Thinking and intelligence
concept -- a mental category that groups objects, relations, activities, abstractions, or qualities having common properties
basic concepts -- concepts that have a moderate number of instances and are easier to acquire than those having few or many instances
prototype -- an especially representative example of a concept
proposition -- a unit of measuring that is made up of concepts and expresses a single idea
cognitive schema -- an integrated mental network of knowledge, beliefs, and expectations concerning a particular topic or aspect of the world
mental image -- a mental representation that mirrors or resembles the figure represents; mental images occur in many and perhaps all sensory modalities
subconscious processes -- mental processes occurring outside of conscious awareness but accessible to consciousness when necessary
non-conscious processes -- mental processes occurring outside of and not available to conscious awareness
implicit learning -- learning that occurs when you acquire knowledge about something without being aware of how you did so in without being able to state exactly what it is you have learned
reasoning -- the trawling of conclusions or inferences from observations, facts, or assumptions
algorithm -- a problem-solving strategy guarantee to produce a solution even if the user does not know how it works
deductive reasoning -- a form of reasoning in which a conclusion follows necessarily from certain premises; if the premises are true, the conclusion must be true
inductive reasoning -- a form of reasoning in which the premises provide support for conclusion, but it is still possible for the conclusion to be false
heuristic -- a rule of thumb that suggests a course of action or guides problem-solving but does not guarantee an optimal solution
dialectical reasoning -- a process in which opposing facts or ideas are weighed and compared, with a view to determine the best solution or resolve differences
availability heuristic -- the tendency to judge the probability of a type of event by how easy it is to think of examples or instances
hindsight bias -- the tendency to overestimate one's ability to have predicted an event once the outcome is known; the "I knew it all along" phenomenon
confirmation bias -- the tendency to look for or pay attention only to information that confirms one's own belief
mental set -- a tendency to solve problems using procedures that worked before on similar problems
cognitive dissonance -- a state of tension that occurs when a person holds to cognitions that are psychologically inconsistent, or when a person's belief is incongruent with his or her behavior
justification of effort -- the tendency of individuals to increase their liking for something that they have worked hard or suffered to attain; a common form of dissonance reduction
intelligence -- an inferred characteristic of an individual, usually defined as the ability to profit from experience, acquire knowledge, think abstractly, act purposefully, or adapt to changes in the environment
factor analysis -- a statistical method for analyzing the intercorrelations among various measures or test scores; clusters of measures or scores that are highly correlated are assumed to measure the same underlying trait, ability, or aptitude (factor)
g factor -- a general intellectual ability assumed by many theorists to underlie specific mental abilities and talents
psychometrics -- the measurement of mental abilities, trait, and processes
mental age (MA) -- a measure of mental development expressed in terms of the average mental ability at a given age
intelligence quotient (IQ) -- a measure of intelligence originally computed by dividing a person's mental age by his or her chronological age and multiplying by 100; it is not derived from norms provided for standardized intelligence tests
stereotype threat -- a burden of doubt a person feels about his or her performance, due to negative stereotypes about his or her group's abilities
triarchic theory of intelligence -- a theory of intelligence that emphasizes information processing strategies, the ability to creatively transfer skills to new situation, and the practical application of intelligence
metacognition -- the knowledge or awareness of ones own cognitive processes
taict knowledge -- strategies for success that are not explicitly taught but that instead must be inferred
emotional intelligence -- the ability to identify your own and other people's emotions accurately, express your emotions clearly, and regulate emotions in yourself and others
cognitive ethology -- the study of cognitive processes in nonhuman animals
theory of mind -- a system of beliefs about the way ones own mind and the minds of others work, and of how individuals are affected by their beliefs and feelings
