Chapter 9 - Thinking and Language Flashcards
What is thinking/cognition?
Refers to all mental processes that involve knowing, understanding, remembering, and communicating
What is a concept?
The mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas or people
What is a prototype?
When you form concepts with mental images or typical examples
What is an algorithm?
Step by step procedures or formulas
Ex. baking, surgery
What is trial and error?
When multiple attempts are made to reach a solution
Ex. cooking, writing music, fixing a broken item
What is a heuristic?
Thinking strategies that allow us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently
Ex. stereotypes, or throwing out a stat to prove your point
What is insight?
Involves a sudden novel realization of a solution to a problem
Ex. Trivia answer, idea for a group project
What part of the brain activates when insight strikes?
The right temporal cortex
Obstacles in Solving Problems
What is confirmation bias?
A tendency to search for information that confirms a personal bias
Ex. anti vax, vaccinations
Obstacles in Solving Problems
What is fixation?
An inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective
Obstacles in Solving Problems
What is functional fixedness?
Think of things only in terms of their usual function
Ex. matchbox not being a candle holder
Obstacles in Solving Problems
What is a mental set?
Predisposed to solve a problem the way you have in the past
Ex. J F M A _ ?
Obstacles in Solving Problems
What is intuition?
Your gut feeling
Ex. siblings or dating?
Obstacles in Solving Problems
What is a representative heuristic?
Judging the likelihood of things or objects in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, a particular prototype
Ex. stereotypes, racism/sexism
Obstacles in Solving Problems
What is an availability heuristic?
Judge information on how mentally available it is and so it must be commonplace
Ex. media influences
Obstacles in Solving Problems
What is overconfidence?
Overconfidence is a tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgements
Ex. sense of direction
Obstacles in Solving Problems
What is framing?
Decisions and judgments may be significantly affected depending upon how an issue is framed or presented
Ex. numbers and percentages
Obstacles in Solving Problems
What is belief perseverance?
The tendency to cling to our beliefs in the face of contrary evidence
Ex. abusive relationships
What is language?
Our spoken, written, or gestured words - the way we communicate meaning to ourselves and others