mod 5

• Albert Einstein: 'THE MEASURE OF INTELLIGENCE IS THE ABILITY TO CHANGE'
• Thinking (Cognition)


  Mental activity that goes on in the brain when a person is processing information
• Mental Images


  Mental representations that stand for objects or events and have a picture-like quality
• Mental Images


  • How many windows are in the place where you live?
• Concepts


  Ideas that represent a class or category of objects, events, or activities
• Concepts


  • A person can think about "fruit" without thinking about every kind of fruit there is in the world
• Formal Concepts


  Concepts defined by specific rules or features
• Formal Concepts


  • Concept of square as a shape with four equal sides
• Natural Concepts


  Concepts people form as a result of experiences with these concepts in the real world
• Prototype


  A concept that closely matches the defining characteristics of that concept
• Prototypes develop according to exposure a person has to objects in that category
• Prototype of Fruit


  • Sweet, grows on trees, has seeds, and is usually round- all very apple-like qualities
• Problem-Solving


  Occurs when a goal must be reached by thinking and behaving in certain ways
• Problem-Solving


  • How to solve a mathematical problem
• Decision-Making


  Identifying, evaluating, and choosing between alternatives
• Trial and Error (Mechanical Solutions)


  Problem solving method in which one possible solution after another is tried until a successful one is found
• Algorithms


  Very specific, step by step procedures for solving certain types of problems
• Algorithms will always result in a correct solution if one exists to be found, such as mathematical formulas
• Heuristics


  Educated guess based on prior experiences that helps narrow down possible solutions for a problem
• Heuristics


  • Also known as a "rule of thumb"- simple rule intended to apply to many situations
• Representativeness Heuristic


  Used for categorizing objects and simply assumes that any object (person) that shares characteristics with the members of a particular category is also a member of that category
• Representativeness Heuristic


  • Classifying plants
• Availability Heuristic


  Based on our estimation of the frequency or likelihood of an event based on how easy it is to recall relevant information from memory or how easy it is for us to think of related examples
• Availability Heuristic


  • Estimate how many words in the book start with the letter K
• Working Backward


  Work backward from the goal
• Subgoals


  Break a goal down into subgoals, so that each subgoal is achieved
• Subgoals

  • Writing a term paper, research paper
• Insight


  Sudden perception of a solution to a problem
• Insight


  • "Aha" moment, problem may be recognized as similar to another previously solved
• Functional Fixedness


  A block to problem solving that comes from thinking about objects only in terms of their typical functions
• Mental Set


  Tendency for people to persist in using problem-solving patterns that have worked for them in the past
• Confirmation Bias


  Tendency to search for evidence that fits one's beliefs while ignoring any evidence that does not fit those beliefs
• Creativity


  Process of solving problems by combining ideas or behavior in new ways
• Convergent Thinking


  A problem is seen as having only one answer, and all lines of thinking will eventually lead to (converge on) that single answer, using previous knowledge and logic
• Divergent Thinking


  A person starts from one point and comes up with many different ideas or possibilities based on that point (a kind of creativity). Reverse of convergent thinking
• Intelligence


  Ability to learn from one's experiences acquire knowledge, and use resources effectively in adapting to new situations or solving problems
• g factor


  Ability to reason and solve problems; general intelligence
• s factor


  Ability to excel in certain areas; specific intelligence
• Analytical Intelligence


  Ability to break problems down into component parts, or analysis, for problem solving
• Analytical Intelligence


  • Able to run a statistical analysis on data from the experiment