Vocab - Psychology - Chapter 9

Front 1

algorithm

Back 1

Procedures, such as mathematical formulas, that automatically generate correct solutions to problems.

Front 2

bilingualism

Back 2

The use of two languages in daily life.

Front 3

bottom-up processing

Back 3

Perceptual processes that begin with the analysis of individual elements of the stimulus and work up to the brain's integration of them into a unified perception.

Front 4

concept

Back 4

A mental category containing similar objects, people and events.

Front 5

creativity

Back 5

The ability to reproduce something that is both new and valuable.

Front 6

deductive reasoning

Back 6

Reasoning from a general principle to a specific case.

Front 7

deep structure

Back 7

A linguistic term that refers to the underlying meaning of a spoken or written sentence; these meanings are stored as concepts and rules in long term memory.

Front 8

discourse

Back 8

The combining of sentences into larger into larger language units, such as paragraph, articles, novels and so on.

Front 9

displacement

Back 9

The capacity of language to represent objects and conditions that are not physically present.

Front 10

divergent thinking

Back 10

A creative form of thinking that involves generating novel ideas that diverge form the normal ways of thinking about something.

Front 11

framing

Back 11

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

Front 12

functional fixedness

Back 12

A phenomenon often found in problem solving tasks in which the customary use of an object interferes with its use in a novel situation.

Front 13

generativity

Back 13

The principle that, in any given language, symbols can be combined to generate an infinite number of messages that have novel meaning.

Front 14

grammar

Back 14

In any given language, the set of rules that dictates how symbols can be combined to create meaningful units of communication

Front 15

heuristics

Back 15

A method of problem solving characterized by quick and easy search procedures similar to rules of thumb.

Front 16

incubation

Back 16

A phenomenon in which the solution to a problem sudenly appears in consciousness after a problem solver has stopped thinking about it for awhile

Front 17

inductive reasoning

Back 17

Reasoning that proceeds from a set of specific facts to a general conclusion or principle.

Front 18

language

Back 18

A system of symbols and rules for combining them that can produce an infinite number of possible messages and meanings.

Front 19

means-ends analysis

Back 19

A heuristic problem-solving device in which people first define a subgoal the hope to achieve (an "end") compare that subgoal with their present state of knowledge, and, if there is a discrepancy between them, try to find the means to reduce the difference.

Front 20

mental set

Back 20

The tendency to stick to problem solving strategies that have worked in the past.

Front 21

mental image

Back 21

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

Front 22

mental representations

Back 22

Cognitive representations of the world, including images, ideas, concepts and principles, that are the foundation of thinking and problem solving

Front 23

metacognition

Back 23

Your awareness and understanding of your own cognitive abilities.

Front 24

morpheme

Back 24

The smallest unit of meaning in a given language; English ones include whole words, prefixes, and suffixes.

Front 25

phoneme

Back 25

The smallest unit of speech sound in a language that can signal a difference in meaning. English has 40 of these.

Front 26

pragmatics

Back 26

A knowledge of the practical aspects of using language, such as how our choice of words depends on social context.

Front 27

prototype

Back 27

The most typical and familiar member of a class that defines a concept.

Front 28

script

Back 28

A specialized schema that represents a sequence of events that unfolds in a regular, almost standardized order.

Front 29

schema

Back 29

A mental framework; an organized pattern of thought about some aspect of the world, such as a class of people, events, situations or objects.

Front 30

syntax

Back 30

The rules for the combination of symbols within a given language.

Front 31

top-down processing

Back 31

Perceptual processing in which existing knowledge, concepts, ideas or expectations are applied in order to make sense of incoming stimulation.

Front 32

wisdom

Back 32

A system of knowledge about the meaning and conduct of life.