Intro To Psych (Ch. 7) Vocab Set

Front 1

Mental images

Back 1

representations in the mind of an object or event

Front 2

Thinking

Back 2

brain activity in which people mentally manipulate information, including words, visual images, sounds, or other data

Front 3

Concept

Back 3

a mental grouping of similar objects, events, or people

Front 4

Prototypes

Back 4

typical, highly representative examples of a concept

Front 5

Algorithm

Back 5

a rule that, if applied appropriately, guarantees a solution to a problem

Front 6

Heuristic

Back 6

a thinking strategy that may lead us to a solution to a problem or decision, but-unlike algorithms-may sometimes lead to errors

Front 7

Means-ends analysis

Back 7

involves repeated tests for differences between the desired outcome and what currently exists

Front 8

Insight

Back 8

a sudden awareness of the relationships among various elements that had previously appreared to be independent of one another

Front 9

Functional fixedness

Back 9

the tendency to think of an object only in terms of its typical use

Front 10

Mental set

Back 10

the tendency to approach a problem in a certain way because that method worked previously

Front 11

Confirmation bias

Back 11

the tendency to find and apply information that supports one's initial solution or idea and to ignore information that does not support it

Front 12

Creativity

Back 12

the ability to generate original ideas or solve problems in novel ways

Front 13

Divergent thinking

Back 13

thinking that generates unusual, yet nonetheless apropriate, responses to problems or questions

Front 14

Convergent thinking

Back 14

thinking in which a problem is viewed as having a single answer and which produces responses that are based primarily on knowledge and logic

Front 15

Language

Back 15

the communication of information through symbols arranged according to systematic rules

Front 16

Grammar

Back 16

the system of rules that determine how our thoughts can be expressed

Front 17

Phonology

Back 17

the study of the smallest units of speech, called phonemes

Front 18

Syntax

Back 18

ways in which words and phrases can be combined to form sentences

Front 19

Babble

Back 19

meaningless speech-like sounds made by children from around the age of 3 months through 1 year

Front 20

Telegraphic speech

Back 20

sentences in which only essential words are used

Front 21

Overgeneralization

Back 21

the phenomenon by which children over-apply a language rule, thereby making a linguistic error

Front 22

Learning-theory approach (to language development)

Back 22

the theory that language acquisition follows the principles of reinforcement and conditioning

Front 23

Nativist approach (to language development)

Back 23

the theory that humans are biologically pre-wired to learn language at certain times and in particulr ways

Front 24

Interactionist approach (to language development)

Back 24

the view that language development is produced through a combination of genetically determined predispositions and environmental circumstances that help teach language

Front 25

Linguistic-relativity hypothesis

Back 25

the hypothesis that language shapes and may determine the way people perceive and understand the world

Front 26

Intelligence

Back 26

the capacity to understand the world, think rationally, and use resources effectively when faced with challenges

Front 27

G or G-factor

Back 27

the single, general factor for mental ability assumed to underlie intelligence in some early theories of intelligence

Front 28

Fluid intelligence

Back 28

intelligence that reflects the ability to reason abstractly

Front 29

Crystallized intelligence

Back 29

the accumulation of information, knowledge, and skills that people have learned through experience and education

Front 30

Theory of multiple intelligences

Back 30

Gardner's intelligence theory that proposes that there are eight distinct spheres of intelligence

Front 31

Practical intelligence

Back 31

according to Sternberg, intelligecne related to overall success in living

Front 32

Emotional intelligence

Back 32

the set of skills that underlie the accurate assessment, evaluation, expression, and regulation of emotion

Front 33

intelligence tests

Back 33

tests devised to quantify a person's level of intelligence

Front 34

Mental age

Back 34

the age for which a given level of performance is average or typical

Front 35

Intelligence quotient (IQ)

Back 35

a measure of intelligence that takes into account an individual's mental and chrononlogical ages

Front 36

Reliability

Back 36

the property by which tests measure consistently what they are trying to measure

Front 37

Validity

Back 37

the property by which tests actually measure what they are supposed to measure

Front 38

Norms

Back 38

standards of test performance that permit the comparison of one person's score on a test with the scores of other individuals who have taken the same test

Front 39

Intellectual disability (or mental retardation)

Back 39

a condition characterized by significant limitations both in tellectual functioning and in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills

Front 40

Fetal alcohol syndrome

Back 40

the most common cause of intellectual disability in newborns, occurring when the mother uses alcohol during pregnancy

Front 41

Familial retardation

Back 41

intellectual disability in which no apparent biological defect exists but there is a history of it in the family

Front 42

Intellectually gifted

Back 42

the 2%-4% segment of the population who have IQ scores greater than 130

Front 43

Culture-fair IQ test

Back 43

a test trial that does not discriminate against the members of any minority group

Front 44

Heritability

Back 44

a measure of the degree to which a characteristic is related to genetic, inherited factors