AP Psych Unit 2 Cognition

Cogniton

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

concept

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

prototype

a mental image or best example of a category

creativity

the ability to produce new 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 (creative thinking that diverges in different directions)

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 speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms

insight

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

Fixation

the inability to see a problem from a new perspective, by employing a different mental set

mental set

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

intuition

an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning

representativeness heuristic

judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information

availability heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common

Overconfidence

Tendency to overestimate our ability to make correct predictions

belief perseverance

clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

Framing

the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments.

language

A system of communication through the use of speech, a collection of sounds understood by a group of people to have the same meaning.

Phoneme

in language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

Morpheme

in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix)

grammar

in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others

Aphasia

impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding).

linguistic determinism

Whorf's hypothesis that language determines the way we think

linguistic influence

the weaker form of "linguistic relativity"—the idea that language affects thought (thus our thinking and world view is "relative to" our cultural language).