Chapter 8: Thinking & Intelligence

Front 1

Gerg Gigerenzer Dread Risks

Back 1

fears can result when events w dire consequences receive a lot of publicity, even when they have a low probability of recurring

Front 2

Thinking

Back 2

mental manipulation of representations of information (i.e. of objects we encounter in our environments)

Front 3

Cognition

Back 3

mental activity that includes thinking and the understandings that result from thinking

Front 4

Analogical representations

Back 4

mental representations that have some of the physical characteristics of objects; they are analogous to the objects

Front 5

Symbolic representations

Back 5

abstract mental representations that do not correspond to the physical features of objects or ideas

Front 6

Concept

Back 6

metnal representation that groups or categorizes objects, events or relations around common themes

Front 7

Defining attribute model

Back 7

way of thinking about concepts: category is characterized by a list of features that determine if an object is a member of the category

Front 8

Although the defining attribute model is appealing intuitively

Back 8

it fails to capture many key aspects of how we organize things in our heads by suggesting that membership in a category is all-or-none, in reality we make exceptions

Front 9

Prototype model

Back 9

some items within a group or class are more representative (or prototypical) of that category than are other items within that group or class

Front 10

Exemplar model

Back 10

way of thinking about concepts where all members are examples (exemplars) and together form the concept and determine category membership

Front 11

Stereotypes

Back 11

cognitive schemas that allow for easy, fast processing of information about people based on their membership in certain groups

Front 12

Gender roles

Back 12

prescribed behaviors for females and males

Front 13

Script

Back 13

schema that directs behavior over time within a situation

Front 14

Reasoning

Back 14

using information to determine if a conclusion is valid or reasonable

Front 15

Decision making

Back 15

Attempting to select the best alternative among several options

Front 16

Problem Solving

Back 16

Finding a way around an obstacle to reach a goal

Front 17

Deductive Reasoning

Back 17

Using general rules to draw conculsions about specific instances

Front 18

Inductive Reasoning

Back 18

using specific instances to draw conclusions about general rules

Front 19

Premises

Back 19

assumptions that you make when deductive reasoning

Front 20

Normative models of decision making

Back 20

view people as optimal decision makers and select the choice that yields the largest gain

Front 21

Descriptive models

Back 21

we tend to misinterpret probabilities underlying many decision making scenarios and even when we understand probabiltiies we have the potential to make irrational decisions

Front 22

Expected utility theory

Back 22

one normative model of how we should make decisions, assumes we consider the possible alternatives and choose the most desirable one. To arrive at the most desirable alternative, we rank the alternatives in order of preference

Front 23

Heuristics

Back 23

mental shortcuts that we typically use to make decisions

Front 24

Algorithm

Back 24

procedure that, if followed correctly, will always yield the correct answer

Front 25

Tversky & Kahneman demonstrated that heuristics

Back 25

result in biases that may lead to errors or faulty decisions

Front 26

Framing

Back 26

how info is presented can alter how people perceive it; framing a decision to emphasize the potential losses or potential gains of at least one alternative can significantly influence decision making

Front 27

Availability heuristic

Back 27

tendency to make a decision based on the answer that comes most easily to mind

Front 28

Representativeness heuristic

Back 28

placing a person or object in a category if that person or object is similar to one’s prototype for that category

Front 29

Prospect theory

Back 29

a person’s wealth affects his or her choices, and because losses feel much worse than gains feel good, a person will try to avoid situations that involve losses

Front 30

Loss aversion

Back 30

losing is much worse than gaining is good

Front 31

Affective forecasting

Back 31

people are poor at predicting how they will feel about something in the future and don’t realize how poor they are at predicting their future feelings

Front 32

People tend to overestimate

Back 32

the extent to which negative events will affect them in the future

Front 33

Psychological reactance

Back 33

wanting to do exactly what is forbidden to us

Front 34

Barry Schwartz satisficers

Back 34

live according to philosophy of good enough

Front 35

Maximizers always

Back 35

seek to make the best possible choices

Front 36

Insight

Back 36

sudden realization of a solution to a problem

Front 37

Restructuring

Back 37

a new way of thinking about a problem that aids its solution

Front 38

Mental sets

Back 38

problem solving strategies that have worked in the past

Front 39

Intelligence

Back 39

ability to use knowledge to reason, make decisions, make sense of events, solve problems, understand complex ideas, learn quickly, and adapt to environmental challenges

Front 40

Mental age

Back 40

assessment of a child’s intellectual standing compared with that of same-age peers; determined by comparing the child’s test score with the average score for children of each chronological age

Front 41

Intelligence quotient (IQ)

Back 41

index of intelligence computed by dividing a child’s estimated mental age by the child’s chronological age, then multiplying this number by 100

Front 42

General intelligence

Back 42

idea that one general factor underlies intelligence

Front 43

Fluid intelligence

Back 43

reflects ability to process info, particularly in novel or complex circumstances

Front 44

Crystallized intelligence

Back 44

reflects knowledge once acquires through experience and the ability to use that knowledge

Front 45

Multiple intelligences

Back 45

idea that there are different types of intelligence independent of one another

Front 46

Emotional intelligence

Back 46

a form of social intelligence that emphasizes the abilities to manage, recognize and understand emotions and use emotions to guide appropriate thought and action

Front 47

Kim Peek

Back 47

inspiratino for Rain Man

Front 48

Stereotype threat

Back 48

apprehension about confirming negative stereotypes related to one’s own group