Chapter 1

Question 1

Cognitive Schema

Answer 1

An integrated mental network of knowledge, beliefs and expectations concerning a particular topic or aspect of the world

Question 2

Mental image

Answer 2

A mental representation that mirrors or resembles the thing it represents; mental images occur in many and perhaps all sensory modalities.

Question 3

Subconscious processing

Answer 3

Mental processes occupied outside of conscious awareness but accessible to consciousness when necessary.

Question 4

Non conscious processing

Answer 4

Mental processes occur outside of and not available to conscious awareness

Question 5

Implicit Learning

Answer 5

Learning that occurs when you acquire knowledge about something without being aware of how you did so and without being able to state exactly what is is you have learned

Question 6

Basic concepts

Answer 6

Concepts that have a moderate number of instances and that are easier to acquire than those having few or many instances

Question 7

Deductive reasoning

Answer 7

A form of reasoning in which a conclusion follows necessarily from certain premises; if the premises are true the conclusion must be true.

Question 8

Indicative reasoning

Answer 8

A form of reasoning in which the premises provide support for a conclusion, but it is still possible for the conclusion to be false.

Question 9

Dialectical reasoning

Answer 9

A process in which opposing facts and ideas are compared with a view to determining the best solution or resolving differences.

Question 10

Affect Heuristic

Answer 10

The tendency to consults ones emotions instead of estimating probabilities objectively.

Question 11

Availability heuristic

Answer 11

The tendency to judge the probability of a type of event by how easy it is to think of examples of instances.

Question 12

Framing effect

Answer 12

The tendency of people’s choices to be affected by how a choice is presented, or framed ; for example whether it is worded in terms of potential losses or gains.

Question 13

Hindsight bias

Answer 13

The tendency to overestimate ones ability to have predicted an event once the outcome is known; “I knew it all along”

Question 14

Mental set

Answer 14

A tendency to solve problems using procedures that worked before on similar problems.

Question 15

Cognitive dissonance

Answer 15

A states of tension that occurs when a person holds two cognitions that are psychologically inconsistent, or when a persons belief is incongruent with their behavior

Question 16

Post decision dissonance

Answer 16

Tension when you believe you may have made the wrong decision.

Question 17

Justification of Effort

Answer 17

The tendency of individual’s to increase their liking for something that they would have worked hard or suffered to attain; a common form of dissonance reduction.

Question 18

Intelligence

Answer 18

An inferred characteristic of an individual, usually defined as the ability to profit from experience, acquire knowledge, think abstractly, acts purposely or adapt to changes in the environment.

Question 19

Psychometrics

Answer 19

The measurement of mental abilities, traits and processes.

Question 20

Factor analysis

Answer 20

A statistical method for analyzing the intercorrelations among various measures or test scores; clusters or scores that are highly correlated are assumed to measure the same underlying trait, ability or aptitude.

Question 21

G factor

Answer 21

A general intellectual ability assumed by many theorist to underline specific mental abilities and talents.

Question 22

Mental age

Answer 22

A measure of mental development expressed in terms of the average mental ability at a given age.

Question 23

Intelligence quotient (IQ)

Answer 23

A measure of intelligence originally computed by dividing ones mental age by his chronological age and multiplying by 100; now it is derived from norms provided for standardized intelligence tests.

Question 24

Triarchic theory of intelligence

Answer 24

A theory of intelligence the emphasizes information processing strategies, the ability to creatively transfer skills to new situations, and the practical application of intelligence.

Question 25

Meta cognition

Answer 25

The knowledge or awareness of ones own cognitive processes, and the ability to monitor and control these processes.

Question 26

Tactic knowledge

Answer 26

Strategies for success that are not explicitly taught but that instead must be inferred.

Question 27

Emotional intelligence

Answer 27

The ability to identify your own and other people’s emotions accurately, express your own emotions clearly, and regulate emotions in yourself and others.

Question 28

Theory of mind

Answer 28

A system of beliefs about the way ones own mind and the minds of others work, and of how individuals are affected by their beliefs and feelings.