Ch. 8 Flashcards
All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
Cognition
A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people
Concept
A mental image or best example of a category
Prototype
A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees you will solve a particular problem
Algorithm
A simple thinking strategy that often allows you to make judgments and solve problems efficiently
Heuristic
A sudden realization of the solution to a problem; contrasts with strategy-based solutions
Insight
A tendency to search for information that supports your preconceptions and to ignore or distort evidence that contradicts them
Confirmation bias
In thinking, the inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an obstacle to problem solving
Fixation
An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning
Intuition
Judging the likelihood of an event based on its availability in memory; if an event comes readily to mind, we assume it must be common
Availability heuristic
The tendency to be more confident than correct - to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments
Overconfidence
Clinging to beliefs even after evidence has proven them wrong
Belief perseverance
The way an issue is posed; this can significantly affect decisions and judgments
Framing
The ability to produce new and valuable ideas
Creativity
Narrowing the available solutions to determine the single best solution to a problem
Convergent thinking
Expanding the number of possible solutions to a problem; creative thinking that branches out in different directions
Divergent thinking
Our spoken, written, or signed words, and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning
Language
Beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which an infant spontaneously utters various sounds, many at first unrelated to the household language
Babbling stage
The stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words
One-word stage
Beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in two-word sentences
Two-word stage
Early speech stage in which a child speaks in compressed sentences, like a telegram - “want milk” or “Daddy go store” - using mostly nouns and verbs
Telegraphic speech
In a specific language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with nd understand others
Grammar
Controls language expression; an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech
Broca’s area
Controls language reception; a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe
Wernicke’s area
The ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations
Intelligence
A general intelligence factor that, according to Spearman and others, underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test
General intelligence (g)
A condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing
Savant syndrome
The ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions
Emotional intelligence
A method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores
Intelligence test
A test designed to assess what a person has learned
Achievement test
A test designed to predict a person’s future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn
Aptitude test
A measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the level of performance typically associated with children of a certain chronological age
Mental age
The widely used American revision of Binet’s original intelligence test
Stanford-Binet
Defined originally as the ratio of mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100
Intelligence quotient (IQ)
The most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance subtests
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
Defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group
Standardization
The bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes
Normal curve
The extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternative forms of the test, or on retesting
Reliability
The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to
Validity
The extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest
Content validity
The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict
Predictive validity
A condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence test score of 70 or below and difficulty adapting to the demands of life
Intellectual disability
A condition of mild to severe intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21
Down syndrome
The portion of variation among people in a group that we can attribute to genes. The ________ of a trait may vary, depending on the population and the environment
Heritability
Research in which people of different ages are compared with one another
Cross-sectional study
Research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period
Longitudinal study
Your accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age
Crystallized intelligence
Your ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease with age
Fluid intelligence
A self-confirming concern that you will be judged based on a negative stereotype
Stereotype threat
