AP Psych: Unit 2B - Thinking & Intelligence

cognition

the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

metacognition

thinking about thinking; awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes

concept

a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

prototype

a mental image or best example of a concept

schema

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information

assimilation

interpreting one's new experience in terms of one's existing schemas

accommodation

adapting one's schemas to incorporate new information or experiences

creativity

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

convergent thinking

narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

divergent thinking

expands the number of possible problem solutions

executive functions

higher order thinking processes that include planning, organizing, inhibition, and decision-making

algorithm

a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem.

heuristic

a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually faster but more error-prone than algorithms

insight

a sudden realization of a problem's solution, as opposed to strategy-based solutions

confirmation bias

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

fixation

an impediment to problem-solving; inability to think about something differently

mental set

a type of fixation in which one tends to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past

intuition

knowledge formed without conscious deliberation or reasoning

representativeness heuristic

judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to match particular prototypes

availability heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on how readily they come to mind

overconfidence

the tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments

planning fallacy

the tendency to underestimate how long it will take to complete a task

sunk-cost fallacy

the illogical tendency to continue investing time, effort, or money in an endeavor to justify our previous expenditures, whether or not the benefit is actually worth the cost moving forward

belief perseverance

the tendency to cling to one's initial conceptions even once they have been disproved or discredited

framing effect

the impact of the way an issue is posed on decisions and judgements about that issue

nudge

a slight push or shake

priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of certain associations, thus predisposing one's perception, memory, or response

belief bias

the tendency to judge arguments based on one's prior beliefs about their conclusion, rather than on how well they support that conclusion

backfire effect

the tendency for core beliefs to be strengthened, rather than weakened, in the face of contradictory evidence

curse of knowledge

the tendency to presume something is obvious or common knowledge once it is known to us

declinism

the tendency to view the past favorably and future negatively

Dunning-Kruger effect

the tendency for less knowledgeable individuals to overestimate the accuracy of their beliefs and judgements, while more knowledgeable individuals tend to underestimate the accuracy of their beliefs and judgements

functional fixedness

a type of fixation in which one tends to think of objects only in terms of their usual uses

gambler's fallacy

the illogical tendency to assume past events influence future events that are, in fact, statistically independent from each other

negativity bias

the tendency to allow negative things to disproportionately influence decisions and judgements

intelligence

mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

general intelligence (g)

Charles Spearman's theory that a single factor underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test

factor analysis

a statistical procedure that identifies clusters of related items on a test

fluid intelligence (Gf)

our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood

crystallized intelligence (Gc)

our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age

Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) Theory

the theory that our intelligence is based on general intelligence (g) as well as specific abilities, bridged by fluid intelligence (Gf) and crystallized intelligence (Gc)

savant syndrome

a condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill

multiple intelligences theory

Howard Gardner's theory that, rather than one, there are eight different kinds of intelligence: logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, interpersonal, naturalist, and linguistic

bodily-kinesthetic intelligence

the ability to use one's mind and body to coordinate physical movement

interpersonal intelligence

the ability to read, empathize with, and understand others

intrapersonal intelligence

the ability to understand and regulate oneself

linguistic intelligence

the ability to utilize the skills involved in the production and use of language

logical-mathematical intelligence

the ability to use deductive reasoning, analyze problems, and perform mathematical calculations

musical intelligence

the ability to appreciate, compose, and perform music

naturalist intelligence

ability to identify and classify patterns in nature and be in tune with one's environment

spatial intelligence

the ability to perceive and understand visual information in the real and abstract world

existential intelligence

the ability to ponder large questions about life, death, and existence

triarchic intelligence theory

Robert Sternberg's theory that, rather than one, there are three different kinds of intelligence: analytical, creative, and practical

analytical intelligence

book smarts; the type of intelligence typically measured by traditional intelligence tests and assessed in academic settings

practical intelligence

street smarts; the type of intelligence that underlies common sense and enables solving everyday, real world problems

creative intelligence

the type of intelligence that underlies the ability to generate novel, valuable ideas

grit

passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals

deliberate practice

a method of carrying out carefully focused efforts to improve current performance

emotional intelligence

the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions

intelligence test

a method for assessing an individual's mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores

achievement test

a test designed to assess what a person has learned

aptitude test

a test designed to predict a person's future performance or capacity to learn

eugenics

the science of improving a human population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics

mental age

a measure of intelligence test performance; the chronological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance

chronological age

age as measured in years from date of birth

Stanford-Binet

Lewis Terman's American revision of Binet's original intelligence test

intelligence quotient (IQ)

originally, the ratio of mental age to chronological age multiplied by 100 [IQ = (MA/CA) x 100].

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

created by David Wechsler, the most widely used intelligence test

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)

a version of the WAIS for school children

psychometrics

the scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits

standardization

defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group

normal curve

the symmetrical bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many attributes, with most scores falling near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lying near the extremes

Flynn effect

the worldwide phenomenon that intelligence test performance has been increasing over the years

reliability

the extent to which a test yields consistent results

split-half reliability

the extent to which a test gives people consistent scores when two halves are calculated separately

equivalent-form reliability

the extent to which a test gives people consistent scores when taking different versions of the test

test-retest reliability

the extent to which a test gives people consistent scores when taking the test multiple times

inter-rater reliability

the extent to which different people scoring a test are consistent in their judgments and evaluations

validity

the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to

content validity

the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest

construct validity

the degree to which a test measures what it claims, or purports, to be measuring

predictive validity

the extent to which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict

cross-sectional study

a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another at a single point in time

longitudinal study

research that follows and retests the same people over a longer period of time

cohort

a group of people from a given time period

heritability

the ability of a trait to be passed down from one generation to the next

nature-nurture issue

the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors

bias

a systematic error in which the validity of a test is greater for some groups than for others

stereotype threat

a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype

stereotype lift

the tendency for awareness of a positive stereotype to improve performance on tasks