Chapter 6: Quiz Flashcards
The processing of information to solve problems and make judgments and decisions.
thinking
The inability to “think outside the box” and create a new interpretation of a problem.
fixation
The inability to see that an object can have a function other than its typical one. This also occurs during the problem definition stage. Limits our ability to solve problems that require using an object in a novel way.
functional fixedness
The tendency to use previously successful solution strategies without considering others that are more appropriate for the current problem. Especially common for strategies that have been used recently.
mental set
A new way to interpret a problem that immediately gives the solution. This rapid understanding is key to the solution.
insight
Is a step by step procedure that guarantees a correct answer to a problem. This is slow but it produces no errors.
algorithm
A solution strategy that seems reasonable given our past experiences with solving problems, especially similar problems. Kind of like an educated guess. Faster but has errors. M
heuristics
A rule of thumb for judging the probability of membership in a category by how well an object resembles that category. Simply put, the rule is: the more representative, the more probable.
representative heuristic
The erroneous belief that a chance process is self-correcting in that an event that has not occurred for a while is more likely to occur. Suppose a person has flipped eight heads in a row and we want to bet $100 on the next coin toss, heads or tails. Some people will want to bet on tails because they think its more likely, but in actuality the two events are still equally likely.
gambler’s fallacy
A heuristic for judging the probability of an event by how available examples of the event are in memory (the more available, the more probable)
We can think of more words beginning with the letter “r” than with “r” in the third position because we organize words in our memories by how they begin. This does not mean that they are more frequent, but only that it is easier to think of them. They are easier to generate from memory. The opposite is the case- words with “r” in the third position are more frequent.
availability heuristic
The tendency to seek evidence that confirms one’s beliefs.
confirmation bias
Is the erroneous belief that two variables are statistically related when they actually are not. If we believe a relationship exists between two things then we will tend to notice and remember instances that confirm this relationship.
Example:
Many people believe a relationship between weather changes and arthritis. Why? They focus on instances when the weather changes and their arthritic pain increases. To determine if this relationship actually exist we need to consider the frequency of all four possible events, the two that confirm the hypothesis and the two that disconfirm it. The two confirming instances would be:
1. when the weather changes and arthritic pain changes
2. when the weather does not change and arthritic pain does not change
The two disconfirming instance would be:
1. when the weather changes but arthritic pain does not
2. when the weather does not change but arthritic pain does.
The confirming events are not more frequent than the disconfirming events so this means there is no relationship between these two variables.
illusory correlation
The tendency to cling to our beliefs in the face of contradictory evidence. Our beliefs constitute a large part of our identity; therefore, admitting that we are wrong is very difficult. We mostly suffer from this when our beliefs are proved wrong but we still want to hang on to our beliefs.
belief preseverance
Questioning a well established finding because we know a person who violates the finding.
Example:
questioning the validity of the finding that smoking leads to health problems, because we know someone who has smoked most of his or her life and has no health problems. This indicates a failure to understand that these research findings are probabilities.
person-who reasoning
developed by William Stern.
formula was the following:
IQ= (mental age/chronological age) x 100
This is no longer used to compute a person’s intelligence test score.
intelligence quotient
