Chapter 7 - Thinking, Language, and Intelligence

Question 0

Thinking

Answer 0

Paying attention to information, mentally representing it, reasoning about it, and making decisions about it

Question 1

Cognition

Answer 1

Mental activity involved in understanding, processing, and communicating information

Question 2

Concept

Answer 2

A mental category that is used to class together objects, relations, events, abstractions, ideas, or qualities that have common propeties

Question 3

Prototype

Answer 3

A concept of a category of objects or events that serves as a good example of the category

Question 4

Exemplar

Answer 4

A specific example

Question 5

Algorithm

Answer 5

A systematic procedure for solving a problem that works invariably when it is correctly applied

Question 6

Systematic random search

Answer 6

An algorithm for solving problems in which each possible solution is tested according to a particular set of rules

Question 7

Heuristic

Answer 7

Rules of thumb that help us simplify and solve problems

Question 8

Means-end analysis

Answer 8

A heuristic device in which we try to solve a problem by evaluating the difference between the current situation and the goal

Question 9

Mental set

Answer 9

The tendency to respond to a new problem with an approach that was successfully used with similar problems

Question 10

Insight

Answer 10

In Gestalt psychology, a sudden perception of relationships among elements of the mentally represented elements of a problem that permits its solution

Question 11

Incubation

Answer 11

In problem solving, a process that sometimes occurs when we stand back from a frustrating problem for a while and the solution “suddenly” appears

Question 12

Functional fixedness

Answer 12

Tendency to view an object in terms of its name or familiar usage

Question 13

Representativeness heuristic

Answer 13

A decision making heuristic in which people make judgments about samples according to the populations they appear to represent

Question 14

Availability heuristic

Answer 14

A decision making heuristic in which our estimates of frequency or probability of events are based on how easy it is to find examples

Question 15

Anchoring and adjustment heuristic

Answer 15

A decision making heuristic in which a presumption or first estimate serves as a cognitive anchor; as we receive additional information, we make adjustments but tend to remain in the proximity of the anchor

Question 16

Framing effect

Answer 16

The influence of wording, or the context in which information is presented , on decision making

Question 17

Language

Answer 17

The communication of information by means of symbols arranged according to rules of grammar

Question 18

Semanticity

Answer 18

Meaning; the quality of language in which words are used as symbols for objects, events, or ideas

Question 19

Infinite creativity

Answer 19

The capacity to combine words into original sentences

Question 20

Displacement

Answer 20

The quality of language that permits one to communicate information about objects and events in another time and place

Question 21

Linguistic-relativity hypothesis

Answer 21

The view that language structures the way we view the world

Question 22

Holophrase

Answer 22

A single word used to express complex meanings

Question 23

Overregularization

Answer 23

The application of regular grammatical rules for forming inflections to irregular verbs and nouns

Question 24

Psycholinguistic theory

Answer 24

The view that language learning involves an interaction between environment factors and an inborn tendency to acquire language

Question 25

Language acquisition device (LAD)

Answer 25

In psychology linguistic theory, neutral “prewiring” that facilitates the child’s learning of grammar

Question 26

Intelligence

Answer 26

A general mental capability that involes the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience

Question 27

G

Answer 27

Spearman’s symbol for general intelligence, which he believed underlay more specific abilities

Question 28

S

Answer 28

Spearman’s symbol for specific factors, or s factors, which he believed accounted for individual abilities

Question 29

Primary mental abilities

Answer 29

According to Thurstone, the basic abilities that make up intelligence

Question 30

Creativity

Answer 30

The ability to generate novel and useful solutions to problems

Question 31

Convergent thinking

Answer 31

A thought process that narrows in on the single best solution to a problem

Question 32

Divergent thinking

Answer 32

A thought process that attempts to generate multiple solutions to problems

Question 33

Mental age (MA)

Answer 33

The accumulated months of credit that a person earns on the Stanford-Binet intelligence scale

Question 34

Intelligence quotient (IQ)

Answer 34

1) Originally, a ratio obtained by dividing a child’s score (or mental age) on an intelligence test by chronological age
2) Generally, a score on an intelligence test

Question 35

Heritability

Answer 35

The degree to which the variations in a trait from one person to another can be attributed to, or explained by, generic factors