Ch. 8

Question 1

All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Answer 1

Cognition

Question 2

A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

Answer 2

Concept

Question 3

A mental image or best example of a category

Answer 3

Prototype

Question 4

A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees you will solve a particular problem

Answer 4

Algorithm

Question 5

A simple thinking strategy that often allows you to make judgments and solve problems efficiently

Answer 5

Heuristic

Question 6

A sudden realization of the solution to a problem; contrasts with strategy-based solutions

Answer 6

Insight

Question 7

A tendency to search for information that supports your preconceptions and to ignore or distort evidence that contradicts them

Answer 7

Confirmation bias

Question 8

In thinking, the inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an obstacle to problem solving

Answer 8

Fixation

Question 9

An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning

Answer 9

Intuition

Question 10

Judging the likelihood of an event based on its availability in memory; if an event comes readily to mind, we assume it must be common

Answer 10

Availability heuristic

Question 11

The tendency to be more confident than correct - to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments

Answer 11

Overconfidence

Question 12

Clinging to beliefs even after evidence has proven them wrong

Answer 12

Belief perseverance

Question 13

The way an issue is posed; this can significantly affect decisions and judgments

Answer 13

Framing

Question 14

The ability to produce new and valuable ideas

Answer 14

Creativity

Question 15

Narrowing the available solutions to determine the single best solution to a problem

Answer 15

Convergent thinking

Question 16

Expanding the number of possible solutions to a problem; creative thinking that branches out in different directions

Answer 16

Divergent thinking

Question 17

Our spoken, written, or signed words, and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning

Answer 17

Language

Question 18

Beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which an infant spontaneously utters various sounds, many at first unrelated to the household language

Answer 18

Babbling stage

Question 19

The stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words

Answer 19

One-word stage

Question 20

Beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in two-word sentences

Answer 20

Two-word stage

Question 21

Early speech stage in which a child speaks in compressed sentences, like a telegram - “want milk” or “Daddy go store” - using mostly nouns and verbs

Answer 21

Telegraphic speech

Question 22

In a specific language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with nd understand others

Answer 22

Grammar

Question 23

Controls language expression; an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech

Answer 23

Broca’s area

Question 24

Controls language reception; a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe

Answer 24

Wernicke’s area

Question 25

The ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations

Answer 25

Intelligence

Question 26

A general intelligence factor that, according to Spearman and others, underlies specific mental abilities and is therefore measured by every task on an intelligence test

Answer 26

General intelligence (g)

Question 27

A condition in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, such as in computation or drawing

Answer 27

Savant syndrome

Question 28

The ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions

Answer 28

Emotional intelligence

Question 29

A method for assessing an individual’s mental aptitudes and comparing them with those of others, using numerical scores

Answer 29

Intelligence test

Question 30

A test designed to assess what a person has learned

Answer 30

Achievement test

Question 31

A test designed to predict a person’s future performance; aptitude is the capacity to learn

Answer 31

Aptitude test

Question 32

A measure of intelligence test performance devised by Binet; the level of performance typically associated with children of a certain chronological age

Answer 32

Mental age

Question 33

The widely used American revision of Binet’s original intelligence test

Answer 33

Stanford-Binet

Question 34

Defined originally as the ratio of mental age (ma) to chronological age (ca) multiplied by 100

Answer 34

Intelligence quotient (IQ)

Question 35

The most widely used intelligence test; contains verbal and performance subtests

Answer 35

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

Question 36

Defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group

Answer 36

Standardization

Question 37

The bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes

Answer 37

Normal curve

Question 38

The extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternative forms of the test, or on retesting

Answer 38

Reliability

Question 39

The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to

Answer 39

Validity

Question 40

The extent to which a test samples the behavior that is of interest

Answer 40

Content validity

Question 41

The success with which a test predicts the behavior it is designed to predict

Answer 41

Predictive validity

Question 42

A condition of limited mental ability, indicated by an intelligence test score of 70 or below and difficulty adapting to the demands of life

Answer 42

Intellectual disability

Question 43

A condition of mild to severe intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21

Answer 43

Down syndrome

Question 44

The portion of variation among people in a group that we can attribute to genes. The ________ of a trait may vary, depending on the population and the environment

Answer 44

Heritability

Question 45

Research in which people of different ages are compared with one another

Answer 45

Cross-sectional study

Question 46

Research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period

Answer 46

Longitudinal study

Question 47

Your accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age

Answer 47

Crystallized intelligence

Question 48

Your ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease with age

Answer 48

Fluid intelligence

Question 49

A self-confirming concern that you will be judged based on a negative stereotype

Answer 49

Stereotype threat