SLS20 Chapter 9, Parts 2-5: Concepts, Decision Making, Problem Solving Flashcards
concept
A mental representation that groups or categorizes shared features of related objects, events, or other stimuli
family resemblance theory
Members of a category have features that appear to be characteristic of category members but may not be possessed by every member
prototype
The “best” or “most typical” member of a category
exemplar theory
A theory of categorization that argues that we make category judgments by comparing a new instance with stored memories for other instances
category-specific deficit
A neurological syndrome that is characterized by an inability to recognize objects that belong to a particular category though the ability to recognize objects outside the category is undisturbed.
rational choice theory
The classical view that we make decisions by determining how likely something is to happen, judging the value of the outcome, and then multiplying the two.
availability bias
Items that are more readily available in memory are judged as having occurred more frequently
heurisitic
A fast and efficient strategy that may facilitate decision making but does not guarantee that a solution will be reached
algorithm
A well-defined sequence of procedures or rules that guarantees a solution to a problem
Conjunction fallacy
When people think that two events are more likely to occur together than either individual event
representativeness heuristic
A mental shortcut that involves making a probability judgement by comparing an object or event to a prototype of the object or event
framing effects
When people give different answers to the same problem depending on how the problem is phrased (or framed)
sunk-cost fallacy
A framing effect in which people make decisions about a current situation based on what they have previously invested in the situation
prospect theory
The proposal that people choose to take on risk when evaluating potential losses and avoid risks when evaluating potential gains
frequency format hypothesis
The proposal that our minds evolved to notice how frequently things occur, now how likely they are to occur
means-ends analysis
A process of searching for the means or steps to reduce differences between the current situation and the desired goal
analogical problem solving
Solving a problem by finding a similar problem with a known solution and applying that solution to the current problem
functional fixedness
The tendency to perceive the functions of objects as fixed
reasoning
A mental activity that consists of organizing information or beliefs into a series of steps to reach conclusions
practical reasoning
Figuring out what to do, or reasoning directed toward action
theoretical reasoning
Reasoning directed toward arriving at a belief
belief bias
People’s judgments about whether to accept conclusions depend more on how believable the conclusions are than on whether the arguments are logically valid
syllogistic reasoning
Determining whether a conclusion follows from two statements that are assumed to be true
