Thinking Flashcards
What is cognition?
Mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating information
What is metacognition?
Cognition about cognition, thinking about thinking
What is a concept?
Mental groupings of similar objects, events, ideas, or people
(Ex. chairs, ball, throw)
What is a prototype?
A mental image or best example of a category
What is trial and error?
Multiple different attempts until successful outcome is achieved
What is an aha moment?
Insight - an abrupt, true-seeming, and satisfying solution
What is a heuristic?
Mental shortcuts
What is seeking information that confirms our beliefs and ignores contrary information?
Confirmation bias
What is intuition?
Fast, automatic, unreasoned feelings and thoughts
“Gut feeling”
What is the availability heuristic?
Estimate how common an event is based on its mental availability - vividness can make it seem more common
Plane crashing, gambling (broadcasting infrequent wins)
What is the representativeness heuristic?
Judging the likelihood of something by comparing it to a prototype
Prejudice, racism, sexism
What are factors that exaggerate unlikely events?
Dramatic outcomes make us gasp; probabilities make us hardly grasp - we find them boring
We over feel and under think
How does overconfidence impact our lives?
Knowing less - tend to lead happier life and make decisions more easily
What is the planning fallacy?
Overestimating future leisure time and income
How does the planning fallacy affect students?
Expect to finish assignments ahead of schedule and usually take twice as long as predicted
What is belief perseverance?
Tendency to cling to our beliefs after facing contrary evidence
What is framing?
The way we present an issue; can nudge people towards a beneficial decision
What is the difference between intuitive and deliberative thought?
Intuitive: unconscious, automatic
Deliberative: conscious, planned, effortful
What brain region is creativity associated with?
Frontal lobe
What are the five components of creativity?
Expertise Imaginative thinking skills Venturesome, determined personality Intrinsic motivation Creative environment
Who developed the five components of creativity?
Robert Sternberg
Which animals engage in thinking by using concepts?
Black bears, chimpanzees, and pigeons
