Chap 10 Flashcards
Cognition
The mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, and remembering
Concept
A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas or people
Prototype
a mental image or best example of a category
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
Confirmation Bias
a tendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions
Fixation
the inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an impediment to problem solving
Mental Set
a tendency to approach a problem in a particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past
Functional Fixedness
the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions
Representativeness Heuristic
judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead one to ignore other relevant information
Availability Heuristic
estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind, we presume such events are common
Overconfidence
the tendency to be more confident than correct–to overestimate the accuracy of one’s beliefs and judgments
Framing
the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments
Belief Bias
the tendency for one’s preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning, sometimes by making invalid conclusions seem valid, or valid conclusions seem invalid
