Cognition- Convergent Thinking

Prototype Model

A model emphasizing that when people evaluate whether a given item reflects a certain concept, they compare the item with the most typical item(s) in that category and look for a "family resemblance" with that item's properties.

Availability Heuristic

A prediction about the probability of an event based on the ease of recalling or imagining similar events.

Artificial Intelligence

A scientific field that focuses on creating machines capable of performing activities that require intelligence when they are done by people.

Functional Fixedness

Failing to solve a problem as a result of fixation on a thing's usual functions.

Subgoals

Intermediate goals or intermediate problems devised to put the individual in a better position for reaching the final goal or solution.

Concepts

Mental categories that are used to group objects, events, and characteristics.

Deductive Reasoning

Reasoning from a general case that is known to be true to a specific instance.

Inductive Reasoning

Reasoning from specific observations to make generalizations.

Heuristics

Shortcut strategies or guidelines that suggest a solution to a problem but do not guarantee an answer.

Algorithms

Strategies—including formulas, instructions, and the testing of all possible solutions—that guarantee a solution to a problem.

Creativity

The ability to think about something in novel and unusual ways and to devise unconventional solutions to problems.

Reasoning

The mental activity of transforming information to reach conclusions.

Problem Solving

The mental process of finding an appropriate way to attain a goal when the goal is not readily available.

Thinking

The process of manipulating information mentally by forming concepts, solving problems, making decisions, and reflecting critically or creatively.

Mindfullness

The state of being alert and mentally present for one's everyday activities.

Open-Mindedness

The state of being receptive to other ways of looking at things.

Base Rate Neglect

The tendency to ignore information about general principles in favor of very specific but vivid information.

Representativeness Heuristic

The tendency to make judgments about group membership based on physical appearances or the match between a person and one's stereotype of a group rather than on available base rate information.

Hindsight Bias

The tendency to report falsely, after the fact, that one has accurately predicted an outcome.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for and use information that supports one's ideas rather than refutes them.

Cognition

The way in which information is processed and manipulated in remembering, thinking, and knowing.

Divergent Thinking

Thinking that produces many solutions to the same problem.

Convergent Thinking

Thinking that produces the single best solution to a problem.

Fixation

Using a prior strategy and failing to look at a problem from a fresh new perspective.