CH 7 PSY 120 Flashcards
concept
a category or grouping of linguistic information, images, ideas, or memories, such as life experiences.
Natural concepts
are formed through our experiences or observations, e.g. sports
Artificial concepts
are defined by specific characteristics, e.g. math concepts
Prototype resemblance
Based on resemblance to an ideal
Propositions
Rules that define category membership. May be based on necessary and sufficient features
Cognitive schemata
– A schema is a mental construct consisting of a cluster or collection of related concepts
– This network of prototypes, propositions, rules and knowledge guides us in judgments and behavior, and helps reduce mental effort
– A set of cognitive shortcuts, more of a theoretical model in progress
Role Schemata
Norms and expected behavior from people with a specific role in society
Event Schemata
A set of behaviors that can feel like a routine.
– Algorithms
- A sequence of steps guaranteed to give you a desired outcome
– Heuristics
- Shortcuts that will give the right answer most of the time, but not always
- Availability heuristic
– Which claims more lives in the United States: lightning or tornadoes? makes us estimate the likelihood of an event based on our ability to recall similar events.
- Representativeness heuristic
Which is more likely: TTHTHHTT or TTTTTTTT
“8 16 24 32 41 44” or “1 2 3 4 5 6”. makes us estimate the probability of something based on the degree to which it resembles.
Mental Set
the tendency to stick to solutions that have worked for you in the past when trying to solve a problem.
- Functional fixedness
the inability to realize that something known to have a particular use may also be used to perform other functions.
Dunning-Kruger Effect
A problem of ignorance is when people are not aware of their ignorance, leading to overconfidence
Reasoning is Not Always Rational
Human beings operate on both reason and emotion. We often make decisions based less on reason that on emotions, or concepts such as fairness. People have a confirmation bias
However, one piece of disconfirmatory evidence may outweigh any amount of confirmatory evidence.
Base Rate Fallacy
Base rate fallacy is a type of error that occurs when relevant data or commonly-understood (statistically relevant) information about a subject matter (base rate) is neglected or ignored in favor of new information.
Gambler’s Fallacy
occurs when an individual erroneously believes that a certain random event is less likely or more likely to happen based on the outcome of a previous event or series of events.
Hindsight Bias
a psychological phenomenon that allows people to convince themselves after an event that they accurately predicted it before it happened.
Cognitive Dissonance
occurs when a person’s behavior and beliefs do not complement each other or when they hold two contradictory beliefs. (Example – “I smoke, even though I know smoking can kill”). Leon Festinger was an American social psychologist who originated the theory.
