AP PSYCH CHAPTER 12 - THINKING, PROBLEM-SOLVING, AND LANGUAGE

Overconfidence

tendency to overestimate the accuracy of your beliefs and judgement

creativity

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

metacognition

the active control and awareness of our on thinking

Overgeneralization

the application of grammar rules in instances to which they do not apply ex: "daddy buyed me a present"

justification of effort

the tendency for individuals to increase their liking for something they have worked hard to attain

heuristics

"rules of thumb" make judgements and solve problems efficiently but shortcuts may lead to incorrect outcomes

determinism

*Benjamin Lee Whorf* the language one uses determines the way one thinks and one's views of the world

language acquisition device (LAD)

*Noah Chomsky* all people have an inborn capacity to learn the language with which they are raised

Algorithm

A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem because it explores every possibility.

innateness theory of language

Children learn language mainly by following an inborn program for acquiring vocabulary and grammar

artificial concepts

Concepts defined by rules, such as word definitions and mathematical formulas.

False Dichotomy

Consists of a consideration of only the two extremes when there are one or more intermediate possibilities

concept hierarchies

Levels of concepts, from most general to most specific, in which a more general level includes more specific concepts - as the concept of "animal" includes "dog", "giraffe", and butterfly".

Noah Chomsky

Linguist; highlights the integral connection between thought and language

anchoring effect

a cognitive bias favoring the first information offered

linguistic relativity

a hypothesis that assumes the language and thought have influences on each other (the language one speaks influences how one thinks)

prototype

a mental image or best example of a specific concept or category ex: prototype of dog = german shepherd

self-serving bias

a problem-solving barrier resulting from evaluating ourselves in an overly favorable manner, explaining our success by internal traits and our failure by external factors

trial and error

a process by which we try out different solutions until we find one that works

convergent thinking

a question invites only one correct answer *limited creativity*

insight

a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem EX: Kohler experiments with the chimps trying to reach for the bananas by stacking boxes

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

one-word stage

ages 1-2, babies can speak single words "Car","Go"

babbling stage

beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously vocalizes various sounds at first unrelated to the language spoken in the home "ba-ba-ba" or "da-da-da"

two-word stage

beginning at age 2, child speaks mostly in two word statements "daddy silly"

natural concepts

concepts people form as a result of their experiences in the real world

fixed mindset

concluding that there may never be any change ex: "why bother?"

syntax

determines the rules for combining or arranging words into grammatically sensible sentences

telegraphic speech

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

Avalibility Bias

estimates the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory

divergent thinking

expands the number of possible problem solutions

morpheme

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

phoneme

in language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

pragmatics

knowing when to use certain kinds of language in social situation

mindset

mental approach to problems and issues often connected to the psychological construct of intelligence

concepts

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

semantics

set of rules by which we derive meaning

grammar

set of rules that enable us to communicate with and understand others

fixation

the inability to see or define a problem from a fresh point of view

cognition

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

framing

the process of presenting or posing an issue or question

linguistics

the scientific study of the structure, sounds, and meaning of language

risk or loss aversion

the tendency of people to prefer avoiding losses to achieving equivalent gains

functional fixedness

the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem solving

belief perseverance

the thinking flaw of clinging to ur initial conceptions even after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited (denial)

critical thinking

the unwillingness to blindly believe a claim just because someone says it is so

growth mindset

thinking we are able to improve and grow

statistical learning

understanding how people learn language

cognitive dissonance

unpleasant mental experience of tension resulting from two conflicting thoughts or beliefs

cognitive bias

ways of thinking that veer us away from strictly rational conclusions

representative heuristic

we judge how something represents, or matches, certain prototypes we have

intuition

what we know without knowing how we know it - an effortless, automatic feeling or thought