Chapter 9

Question 1

concept

Answer 1

A mental category that groups objects, relations, activities, abstractions, or qualities having common properties.

Question 2

basic concepts

Answer 2

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

Question 3

prototype

Answer 3

An especially representative example of a concept.

Question 4

proposition

Answer 4

A unit of meaning that is made up of concepts and expresses a single idea.

Question 5

cognitive schema

Answer 5

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

Question 6

mental image

Answer 6

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

Question 7

subconscious processes

Answer 7

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

Question 8

nonconscious processes

Answer 8

Mental processes occurring outside of and not available to conscious awareness.

Question 9

implicit learning

Answer 9

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 it is you have learned.

Question 10

algorithm

Answer 10

A problem-solving strategy guaranteed to produce a solution even if the user does not know how it works.

Question 11

heuristic

Answer 11

A rule of thumb that suggests a course of action or guides problem solving by does not guarantee an optimal solution.

Question 12

reasoning

Answer 12

The drawing of conclusions or inferences from observations, facts, or assumptions.

Question 13

dialectical reasoning

Answer 13

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

Question 14

affect heuristic

Answer 14

The tendency to consult one’s emotions instead of estimating probabilities objectively.

Question 15

availability heuristic

Answer 15

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

Question 16

framing effect

Answer 16

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

Question 17

hindsight bias

Answer 17

The tendency to overestimate one’s ability to have predicted an event after the outcome is known; the “I knew it all along” phenomenon.

Question 18

confirmation bias

Answer 18

The tendency to look for or pay attention only to information that confirms one’s own belief.

Question 19

mental set

Answer 19

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

Question 20

cognitive dissonance

Answer 20

A state of tension that occurs when a person holds two cognitions that are psychologically inconsistent, or when a person’s belief is incongruent with his or her behavior.

Question 21

postdecision dissonance

Answer 21

In the theory of cognitive dissonance, tension that occurs when you believe that you may have made a bad decision.

Question 22

justification of effort

Answer 22

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

Question 23

intelligence

Answer 23

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

Question 24

psychometrics

Answer 24

The measurement of mental abilities, traits, and processes.

Question 25

factor analysis

Answer 25

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

Question 26

g factor

Answer 26

A general intellectual ability assumed by many theorists to underlie specific mental abilities and talents.

Question 27

crystallized intelligence

Answer 27

Cognitive skills and specific knowledge acquired over a lifetime; it is heavily dependent on education and tends to remain stable over time.

Question 28

fluid intelligence

Answer 28

The capacity to reason and use information to solve problems; it is relatively independent of education.

Question 29

mental age (MA)

Answer 29

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

Question 30

intelligence quotient (IQ)

Answer 30

A measure of intelligence originally computed by dividing a person’s mental age by his or her chronological age and multiplying by 100; it is now derived from norms provided for standardized intelligence tests.

Question 31

stereotype threat

Answer 31

A burden of doubt a person feels about his or her performance, due to negative stereotypes about his or her group’s abilities.

Question 32

metacognition

Answer 32

The knowledge or awareness of one’s own cognitive processes, and the ability to monitor and control those processes.

Question 33

triarchic theory of intelligence

Answer 33

A theory of intelligence that emphasizes analytic, creative, and practical abilities.

Question 34

tacit knowledge

Answer 34

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

Question 35

multiple intelligences theory

Answer 35

A theory of intelligence that emphasizes many different ways of processing information.

Question 36

emotional intelligence

Answer 36

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

Question 37

cognitive ethology

Answer 37

The study of cognitive processes in non-human animals

Question 38

theory of mind

Answer 38

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