AP Psychology - Unit 2 Vocab Quiz 2.2A and 2.2B

Accommodation

Changing an existing mental framework to incorporate new information.

Algorithm

Step-by-step procedure that guarantees a solution when correctly applied to a suitable problem.

Assimilation

Interpreting new information using an existing mental framework.

Availability heuristic

Judging likelihood by how easily examples come to mind.

Base rate

Underlying frequency of an event or characteristic in a population.

Cognition

Mental activities involved in thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

Concept

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

Convergent thinking

Narrowing possible answers to identify a single best solution.

Creativity

Ability to produce ideas that are both original and useful.

Divergent thinking

Generating many possible ideas or solutions.

Executive functions

Mental control processes that support planning, inhibition, flexibility, and goal-directed behavior.

Fixation

Inability to view a problem from a fresh perspective.

Framing

Effect of how information or choices are presented on judgments and decisions.

Functional fixedness

Difficulty imagining an object's uses beyond its customary function.

Gambler's fallacy

Mistaken belief that past independent chance outcomes change the probability of future outcomes.

Heuristic

Efficient mental shortcut that often works but can produce errors.

Mental set

Tendency to use a previously successful problem-solving approach.

Priming

Activation of associations that influences later perception, memory, or behavior.

Prototype

Typical or best example of a category used to classify new instances.

Representativeness heuristic

Judging category membership or likelihood by similarity to a typical example.

Schema

Mental framework that organizes knowledge and guides interpretation.

Sunk-cost fallacy

Continuing an endeavor because of past investments that cannot be recovered.