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.