Cognition p2

What is metacognition?

Thinking about the way you think

What are concepts?

Mental categories used to group objects, events, characteristics

What are prototypes?

Ideal examples used to compare all instances of a concept

What are algorithms?

Step-by-step strategies that guarantee a solution

What are heuristics?

Shortcut strategies (rule of thumb)

What is representative heuristic?

Making judgments based on experience (like a stereotype)

What is availability heuristic?

Making judgments based on the first thing that comes to mind

What is mental set?

Using one strategy to solve a problem and cannot think outside the box

What is functional fixedness?

Seeing only one use for an item and cannot think outside the box

What is belief bias?

Tendency of preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning by making invalid conclusions

What is belief perseverance?

Clinging to beliefs in the face of contrary evidence

What is confirmation bias?

Looking for evidence to support what we already believe

What is inductive reasoning?

Data-driven decision making (ends with an idea)

What is deductive reasoning?

Logic-driven decision making (ends with data)

What is divergent thinking?

Ability to think about many different things at once (creative)

What is convergent thinking?

Limiting creativity to one answer

What did Galton suggest about intelligence?

It is inherited and supported eugenics

What are Cattell's two clusters of mental abilities?

Crystalized intelligence and fluid intelligence

What is Spearman's G factor?

General intelligence underlies all mental abilities

What are the 8 multiple intelligences according to Gardner?

linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal (self), interpersonal (others), naturalist

What are the three components of Sternberg's Triarchic Theory?

analytical, practical, creative

What is the difference between chronological age and mental age in Binet's intelligence test?

Chronological age \= actual age, Mental age \= tested age compared to others of that age

What is the Flynn effect?

IQ has steadily risen over the past 80 years - probably due to education standards and better IQ tests

What is the range for high IQ and intellectually disadvantaged?

high IQ \= above 135; intellectually disadvantaged \= below 70

What are some causes of mild intellectual disadvantage?

PKU, Down syndrome, Fragile X

What is the influence of genetics and environment on IQ?

Genetics: MZ twins have similar IQ, adopted kids more similar to biological parents. Environment: early neglect leads to lower IQ, good schooling to higher IQ

What is the difference between aptitude and achievement tests?

Aptitude predicts your abilities to learn a new skill (ASVAB), Achievement tests what you know (SAT)

What is standardization in test creation?

Administer a test to a representative sample of future test takers to establish a basis for meaningful comparison (test it out 1st)

What are the two types of reliability in test creation?

Split-half reliability: compare two halves of the test, Test-retest reliability: use the same test on 2 different occasions

What is validity in test creation?

Test is accurate

What is content validity?

Test measures what it is intended to

What is predictive validity?

Test accurately predicts a trait

What is a normal distribution?

Established by standardized tests

What does standard deviation measure?

Variation from the mean