Biology
Thinking, Intelligence, and Language
Your brain's software update: think, reason, test, talk, cope.
48 flashcards · 30 quiz questions · 4 sort games
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Flashcards
Cognition (and the Cognitive Revolution)
The way information is processed and manipulated in remembering, thinking and knowing. The Cognitive Revolution moved psychology beyond behaviorism, using the computer as a model of mind.
Concept
The basic component of thinking: a mental category grouping objects, events and characteristics. Concepts let us generalize, associate experiences, aid memory and respond in novel contexts.
Prototype model / Prototype
Prototype model: instances of a concept are understood as variations of a prototype. Prototype: the most typical item in a category.
Problem solving
Finding an appropriate way to reach a goal that isn't readily available. Steps: find and frame the problem, develop strategies (subgoals, algorithms, heuristics), evaluate solutions, and rethink over time.
Fixation
Using a prior strategy when a new one may be better.
Functional fixedness
Fixation on an object's usual function while ignoring unusual uses (the Candle Problem: the tack box can be a shelf).
And 42 more in the full lesson.
Sample questions
- Kai needs to tighten a screw but has only a dime in his pocket. He never thinks of using the dime as a screwdriver. This is an example of...
- Jordan keeps solving every algebra problem with the long method that worked last unit, even when a faster shortcut is obvious. This is...
- After her last three cheap phone chargers overheated, Lena concludes that all cheap chargers are risky. Lena is using...
Sort games
- Bottom-Up or Top-Down?
- Bias Detective
- Levels of Language
- Is This a Good Test?