Unit 2A- Problem Solving & Creativity

Algorithm

following a logical step by step procedure when making a judgement

Heuristic

a mental short cut to make quick judgements

Representativeness heuristic

judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to match a sterotype

Availability heuristic

judging the likelihood that an event will happen in terms of how readily it comes to mind; based on personal experiences or exposure through the media

Intuition

an automatic feeling/thought as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning

Gamblers Fallacy

the belief that the probability of a random event occuring in the future is influenced by previous instances of that type of event

Sunk cost fallacy

the tendency to follow through with something that we’ve already invested heavily in, even when giving up is a better idea

Confirmation bias

a tendency to search for info that supports our preconceptions and to ignore contradictory evidence

Fixation

the inability to see a problem from a new perspective

Mental set

the tendency to approach problems using strategies that have worked in the past

Belief Perserverance

tendency to cling to ones beliefs even after the evidence that supported them have been disproven

Framing

an individuals judgement and decision making is influenced by how an issue is framed

Creativity

the ability to discover new and original ideas, connections, and solutions to problems

Convergent thinking

aimed at finding the 1 best solution to a problem

Divergent Thinking

aimed at developing multiple solutions to a problem

Functional fixedness

a person fails to see alternative uses for an object, viewing it only in it’s typical function