thought and language Flashcards
information-processing system
mechanisms for recieving information, representing it with symbols, and manipulating it
thinking
the manipulation of mental representation
reaction time
the time between the presentation of a stimulus and an overt response to it
concepts
categories of objects, events or ideas that have common properties
prototype
a member of a natural concept that possesses all of our most of its characteristic features
propositions
a mental representation that expresses a relationship between concepts
schemas
generalizations about categories of objects, places, events and people
scripts
mental representations of familiar sequences of activity
mental models
sets of propositions that represent people’s understanding of how things look and work
images
mental representations of visual information
cognitive map
a mental model that represents familiar parts of the environment
reasoning
the process by which people generate and evaluate arguments and reac conclusions about them
formal reasoning
a set of rigorous procedures for reaching valid conclusions
algorithm
systematic procedures that cannot fail to produce a correct solution to a problem
logic
a system of formulas for drawing valid conclusions
informal reasoning
the process of evaluating a conclusion based on the evidence available to support it
heuristic
mental shortcut or rules of thumb
anchoring bias
a shortcut in the thought process that involves adding new information to existing information to reach a judgment
representativeness heuristic
a mental shortcut that involves judging whether something belongs in a given class on the basis of its similarity to other members of that class
availability heuristic
a mental shortcut through which judgments are based on information that is most easily brought to mind
mental set
the tendency for old petterns of problem solving to persist
functional fixedness
the tendency to think about familiar objects in familiar ways
confirmation bias
the tendency to pay more attention to evidence in support of one’s hypothesis about a problem than to evidence that refutes that hypothesis
artificial intelligence
the field that studies how to program computers to imitate the products of human perception, understanding and thought
