Into to Psychology: Unit 5 Chapter 8

Cognition

All mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

Metacognition

Thinking about our own thinking and evaluating our mental processes.

Concept

A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people that simplifies thinking.

Prototype

A mental image or best example of a category used to quickly classify items.

Trial and Error

A problem-solving method where different solutions are tried until one works.

Algorithm

A step-by-step procedure that guarantees a solution.

Heuristic

A mental shortcut that helps solve problems quickly but may lead to errors.

Insight

A sudden realization of a problem's solution.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for information that supports our beliefs and ignore contradictory evidence.

Functional Fixation

The inability to see a problem from a new perspective or use objects in new ways.

Intuition

An effortless, immediate feeling or thought without conscious reasoning.

Representativeness Heuristic

Judging the likelihood of an event by how well it matches a prototype.

Availability Heuristic

Judging the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples come to mind.

Overconfidence

The tendency to be more confident than correct.

Belief Perseverance

Maintaining beliefs even after evidence shows they are wrong.

Framing

The way information is presented, which influences decisions and judgments.

Nudge

Presenting choices in a way that encourages certain decisions.

Creativity

The ability to produce new and valuable ideas.

Convergent Thinking

Narrowing possible solutions to find one correct answer.

Divergent Thinking

Creative thinking that generates many possible solutions.

Language

A system of spoken, written, or signed symbols used to communicate meaning.

Noam Chomsky

Proposed that humans are born with a universal grammar that allows language learning.

Receptive Language

The ability to understand language.

Productive Language

The ability to produce spoken or written language.

Critical Period

A stage in early childhood when language learning occurs most easily.

Multiple Intelligences

The theory that intelligence consists of different independent abilities.

Analytical Intelligence

The ability to analyze problems and perform well on academic tests.

Creative Intelligence

The ability to adapt to new situations and generate new ideas.

Practical Intelligence

The ability to solve everyday real-world problems.

Emotional Intelligence

The ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions.

Intelligence Test

A test measuring mental abilities and comparing them with others using scores.

Achievement Test

A test measuring what a person has learned.

Aptitude Test

A test predicting future performance or ability to learn.

Mental Age

A measure of intellectual performance compared with average ability for a certain age.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

A score representing intelligence relative to the average score.

Standardization

Establishing norms by testing many people.

Reliability

The consistency of test results.

Validity

The degree to which a test measures what it claims to measure.

Heritability

The proportion of differences among people that can be attributed to genes.

Growth Mindset

The belief that intelligence can grow through effort and learning.

Crystallized Intelligence

Accumulated knowledge and verbal skills that increase with age.

Fluid Intelligence

The ability to reason quickly and solve new problems.