Chapter 8 Flashcards
Cognition
the mental process involved in acquiring knowledge and comprehension through thought and experiences
Two ideas about thinking
Knowledge about the world is stored in the brain in representations
Thinking
Thinking
is the mental manipulation of these representations
Two basic types of mental representations
Analogical
Compares two things that are similar in some way
Symbolic
Analogical representations
some characteristics of what they represent
Usually images
Symbolic representations
abstract mental representations that do not correspond to the physical features of objects or ideas
Categorization
grouping things based on shared properties
Reduces the amount of knowledge we must hold in memory
Concepts
a category, or class, of related items (such as musical instruments or fruits)
Prototype model
when you think about a category you tend to look for a best example or prototype for that category
Exemplar model
proposes that any concept has no single best representation
Scripts
a schema that directs behavior over time within a situation
Stereotypes
cognitive schemas that allow for easy, fast processing of people based on their membership in certain groups
Gender roles
are the prescribed behaviors for females and males within a culture
Decision making
we select among alternatives
Some decisions are made under some degree of risk
Comparing the options and choosing the one that is likely to be the best given the available information
Problem solving
we overcome obstacles to move from a present state to a desired goal state
Heuristics
shortcuts in thinking are fast and efficient strategies that people typically use to make decisions
Often occurs unconsciously
Can result in biases
Anchoring
occurs when in making judgements people rely on the first piece of information they encounter or on information that some most quickly to mind
Framing
a choice by emphasizing the potential loss or potential gain can lead to different decisions
availability heuristic
the general tendency to make a decision based on the answer that comes most easily to mind
Representativeness heuristic
the tendency to place a person or an object in a category if the person or object is similar to our prototype for the category
Emotion can influence decisions by
providing an internal signal about the value of different choice options
Affective forecasting
predicting how they will feel about things in the future
Reconstructing
consists of representing the problem in a novel way
Mental sets
problem-solving strategies that have worked in the past
Functional fixedness
having fixed ideas about the typical functions of objects
Algorithm
a guideline that if followed correctly will always yield the correct answer
Insight
the metaphorical mental lightbulb that goes on in your head when you suddenly realize the solution to a problem
Maximizing
seek to identify the perfect choice among a set of options
Satisficing
seek to find a “good enough” choice that meets their minimum requirements
Intelligence
the ability to use knowledge to reason, make decisions, make sense of events, solve problems, understand complex ideas, learn quickly, and adapt to environmental challenges
Psychometric approach to measuring intelligence
focuses on how people perform on standardized tests that assess mental abilities
Mental age
an assessment of a child’s intellectual standing compared to that of same-age peers
Intelligence quotient
computed by dividing a child’s estimated mental age by the child’s chronological age and multiplying the result by 100
Social multiplier
an environmental factor or an entire environment that increases what might have started as a small advantage
Many environmental influences affect human intelligence
Prenatal factors
Postnatal factors
Have been shown to influence brain development
Language enables us to
communicate using sound and symbols according to grammatical rules
Morphemes
are the smallest units of language that have meaning, including suffixes and prefixes
Phonemes
are the basic sounds of speech, the building blocks of language
Aphasia
a language disorder that results in deficits in language comprehension and production
Receptive aphasia
have trouble understanding the meaning of words
Wernicke’s area
an area in the left hemisphere where the temporal lobe and parietal lobe meet, involved in speech comprehension
Linguistic relativity theory
language determines thought
Telegraphic speech
involves the use of rudimentary sentences that are missing words and grammatical markers but follow a logical syntax and convey a wealth of meaning
Surface deep
the sound and order of words
Deep structure
the implicit meanings of sentences
Phonics
teaches an association between letters and the phonemes they represent
