Ch. 10 Flashcards
(35 cards)
The mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.
Cognition
Cognitive psychologists
Study these mental activities, including the logical and sometimes illogical ways in which we create concepts, solve problems, make decisions, and form judgements.
Concepts
Mental groupings of similar objects, events, ideas, or people.
Mental image or best example of a category.
Matching new items to the prototype provides a quick and easy method for including items in a category.
Prototype
Development of concepts
We form concepts with definitions. For example, triangle has three sides. Mostly we for concepts with mental images or typical examples (prototypes). For example, robin is a prototype of a bird, but penguin is not.
An attempt to find an appropriate way of attaining the goal when it’s not readily available.
Problem solving
Problem solving methods
Trial/error
Algorithms
Thomas Edison and light bulb filaments.
Trial/Error
Algorithm
Step by step procedures that guarantee a solution to the problem.
Shortcuts
Heuristics
Insight
A sudden and often novel realization of the solution to the problem. (All of a sudden the answer comes to you.) provides a sense of satisfaction.
Tendency to search for information that confirms ones perception.
We seek evidence verifying our ideas more eagerly than we seek evidence that might refute them.
Confirmation bias
Fixation
The inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an impediment to problem solving. Once you were stuck on the matches being two dimensional, then it’s hard to see them three dimensionally.
Inability to solve a problem, because it is viewed only in terms of usual function.
Functional fixedness
Mental set
A tendency to approach a problem in a particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past.
Representative heuristic
Availability heuristic
Two types of heuristics
Representative heuristic
Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead one to ignore other relevant information.
Ex. Thinking that someone has a home or away game because they’re dressed up.
Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because if their vividness), we presume such events are common.
Ex. Casinos make noises and sounds and lights when people win, but nothing when they lose, and it stays silent. Making it more memorable when you win.
Availability heuristic
Overconfidence
The tendency to be more confident than correct - to overestimate the accuracy of ones beliefs and judgements.
Ex. Our team rules!
The way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgements.
Framing
Belief bias
The tendency for ones pre existing beliefs to distort logical reasoning, sometimes by making invalid conclusions seem valid, or valid conclusions seem invalid.
Ex. I believe In Santa
Clinging to ones initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been distracted.
Belief perseverance
Language
Our spoken, written, or signed words and the way we combine them to communicate meaning to ourselves and others.
One of the most famous linguists of all time. He believed that language will naturally occur.
Noam Chomsky