Psychology Test 3 Review (Vocab) (2) Flashcards
Cognition
The mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
Concept
A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, and 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 categoris (as when comparing feathered creatures to protytypical bird, usch as a robin).
algorithm
a methodcial, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a partucal problem. Contrasts with the usually speedier–but also more error-prone–use of heuristics
heuristic
a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more erorr prone than algortihms
insight
A sudden realization a problem’s solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions
confirmation bias
a tendency to search for information that supports our preconeption and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence
mental set
a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been succesful in the past
intuition
an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, consious reasoning.
availability heursitic
estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because oftheir vividness), we presume such events are common.
overconfidence
the tendency to be more confident than correct–to overestimate the confident than correct–to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgements
belief perseverance
clinging to one’s initial coneptions after the basis on which they were formed has been sicredited
framing
the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgements
creativity
the ability to produe novel and valuable ideas
convergent thinking
narrows the available problem solutions to determine the signle best solution
divergent htinking
expands the number of possible problem soluitons (creative thinking that diverges in different directions).
intelligence
mental quality consisting of the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations
general intelligence
denoted as g
a general intelligence factor that, accoriding to Spearman and others, underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore meausred by every task on an intelligence test
savant syndrome
a condition in which a person otheswise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing
emotional intelligence
the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions
intelligence t est
a method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores
aptitude test
a test designed to predict a person’s future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn
achievement test
a test designed to assess what a person has learned
mental age
a measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the chornological age that most typically corresponds to a given level of performance. Thus, a child who does as well as an average 8-year-old is said to have a mental age of 8
Stanford-Binet
the dwidely used American revision (by Terman at Standford University) of Binet’s original intelligence test.
intelligence quotient (IQ)
difined originally as the ration of mental age (ma) to chornoligcal (ca) multiplied by 100 (thus, IQ=MA/CA*100). On contemporary intelligence tests, the average performance ofr a given age is assigned a score of 100
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scare (WAIS)
The WAIS is the most widely used intelligence test; contains veral and performance (nonverbal) subtests
standardization
defining uniform testing procdeures and meaningful scores by comprison with the perfomrance of a pretested group
normal curve
the bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and phsychological attributes. Mot scores fall near t he average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes
reliability
the extent to which a test yeilds consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, or on retesting
validity
the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to.
Content validity
the extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest
predictive validity
the success with which a t est predicts the behavior it is designed to predict; it is assessed by computing the correlation betwene test scores and criterion behavior
crytalllized intelligence
our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age
fuild intelligence
our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulhood
intellectual disability
a condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence test score of 70 or below and difficulty in adapting to the demands of life
down syndrome
a condition of mild to sever intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extrea copy of chromosome 21
heritability
the proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes. The heritability ofa trait may vary, depending on ther ange of populaitons and environments studied
stereotype threat
a self-confirming conern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype
motivation
a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior
instinct
a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned thorught a species and is unleanred
drive-reduction theory
the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satistfy the need.
homeostasis
a tendancy to maintain a balanced or onstant intenal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level
incentive
a postive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior
Yerkes-Dodson law
The principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which perfomance decreases.
Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before hoigher-level safety needs and then psychological needs become active
glucose
the form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues. When its level is low, we feel hunger
