and people in our heads

prototype/representative heuristic

a mental image or best example of a category

schemas

concepts or framework that interprets info

assimilate

interpreting new experiences based on your schemas

accommodate

our schemas are build to incorporate new info from new experiences

creativity

the ability to produce new and valuable ideas

sternbergs 5 concepts of creativity

1. expertise 2. imaginative thinking skills 3. venturesome personality 4. intrinsic motivation 5. creative environment.

convergent thinking

an ability to provide one answer

divergent thinking

the ability to consider many options to think in novel ways

executive functions

cognitive skills that work together to help us generate, organize, plan, and implement to solve problems and make decisions

algorithm

fool-proof method in solving something

heuristic

simple thinking strategy that allows us to make judgments more effectively

insight

sudden realization of a problem’s solution

confirmation bias

the tendency to find information that supports your thinking

fixation

an inability to come to a fresh perspective

mental set

tendency to approach a situation with the mindset you had before that worked

intuition

an effortless, immediately, automatic feeling or thought

the representativeness heuristic

judging the likelihood of something in terms of how well they match particular prototypes

stereotype

generalized and simplified belief about a certain group of people (prototype)

gambler’s fallacy

thinking outcomes of independent random events are connected and these events can influence future possibilities

availability heuristics

making predictions on the likelihood of events based on previous memories

overconfidence

the tendency to believe to overestimate the accuracy of our knowledge, judgment, and abilities

belief perseverance

tendency to cling onto beliefs in the face of contrary evidence

motivated reasoning

process info that supports our pre existing beliefs

framing

presenting an issue to evoke a desired response

nudge

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

sunk cost fallacy

sticking to our original plan because we’ve invested time even when switching to a new approach could save time.

priming

effect when exposure to a new stimulus makes you think of related stimulus’s faster than unrelated ones

functional fixedness

mental block that limits a person to using an object for how it’s used