Cognition
mental activities involved in acquiring, retaining, and using knowledge
Thinking
manipulation of mental representations to draw inferences and conclusions
Mental image
mental representation of objects or events that are not present
Concept
mental category of objects, events, situations, or ideas based on shared properties
Formal concept
mental category formed by learning rules; follows rigid rules, not usually intuitive (definition of a polygon)
Natural concept
mental category formed by everyday experience; results from everyday experience (name some vehicles)
Prototype
most typical or best example of a concept
Exemplar
we store individual instances or examples of a concept in memory
Problem solving
thinking and behavior directed toward attaining a goal that is not readily available
Trial and Error
Actually trying a variety of solutions and eliminating those that do not work
Algorithm
A procedure or method that when followed step by step, always produces the correct solution
Heuristic
Strategy that involves following a general rule of thumb to reduce the number of possible solutions
Subgoals heuristic
break down into smaller goals and work toward one subgoal at a time
Working backward heuristic
identify the end goal and then the steps to get there
Insight
involves a sudden realization of how a problem can be solved.
Intuition
Coming to a conclusion without conscious awareness of the thought processes involved
Single-feature model
make a decision by focusing on only one feature
Additive model
systematically evaluate the important features of each alternative
Elimination by aspects model
rate choices based on features; eliminate those that do not meet the desired criteria, despite other desirable characteristics
The belief-bias effect
accept evidence that confirms a belief; ignore or reject contrary evidence
Confirmation bias
search for information that confirms a belief; no effort for other info
Developmental Psychology
The study of psychological changes across the life span - physical, mental, and social changes from conception to old age.
Genotype
the unique combination of alleles of an organism
Phenotype
observable traits and other characteristics of an organism as determined by the interaction of genetics and environmental factors.
Piaget
children are active thinkers, constantly trying to construct more advanced understandings of the world
Assimilation
process of taking new information or a new experience and fitting it into an already existing schema
Accommodation
process by which existing schemas are changed or new schemas are created in order to fit new information