Chapter 10

Front 1

cognition

Back 1

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

Front 2

concept

Back 2

a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

Front 3

prototype

Back 3

a mental image or best example of a category (matching new items to the prototype provides a quick and easy method for including terms in a category)

Front 4

algorithm

Back 4

a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem (contrasts with the usually speedier - but also more error-prone - use of heuristics)

Front 5

heuristic

Back 5

a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms

Front 6

belief bias

Back 6

the tendency of one's preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning, sometimes by making invalid conclusions seem valid, or valid conclusions seem invalid

Front 7

belief perseverance

Back 7

clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

Front 8

language

Back 8

our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning

Front 9

phoneme

Back 9

in a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

Front 10

morpheme

Back 10

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

Front 11

grammar

Back 11

in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others

Front 12

semantics

Back 12

the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language; also, the study of meaning

Front 13

syntax

Back 13

the rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language

Front 14

babbling stage

Back 14

beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language

Front 15

one-word stage

Back 15

the stage in speech development from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words

Front 16

insight

Back 16

a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem; it contrasts with strategy-based solutions

Front 17

two-word stage

Back 17

beginning at about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly two-word statements

Front 18

telegraphic speech

Back 18

early speech stage on which a child speaks like a telegram, using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting auxiliary words

Front 19

linguistic determinism

Back 19

whorf's hypothesis that language determined the way we think

Front 20

confirmation bias

Back 20

a tendency to search for information that confirms one's preconceptions

Front 21

fixation

Back 21

the inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an impediment to problem solving

Front 22

mental set

Back 22

a tendency to approach a problem in a particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past

Front 23

functional fixedness

Back 23

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

Front 24

representativeness heuristic

Back 24

judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead one to ignore other relevant information

Front 25

availability heuristic

Back 25

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common

Front 26

overconfidence

Back 26

the tendency to be more confident than correct — to overestimate the accuracy of one's beliefs and judgements

Front 27

framing

Back 27

the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgements

Front 28

heuristic

Back 28

a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms

Front 29

belief bias

Back 29

the tendency of one's preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning, sometimes by making invalid conclusions seem valid, or valid conclusions seem invalid

Front 30

belief perseverance

Back 30

clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

Front 31

language

Back 31

our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning

Front 32

phoneme

Back 32

in a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

Front 33

morpheme

Back 33

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

Front 34

grammar

Back 34

in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others

Front 35

semantics

Back 35

the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language; also, the study of meaning

Front 36

syntax

Back 36

the rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language

Front 37

babbling stage

Back 37

beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language

Front 38

one-word stage

Back 38

the stage in speech development from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words

Front 39

insight

Back 39

a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem; it contrasts with strategy-based solutions

Front 40

two-word stage

Back 40

beginning at about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly two-word statements

Front 41

telegraphic speech

Back 41

early speech stage on which a child speaks like a telegram, using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting auxiliary words

Front 42

linguistic determinism

Back 42

whorf's hypothesis that language determined the way we think

Front 43

confirmation bias

Back 43

a tendency to search for information that confirms one's preconceptions

Front 44

fixation

Back 44

the inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an impediment to problem solving

Front 45

mental set

Back 45

a tendency to approach a problem in a particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past

Front 46

functional fixedness

Back 46

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

Front 47

representativeness heuristic

Back 47

judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead one to ignore other relevant information

Front 48

availability heuristic

Back 48

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common

Front 49

overconfidence

Back 49

the tendency to be more confident than correct — to overestimate the accuracy of one's beliefs and judgements

Front 50

framing

Back 50

the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgements