PSYC 001 Chapter 8: Thinking, Language and Intelligence Flashcards
What is cognitive psychology?
study of mental functions such as intelligence, thinking, language, memory, decision-making
What is cognition?
mental activity that includes thinking and understandings that result from thinking
What are two things cognitive psychology is based on?
(1) Knowledge is stored in the brain as representations.
(2) Thinking is the mental manipulation of these representations.
What are two types of representation?
(1) Analogical
(2) Symbolic
What is analogical representation?
Mental representations that have some of the physical characteristics of objects; they are analogous to the
objects.
e.g. maps, clocks, family trees
What is symbolic representation?
Abstract mental representations that
do not correspond to the physical features of objects or ideas.
e.g. the word violin, Chinese word for violin.
What is categorization?
We group objects according to their shared properties.
What is a concept?
A category or class of related items (e.g. musical instruments or fruits). Have concepts saves us from having to store every instance of each individual object.
Two ways that concepts are formed.
(1) Prototype model
(2) Exemplar model
What is a prototype model?
A way of thinking about concepts: Within each category, there is a best example—a prototype—for that category
e.g. Your representation of fruits might be an orange because it has seeds, is edible and sweet.
What is an exemplar model?
A way of thinking about concepts: All members of a category are examples (exemplars); together they form the concept and determine category membership.
e.g. Your representation of a dog is made up of all the dogs you have seen.
How is the prototype model different from the exemplar model?
A prototype is the best example of the category, whereas exemplars are average examples of the category.
Why do we use schemas?
(1) Common situations have consistent rules
(2) People have specific roles within situational contexts.
What are stereotypes?
Cognitive schemas that allow for easy, fast processing of information about people based on their membership in certain groups.
What is a script schema?
A schema that directs behavior over time within a situation.
E.g. Going to the movies is a script.
What is a negative consequence of schemas and scripts?
They reinforce stereotypes and biases.
What is decision making?
Attempting to select the best
alternative from among several
options
What is problem solving?
Finding a way around an obstacle to reach a goal
What are normative decision theories?
Attempts to define how people should make decisions.
What are descriptive decision theories?
Attempts to predict how people actually make choices, not to define ideal choices.
What are heuristics?
Shortcuts (rules of thumb or informal guidelines) used to reduce the amount of thinking that is needed to make decisions.
What is expected utility theory?
people make decisions by
considering the possible alternatives and choosing the most desirable one.
What is one concern with using heuristics?
They can result in biases, which can lead to errors of faulty decisions.
What is anchoring?
The tendency, in making judgments, to rely on the first piece of information encountered or information that comes most quickly to mind.
What is framing?
In decision making, the tendency to emphasize the potential losses or potential gains from at least one alternative.
What is loss aversion?
People generally weigh equal units of a loss as much as equal units of a gain.
What is the availability heuristic?
The general tendency to make a decision based on the answer that comes most easily to mind.
What is the representativeness heuristic?
Placing a person or object in a category if that person or object is similar to one’s prototype for that
category.
e.g. Shreyoshi is good at math. Is she a management or finance major? Probably finance.
What is affective forecasting?
Affective forecasting is the tendency for people to overestimate how events will make them feel in the future.
What is confirmation bias?
focusing attention only on information that supported their views.
What is hindsight bias?
creating after-the-fact explanations when events turn out contrary to predictions (essentially a posteriori excuses).
What is an anchor in decision making?
It is the reference point.
What is framing?
The tendency to emphasize potential gains or losses from at least one alternative in decision making (e.g. loss aversion).
What is base rate neglect?
People pay insufficient attention to base rates in reasoning. Instead they focus on whether information presented is representative of one conclusion or another. (e.g. representativeness heuristic).
What is restructuring a problem?
A new way of thinking about a problem that aids its solution.
What is a mental set?
Problem-solving strategies that have worked in the past.
What is functional fixedness?
In problem solving, having fixed ideas about the typical functions of objects.
What is an algorithm?
An algorithm is a guide that if followed correctly will always yield the correct answer.
What is an insight?
The sudden realization of a solution to a problem.
e.g. Metaphorical lightbulb that goes on in your head.