PSY 101 Chapter 8: Cognition and Intelligence

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering key concepts from Chapter 8: Cognition and Intelligence, including language theories, problem-solving barriers, decision-making heuristics, intelligence testing metrics, and genetic versus environmental influences.

Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

An innate biological process or mechanism proposed by Noam Chomsky that facilitates the learning of language in children.

Bilingualism

The acquisition of two languages that use different sounds, vocabulary, and grammatical rules.

Linguistic Relativity

The hypothesis formulated by Benjamin Lee Whorf in 1956 stating that a person's language determines the nature of their thought and shapes their worldview.

Problem Solving

Active efforts to figure out what must be done to achieve a goal that is not readily attainable.

Functional Fixedness

The tendency to perceive an item only in the way that it is most commonly or customarily used.

Mental Set

A barrier to problem solving that occurs when people persist in using problem-solving strategies simply because they have been successful in the past.

Insight

The sudden and abrupt realization of the solution to a problem after struggling with it for a period of time.

Trial and Error

A problem-solving approach involving attempting possible solutions until one works; impractical when there are too many potential solutions.

Heuristic

A guiding rule of thumb or mental shortcut used in decision-making or problem-solving that is useful but does not guarantee results.

Incubation Effect

A phenomenon where new solutions come to mind after temporarily setting a problem aside and not thinking about it, theorized to occur due to unconscious processing.

Decision-Making

The process of evaluating all possible alternatives and making choices between them.

Theory of Bounded Rationality

Herbert Simon's theory asserting that human decision makers tend to use simple strategies that examine only a few options, resulting in less-than-optimal decisions.

Availability Heuristic

A cognitive shortcut wherein the estimated probability of an event is based on the ease with which relevant instances come to mind.

Representativeness Heuristic

A cognitive shortcut wherein the estimated probability of an event is based on how similar it is to the typical prototype of that event.

Conjunction Fallacy

An error that occurs when people believe that the odds of two events happening together are greater than the odds of either event happening alone.

Mental Age

A score indicating that a child displays the mental abilities typical of an average child of a particular chronological age.

Normal Distribution

A symmetric, bell-shaped curve illustrating the spread of a characteristic throughout the population, used as the scoring standard for contemporary intelligence tests.

Reliability

The consistency of a test, indicated by scores remaining similar when the test is repeated, evaluated statistically using a correlation coefficient.

Correlation Coefficient

A numerical index indicating the degree and direction of the relationship between two variables.

Validity

The ability of a test to measure what it is designed or intended to measure, such as intelligence tests measuring academic performance.

Heritability ratio

An estimate of the proportion of trait variability within a specific population that is determined by genetic inheritance.

Reaction Range

The concept that heredity sets genetically determined upper and lower limits on intelligence, while the quality of the environment determines where one falls within that range.

convergent thinking

Using logic to find ONE correct solution.

divergent thinking

Coming up with MANY possible ideas or solutions.

creativity

The ability to come up with new, original, and useful ideas.

Deviation IQ Scores

IQ scores that compare your intelligence test performance to others your age. The average is 100.

Framing

How information is presented influences your decisions.

Gambler's Fallacy

Incorrectly believing that a random event is more likely because it hasn't happened recently.

Percentile Score

Percentage of people at or BELOW your score

risky decision making

Choosing an option even though there's a chance of a negative outcome.

intelligent quotient

A number used to measure intellectual ability compared to others.