Module 25, Ch. 10 Thinking Vocab

Mental activity that goes on in the brain when a person is organizing and attempting information processing and communicating information to others.

• Thinking (cognition)

• mental images

• concepts

• prototype

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

• thinking (cognition)

• mental images

• concepts

• prototype

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

• thinking (cognition)

• mental images

• concepts

• prototype

An example of a concept that closely matches the defining characteristics of the concept.

• thinking (cognition)

• mental images

• concepts

• Prototype

The concept or framework that organizes the information.

• schema

• algorithms

• trial and error

• heuristic

Very specific, step-by-step procedures for solving certain types of problems.

• schema

• algorithms

• trial and error (mechanical solution)

• heuristic

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

• schema

• algorithms

• trial and error (mechanical solution)

• heuristic

Mental shortcut based on prior experience that helps narrow down the possible solutions for a problem is also known as a “rule of thumb”.

• schema

• algorithms

• trial and error (mechanical solution)

• heuristic

Assumption that any object (or person) sharing characteristics with the members of a particular category is also a member of that category.

• Representativeness heuristic

• availability heuristic

• Convergent thinking

• creativity

Estimating the frequency or likelihood of an event based on how easy it is to recall (often associated with a vivid, emotional memory) relevant information from memory or how easy it is for us to think of related examples.

• Representativeness heuristic

• availability heuristic

• Convergent thinking

• creativity