Unit 2 ID Terms Part 2 (Thinking and Language)

Definitions from AMSCO Book

Cognition

Mental activity associated with processing, understanding, and communicating info.

Concepts

Mental groupings of similar objects, events, ideas, or people.

Prototype 

A mental image of the best example of a specific concept or category.

Critical Thinking 

Acquiring new information using concepts, prototypes, and other cognitive activities and develop opinions and beliefs about that information.

Creativity

The ability to produce novel and valuable ideas within any discipline, including art, music, architecture, mathematics, science, and engineering.

Convergent Thinking

A question invites only one correct answer.

Divergent Thinking 

A question or problem can have several or many possible answers.

Metacognition 

The active control and awareness of our own thinking.

Trial and Error

A process by which we try out different solutions until we find one that works.

Algorithm

A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a problem because it explores every possibility, however it takes a LONG time, also more accurate.

Heuristics 

Simple basic rules that serve as shortcuts to solve complex mental tasks; does not guarantee a correct solution; much quicker.

Insight 

A sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem.

Wolfgang Köhler 

An experiment on insight by a chimpanzee; documented the insight method of solving problems when he studied chimps trying to get bananas that were out of reach.

Intuition 

What we know without knowing how we know it. It is an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought that allows us to interpret a situation or problem and quickly reach conclusions.

Mindset 

a mental approach to problems and issues, often connected to the psychological construct of intelligence.

Growth Mindset 

A mental approach that believes in the ability to improve, grow, and learn through effort and persistence. It involves being open to finding solutions, learning from mistakes, and striving for better outcomes.

Fixed Mindset

A mental approach that assumes abilities and intelligence are static and cannot be changed. This often leads to feelings of helplessness and discouragement.

Cognitive Biases 

Patterns of thinking that can distort judgment and lead us away from rational or effective problem-solving.

Confirmation Bias 

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

Fixation 

The inability to see or define a problem from a fresh point of view.

Functional Fixedness 

A specific type of fixation, a cognitive bias that limits a person to seeing objects only in their traditional or intended uses. This tendency restricts creativity and problem-solving by preventing individuals from thinking about alternative or unconventional uses for an object; inability of someone to use an object for something other than its original intended purpose.

Mental Set 

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

Representativeness Heuristic 

We judge how something represents, or matches, certain prototypes we have.

Availability Heuristic 

Which estimates the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory.

Overconfidence 

The tendency to overestimate the accuracy of your beliefs and judgments.

Self-Serving Bias 

A problem-solving barrier resulting from evaluating ourselves in an overly favorable manner, explaining our success by internal traits and our failure by external factors.

Belief Perseverance

The thinking flaw of clinging to our initial conceptions even after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited.

Cognitive Dissonance 

Discomfort or tension that arises when a person holds conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes, or when their behavior contradicts their beliefs. This discomfort motivates individuals to reduce the dissonance by rationalizing, denying, or ignoring evidence that challenges their core beliefs.

Justification of Effort

Where people tend to increase their appreciation or attachment to something if they had to work hard or endure difficulties to achieve it.

Framing

The process of presenting or posing an issue or question.

Risk or Loss Aversion 

The tendency of people to prefer avoiding losses to achieving equivalent gains.

Anchoring Effect

A cognitive bias favoring the first information offered.

Frame of Reference 

The perspective or set of criteria that an individual uses to perceive, interpret, and evaluate the world, including situations, events, or experiences.

Language 

Our spoken, written, or gestured works and the way we combine them to communicate meaning.

Linguistics

The scientific study of language. Subcategories include phonology, morphology, syntax, grammar, semantics, and pragmatics.

Phoneme 

The smallest distinctive sound unit in a language.

Morpheme 

The smallest unit that carries meaning in language.

Grammar

A set of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others.

Syntax 

The rules for combining or arranging words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language.

Semantics 

The set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language. Also the study of meaning.

Pragmatics 

In language means knowing when to use certain kinds of language in social situations. Also the study of how people use language.

Babbling Stage

Beginning at 3-4 months. The stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language. Imitation of speech.

One-Word Stage

From age 1-2. The stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in single word. (Holophrases)

Two-Word Stage 

Beginning around age 2. The stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly two-word sentences.

Overgeneralization 

The application of grammar rules in instances to which they do not apply.

Language Acquisition Device (LAD) 

A mental structure that facilitates the learning of language because it is preprogrammed with fundamental language rules. Children use this to analyze and comprehend the language they hear.

Statistical Learning 

Refers to the ability of individuals, especially infants and young children, to detect patterns and regularities in their environment by unconsciously observing and analyzing statistical properties of stimuli.

Linguistic Determinism 

That the language one uses determines the way one thinks and one’s view of the world.

Linguistic Relativity (Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis)

A hypothesis that assumes that language does NOT determine the way we think, but rather influences our perspective.

Mnemonic Device

memory aid; designed to help individuals remember information more effectively. These devices often involve associating the information to be remembered with a pattern, image, word, or phrase that is easier to recall.