Pyschology Chapter 7 Vocab

a decision-making approach in which each alternative is rated on each important factor affecting the decision and the alternative rated highest overall is chosen

a heuristic strategy that applies a solution used for a past problem to a current problem that shares many similar features

a cognitive rile of thumb that bases the probability of an event or the importance assigned to it on its availability in memory

the mental processes that are involved in acquiring, storing, retreiving, and using information and that include sensation, perception, memory, imagery, concept formation, reasoning, decision making, problem solving, and language

a mental category used to represent a class or group of objects, people, organizations, events, situations, or relations that share common characteristics or attributes

the process of considering alternatives and choosing among them

reasoning from the general to the specific, or drawing particular conclusions from general principles

the underlying meaning of a sentence

a decision-making approach in which alternatives are eliminated if they do not satisfy a set of factors that have been ordered from most to least important

the individual instances, or examples, of a concept that are stored in memory from personal experience

a concept that is clearly defined by a set of rules, a formal defintion, or classification system

the way information is presented so as to emphasize either a potential gain or a potential loss as the outcome of a decision based on that information

the failure to use familiar objects in novel ways to solve problems because of a tendency to view objects only in terms of their customary functions

a rule of thumb that is derived from experience and used in decision making and problem solving, although there is no guarantee of its accuracy or usefulness

the representation in the mind of a sensory experience- visual, auditory, gustatory, motor, olfactory, or tactile

reasoning in which general conclusions are drawn from particular facts or individual cases

a means of communicating thoguhts and feelings, using a system of socially shared but arbitrary symbols (sounds, signs or written symbols) arranged according to rules of grammar

a heuristic strategy in which the current position is compared with a desired goal, and a series of steps is formulated and then taken to close the gap between the two

the tendency to apply a familiar strategy to solve a problem even though another approach might be better

the smallest units of meaning in a language

a concept acquired not from a defintion but through everyday perceptions and experiences

the smallest unit of sound in a spoken language

the characteristics of spoken language, such as intonation and gestures, that indicate the social meaning of utterances

using thoughts and actions to achieve a desired goal that is not readily attainable

an example that embodies the most common and typical features of a concept

a form of thinking in which conclusions are drawn from a set of facts

a thinking strategy based on how closely a new object or situation is judged to resemble or match an existing prototype of that object or situation

the meaning derived from morphemes, words and sentences

the literal words of a sentence that are spoken or written (or signed)

the aspect of grammar that specifies the rules for arranging and combining words to form phrases and sentences

a heuristic strategy in which a person discovers the steps needed to solve a problem by starting with the solution and working back through the problem