mental activity that goes on in the brain when a person is organizing and attempting to understand information and communicating information to others
thinking (cogniton)
mental representations that stand for objects or events and have a picture like quality
mental images
ideas that represent a class or category of objects, events, or activities
concepts
the most general form of a type of concept such as animal or fruit. superordinate refers to highest in standing or status
superordinate concept
an example of a type of concept around which other similiar concepts are organized such as dog cat or pear
basic level type
the most specific category of a concept such as ones pet dog or a pear in ones hand. subordinate refers to the lowest in status or standing
subordinate concept
concepts that are defined by specific rules or features
formal concepts
concepts people form as a result of their experiences in the real world
nautral concepts
an example of a concept that closely matches the defining characteristics of a concept
prototype
process of cognition that occurs when a goal must be reached by thinking and behaving in certain ways
problem solving
problem solving method in which one possible solution after another is tried until a successful one is found
trial and error
very specific step by step procedures for solving certain types of problems
algorithms
an educated guess based on prior experiences that helps to narrow down the possible solutions for a problem. also known as rule of thumb
heuristic
assumption that any object or person sharing charcteristics with the members of a particular category is also a member of that category
representative heuristic
estimating the frequency or liklihood of an event based on how easy it is to recall relevent information from memory or how easy it is for us to think of related examples
availability heuristic
heuristic in which the difference between the starting situation and the goal is determined and then steps are taken to reduce that difference
means-end analysis
a block to problem solving that comes from thinking about objects in terms of only their typical functions
funcitonal fixedness
the tendency for people to persist in using problem solving patterns that have worked for them in the past
mental set
the tendency to search for evidence that fits ones beliefs while ignoring any evidence that does not fit those beliefs
confirmation bias
the process of solving problems by combining ideas or behavior in new ways
creativity
type of thinking in which a problem is seen as having only one answer and all lines of thinking will eventually lead to that single answer ising previous knowledge and logic
convergent thinking
type of thinking in which a person starts from one point and comes up with many different ideas of possibilities based on that point
divergent thinking
the ability to learn from ones experiences acquire knowledge and use resources effectively in adapting to new situations or solving problems
intelligence
the ability to reason and solve problems or general intelligence
g factor
the ability to excel in certain areas or specific intelligence
s factor
stembergs theory that there are three kinds of intelligence analytical creative and practicle
triarchic theory of intelligence
the ability to break problems down to the component parts or anaylisis for problem solving
analytical intelligence
the ability to deal with new a different concepts and to come up with new ways of solving problems
creative intelligence
the ability to use information to fet along in life and become successful
practical intelligence
a number representing a measure of intelligence resulting from the division of ones mental age by ones chronological age and then multiplying that quotient by 100
intelligence quotient or IQ
the tendancy of a test to produce the same scores again and again each time it is give to the same people
reliability
the degree to which a test actually measures what its supposed to measure
validity
a type of intelligence measure that assumes that IQ is normally distributed around a mean of 100 with a standard deviation of about 15
deviation IQ scores
intelligence comprises two different abilities g factor and s factor
spearman's g factor
overall intellifence comprises nine different types
gardners multiple intelligence
intelligence comprises three different aspects, analytical creative and practicle
sternbergs triarch theory
condition in which a persons behavior and cognitive skills exist at an earlier developmental stage than the skills of others who are the same age may also be referred to as developmentally delayed. this condition was formerly known as mental retardation
intellectual disability
t
he two percent of the population falling on the upper end of the normal curve and typically possesing an IQ of 130 or above
gifted
the awarness of and ability to manage ones own emotions as well as the ability to be self motivated, able to feel what others feel and socially skilled
emotional intelligence
a system for combining symbols such as words so that an unlimited number of meaningful statements can be made for the purpose of communicating with others
language
the system of rules governing the structure and use of language
grammar
the system of rules governing the structure and use of a language
grammar
the system of rules for combining words and phrases to form grammatically correct sentances
syntax
the smallest units of meaning within a language
morphemes
the rules for determining the meaning of words and sentances
semantics
the basic units of sound in language
phonemes
aspects of language involving the practical ways of communicating