Psychology Chapter 9 Terms

Front 1

Algorithms

Back 1

Formulas or precise sequences of procedures that automatically generate solutions

Front 2

Aphasia

Back 2

An impairment in speech comprehension and/or production

Front 3

Availability Heuristic

Back 3

Basing judgments and decisions on how easily information is available in memory

Front 4

Belief Bias

Back 4

The tendency to abandon logical rules in favor of our own personal beliefs

Front 5

Bilingualism

Back 5

The regular use of two languages

Front 6

Bottom-up Processing

Back 6

Individual elements of a stimulus are analyzed and then combined to form a unified perception

Front 7

Concept

Back 7

Basic unit of semantic memory - mental categories into which we place objects, activities, abstractions, and events that have essential features in common

Front 8

Confirmation Bias

Back 8

Tending to look for evidence that will confirm what is currently believed rather than looking for evidence that could disconfirm these beliefs.

Front 9

Creativity

Back 9

The ability to produce something that is both new and valuable

Front 10

Deductive Reasoning

Back 10

Reasoning from the top down, that is, from general principles to a conclusion about a specific case

Front 11

Deep Structure

Back 11

The underlying meaning of combined symbols

Front 12

Discourse

Back 12

Sentences are combined into paragraphs, articles, books, conversations, and so forth

Front 13

Displacement

Back 13

The fact that language allows us to communicate about events and objects that are not physically present

Front 14

Divergent Thinking

Back 14

The generation of novel ideas that depart from the norm

Front 15

Framing

Back 15

The idea that the same information, problem, or options can be structured and presented in different ways

Front 16

Functional Fixedness

Back 16

The tendency to be so fixed on the perception of the proper function of an object or procedure that they are blinded to new ways of using it

Front 17

Generativity

Back 17

The symbols of language can be combined to generate an infinite number of messages that have novel meaning

Front 18

Grammar

Back 18

The set of rules that dictate how symbols can be combined to create meaningful units of communication

Front 19

Heuristics

Back 19

General problem-solving strategies, similar to mental rules-of-thumb, that we apply to certain classes of situations

Front 20

Imaginal Thought

Back 20

Images that we can see, hear, or feel in our mind

Front 21

Incubation

Back 21

Processing a problem, presumably at a subconscious level, while doing some other activity.

Front 22

Inductive Reasoning

Back 22

Reasoning from the bottom up, starting with specific facts and trying to develop a general principle.

Front 23

Language

Back 23

A system of symbols and rules for combining these symbols in ways that can generate an infinite number of possible messages and meanings

Front 24

Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis

Back 24

Language not only influences but also determines what we are capable of thinking

Front 25

Means-ends Analysis

Back 25

Identifying differences between the present situation and a desired goal, and then making changes that reduce these differences

Front 26

Mental Image

Back 26

A representation of a stimulus that originates inside your brain, rather than from external sensory input

Front 27

Mental Representations

Back 27

Images, ideas, concepts, and principles

Front 28

Mental Set

Back 28

The tendency to stick to solutions that have worked in the past

Front 29

Metacognition

Back 29

One's awareness and understanding of one's own cognitive abilities

Front 30

Morpheme

Back 30

The smallest units of meanings in a language

Front 31

Motoric Thought

Back 31

Mental representations of motor movements

Front 32

Overconfidence

Back 32

The tendency to overestimate one's correctness in factual knowledge, beliefs, and decisions

Front 33

Phoneme

Back 33

The smallest unit of speech sound in a language that can signal a difference in meaning

Front 34

Phonological Awareness

Back 34

Overall awareness of the sound structure of one's language

Front 35

Pragmatics

Back 35

Knowledge of the practical aspects of using language

Front 36

Proposition

Back 36

A statement that expresses an idea

Front 37

Propositional Thought

Back 37

A thought that expresses a proposition or statement

Front 38

Prototype

Back 38

The most typical and familiar members of a category or class

Front 39

Psycholinguistics

Back 39

The scientific study of the psychological aspects of language

Front 40

Representative Heuristic

Back 40

How closely something fits our prototype for that particular concept, or class, and therefore how likely it is to be a member of that class

Front 41

Schema

Back 41

A mental framework, an organized pattern of thought about some aspect of the world

Front 42

Script

Back 42

A mental framework concerning a sequence of events that usually unfold in a regular, almost standardized order

Front 43

Semantics

Back 43

The meaning of words and sentences

Front 44

Speech Segmentation

Back 44

Perceiving where each word within a spoken sentence begins and ends

Front 45

Subgoal Analysis

Back 45

Formulating subgoals, or intermediate steps, toward a solution

Front 46

Surface Structure

Back 46

The symbols that are used and their order

Front 47

Syntax

Back 47

The rules that govern the order of words

Front 48

Top-down Processing

Back 48

Sensory information is interpreted in light of existing knowledge, concepts, ideas, and expectations

Front 49

Wisdom

Back 49

A system of rich, expert knowledge about fundamental matters of life