AP Psych_Ch 12_Thinking, Problem-Solving & Language

overregularization

grammar mistake where children over use certain morphemes (I go-ed to the park)

phoneme

in language, the smallest distinctive sound unit (ch sound in chat)

growth mindset

individuals believe their qualities can change and improve through their effort

sentences

language developed achieved by ages 6-10 in which children speak in organized sequences of words that express a thought or intention

one-word stage

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

self-serving bias

the tendency for people to take personal credit for success but blame failure on external factors

risk or loss aversion

the tendency of people to prefer avoiding losses to achieving equivalent gains (how a question is framed affects people's risk or loss aversion; such as 90% chance or success or 10% chance of failure)

belief perseverance

the thinking flaw of clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

justification of effort

when we justify to ourselves that the result/goal is worth the effort

According to Benjamin Whorf's linguistic relativity hypothesis, which of the following is true?

Different languages predispose those individuals who speak them to think about the world in different ways.

telegraphic speech

early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram—"go car"—using mostly nouns and verbs.

Two year old Mica tells her grandmother that the new couch "costed" too much. the scenario illustrates that children

overgeneralize the use of grammatical rules

Noam Chomsky's view of language proposes that

people have an inherent language acquisition device

The Vietnamese language has the sound that goes with the letters NG at the beginning of words, including names. Americans have difficulty hearing and speaking that sound. That sound is a kind of...

phoneme

pragmatics

the appropriate use of language in different social situations

trial and error

A problem-solving strategy that involves attempting different solutions and eliminating those that do not work.

availability heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common Ex: If you traveled to New York, would you be more concerned about crime or a traffic accident?

cognition

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

When confronted with the sequence "_N_" at the end of a word in a crossword puzzle, Tony inserts the letters I and G in the two blanks because that procedure has led to the correct answer in previous puzzles. This example illustrates the use of

an algorithm

intuition

an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought,

anchoring effect

Cognitive bias which involves fixating on initial information and ignoring subsequent information Ex: asking if the Mississippi River is: 1. shorter or longer than 5000 miles OR 2. longer or shorter than 5000 miles. All responded shorter than 5000 miles but people asked the first way tend to give answers toward the short side (1000-2000 mi); people asked the second way tend to give answers toward the long side (3000-6000 mi.

language acquisition device (LAD)

MIT linguist Noam Chomsky's term for a hypothesized mental structure that enables humans to learn any language they are exposed to, including the basic aspects of grammar, vocabulary, and intonation.

cognitive biases

errors in ways of thinking that are caused by the inappropriate use of cognitive processes

overgeneralization

applying grammar rules in areas they don't apply ("I writed a story"; goed; comed)

syntax

the rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language

linguistics

the scientific study of language

semantics

the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language; also, the study of meaning Ex: adding "ed" to something makes it past tense

overconfidence

the tendency to overestimate our ability to make correct predictions

Inborn Universal Grammar Theory

theory from Noam Chomsky which states that language is innate and we are predisposed to learn it

critical thinking

thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.

Linguistic determinism

Benjamin Whorf's hypothesis that the language one uses determines the way one thinks and one's view of the world Ex: Hop people do not have words for the past, thus cannot easily think about the past

A teenager believes very strongly that a particular basketball player should not play on his favorite team. Over the course of the season, the teenager focuses on every mistake, turnover ,and missed shot the player makes. However, the teen does not notice how well the player passes, helps the other teammates, and rebounds. This teenager's behavior illustrates which of the following?

Confirmation bias

Of the following, which is the best example of divergent thinking in problem-solving?

Devising as many solutions possible

Wolfgang Köhler

Did experiment with a chimpanzee to show that other animals have insight (the chimps place boxes on top of one another to reach bananas that were out of reach)

A teenager was given a new phone as a gift and thought the old phone should be thrown away, not realizing that the old phone could be used as a music player to avoid taking up space on the new phone. This example illustrates...

Functional fixedness

Which of the following is an example of metacognition?

Knowing the effectiveness of different study strategies for different courses for one's own brain

linguistic relativity

Sapir-Whorf's hypothesis that language and thoughts have influences on each other - the language one speaks influences how we think and perceive the world (People who speak a different language think about the world differently).

functional fixedness

a block to problem solving that comes from thinking about objects in terms of only their typical functions Ex: thinking about a credit card only to pay for items, not for unlocking a door, or scraping ice off a windshield

prototype

a mental image or best example of a specific concept or category

insight

a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem; it contrasts with strategy-based solutions

mental set

a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past

confirmation bias

a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence

framing

a type of cognitive bias which deals with the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments people make

divergent thinking

a type of creative thinking in which one generates new solutions to problems - can have several or many possible responses (creativity involved) Ex: How many uses can you think of for a paper clip? What do you do when you are bored?

convergent thinking

a type of critical thinking in which one evaluates existing possible solutions to a problem to choose only one correct answer (limits creativity) Ex: Multiple choice test choosing the best answer

statistical learning

a type of language learning whereby certain sounds (making words) are more likely to occur together and babies are sensitive to those probabilities

heuristics

a type of problem solving which involves mental shortcuts or "rules of thumb" that often lead to a solution (often right but can sometimes be wrong). Ex: avoid applying for a job when the posting has spelling or grammatical errors - suggests company has sloppy habits or choosing a restaurant by which has the most cars outside or the longest wait time - suggesting food is good

algorithm

a type of problem-solving which involves a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem because it explores every possibility

cognitive dissonance

an uncomfortable feeling or unpleasant state that arises when a person recognizes the inconsistency of his or her actions, attitudes, or beliefs

two-word stage

beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly two-word statements (known as telegraphic speech because speech sounds like a telegram)

babbling stage

beginning at about 4 months, the 1st stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the language spoken in the home one word stage: duh two word stage: duh duh

grammar

in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others

morpheme

in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix)

representativeness heuristic

judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes/stereotypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information or reach the wrong conclusion Ex: A nice family because their yard and house are well maintained.

Noam Chomsky

language development; disagreed with Skinner about language acquisition, stated there is an infinite number of sentences in a language, humans have an inborn native ability to develop language

concepts

mental groupings of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

A researcher asks two different groups their opinion about how much money the president should earn per year. Participants in Group one or asked: "Should the president earn more or less than $200,000 per year? How much should he or she earned?" Participants in Group 2 are asked: "Should the president earn more or less than $2 million per year? How much should he or she earn?" The researcher find that participants in Group 2 or more likely to suggest that the president should make more than $1 million per year. The researcher is investigating the effects of which of the following?

proactive interference

fixation

the inability to see or define a problem from a new perspective; an impediment to problem solving

creativity

the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas within any discipline, including art, music, architecture, mathematics, science, and engineering

metacognition

the active control and awareness of our own thinking (thinking about thinking)

mindset

the cognitive view that individuals develop for themselves

fixed mindset

the idea that we have a set amount of an ability that cannot change