gradEd a+
Family Resemblance Theory ✔✔ Identifying members of a category based on characteristic
features--this attribute may not be shared by all
Examplar Theory ✔✔ We categorize by comparing the image to other instances stored in our
memory of members within the category and make a judgement about inclusion (compare to
ALL category members)
Reasoning ✔✔ The process by which we generate and evaluate arguments, organizing
information into series of step to reach conclusions
Practical Reasoning ✔✔ Figuring out what to do, reason toward an action
Theoretical Reasoning ✔✔ Reasoning directed toward a belief
Deductive Reasoning ✔✔ Draw conclusions from a set of assumptions; the conclusion is true if
the premise is true
Syllogism ✔✔ Form of deductive reasoning, consists of 2 premises and a conclusion
Research has noted that people are more likely to accept conclusions if they are believable as
opposed to whether the argument is logical (called Belief Bias)
Framing ✔✔ How a problem is posed may change the decision making tasks and the solutions;
avoiding losses is more important than achieving gains
Hypothesis Testing ✔✔ Make and test and educated guess about a problem/solution
,Mental Simulation ✔✔ Mental rehearsal of the steps needed to solve a problem
Mental Set ✔✔ Tendency to stick to solutions which have worked in the past
Functional Fixedness ✔✔ Our tendency to rely on a function for an object and ignore other
possible issues
Confirmation Bias ✔✔ We seek to confirm what we already believe
Distraction by Irrelevant Information ✔✔ People often get sidetracked and it detracts from
effective problem solving
Unnecessary Constraints ✔✔ We put restrictions on our problem solving which don't exist
Insight ✔✔ The sudden discovery of the correct solution following incorrect attempts based
primarily on trial and error (the AHA experience)
Decision Making ✔✔ Evaluating alternatives and making choices among them
Compensatory Decision Models ✔✔ Allows attractive attributes to compensate for unattractive
attributes
Noncompensatory Decision Models ✔✔ Do not allow some attributes to compensate for others
Conjunction Fallacy ✔✔ Basic flawed assumption that two events are more likely to occur
together than either individual event
, Additive Decision Model ✔✔ Rating the attributes of each alternative and selecting one which
has the highest sum
Elimination by Aspects ✔✔ Gradually eliminate options whose attributes fail to satisfy a
minimum criteria
Means-Ends Analysis ✔✔ Search for the steps to reduce difference between the current
situation and desired goal
Heuristics ✔✔ Shortcuts that guide us in decision making about probability
Availability Heuristic ✔✔ Decision making based on the fact that things which are easily recalled
seem to be typical/common
Representative Heuristic ✔✔ Matching an object to a "concept" or "category" without
processing how likely the fit may be
Decision Making and the Brain ✔✔ Significant involvement in the prefrontal cortex related to
our judgement; damage to this part of the brain leads to riskier decisions
Language ✔✔ Systems of symbols that allow for communication among humans; rules of
combination that allow for communication
Phonemes ✔✔ Smallest units of sounds which can be distinguished; change in sounds can alter
meaning
Initial Phonemes ✔✔ "c" at or "b" at