Chapter 9 Flashcards
metacognition
cognition about cognition. keeping track of and evaluating our mental processes
“thinkingabout thinking”
concept
a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas or people
prototype
a mental image or best example of a category. matching new items to a prototype provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories
ex. crow = prototype for birds so takes longer for people to put penguin into the bird concept
algorythm
a methodical, logical rule or procedure that garentees solving a particular problem. contrasts with the usually speedier, but also more error prone, use of heuristics.
heuristics
a simple thinking strategy. a mental shortcut that helps us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently. usually faster but also more error-prone then algorythm
insight
a sudden realization of a problem’s solution. contrasts with strategy-based solutions
confirmation bias
our tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence
fixation
in cognition, the inability to see a problem from a new perspective. an obstacle to problem solving.
mental set
a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been succesful in the past
intuituion
an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought. contrasted with explicit, concise reasoning
representativeness heuristic
judging the likelihood of events in terms of how well they seem to represent or match particular prototypes. may lead us to ignore other relevant information.
availability heuristic
judging the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory. if instances come to mind (vividly), we presume such events are common
overconfidence
the tendency to be more confident then correct. to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgements. we think we know more than we do
belief perseverance
clinging to ones original conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited
framing
the way an issue is posed. how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgement
nudge
framing choices in a way that encourages people to make beneficial decisions
creativity
the ability to produce new and valuable ideas
convergent thinking
narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution
divergent thinking
expanding the number of possible problem solutions. creative thinking that diverges in different directions
robert sternburg’s 5 components of creativity
- expertise
- imaginative thinking skills
- a venturesome, determined personality
- intrinsic motivation
- a creative environment
language
our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning
phonemes
the smallest distinctive sound unit (letter or letter sounds like “th”)
morphemes
smallest unit that carries meaning. can be a word or part of a word (prefixes)
grammar
a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others
semantics
the language’s set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds
syntax
set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences
babbling stage
the stage in speech development beginning around four months when an infant spontaneously utters various sounds that are not all related to the household language
one-word stage
stage in speech developement (1-2yo ish) during which a child speaks mostly in single words
two-word stage
stage in speech development (beginning at 2yo) during which a child speaks mostly in two-word sentences
telegraphic speech
early speech phase in which child speaks like a telegraph (ex. “go car”) using mostly nouns and verbs
aphasia
impairment of language. usually caused by left hemisphere damage to boca’s area (production) or wernick’s area (comprehension + expression)
linguistic determinism
Whorf’s hypothesis that language determines the way we think
ex. he thought since the hopi people have no past tense that meant also an inability to think about the past
linguistic relativism
the idea that language influences the way we think
ex. people feeling like “different people” when they speak english vs japanese
