Question 1

What is metacognition?

Accepted Answer

Thinking about how you think

Question 2

What is an algorithm?

Accepted Answer

A problem-solving strategy that involves a step-by-step procedure which results in a solution to many types of problems

Question 3

What are heuristics?

Accepted Answer

Mental shortcuts to solve problems

(much quicker than algorithms, but not guaranteed to be correct/most-efficient)

Question 4

What is insight?

Accepted Answer

A sudden and novel realization of the solution to a problem

Question 5

What is a trial-and-error approach?

Accepted Answer

Trying random possible solutions and discarding those that don't work

(happens when you have no clue how to solve a problem)

Question 6

What is inductive reasoning?

Accepted Answer

Reasoning where you form generalizations based on specific incidents

Forming concepts about all members of a category based on some members

Question 7

What is deductive reasoning?

Accepted Answer

Reasoning from the general to the specific

Logically correct and lead to good answers

Question 8

What is the difference between inductive and deductive thinking?

Accepted Answer

Inductive reasoning goes from specific concepts to the general

Deductive reasoning goes from general concepts to the specific

Question 9

What is fixation, in cognition?

Accepted Answer

The inability to look at a problem from a fresh perspective

(obstacle to problem solving)

Question 10

What is a mental set?

Accepted Answer

A type of fixation where we only see the solutions that have worked in the past

(if we solve 10 problems using some method, we are likely to use that same method for the 11th)

Question 11

What is functional fixedness?

Accepted Answer

Failure to use an object in an unusual way

(obstacle to problem solving)

Question 12

Who are Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman?

Accepted Answer

Israeli psychologists that studied how and why people make illogical choices

Question 13

What is the availability heuristic?

Accepted Answer

Estimating the probability of certain events based on how easily they come to mind

(thinking riding in a car is safer than riding in an airplane, because people ride in cars more often than they ride in airplanes)

Question 14

What is a representative heuristic?

Accepted Answer

A heuristic where a new situation is judged by how well it matches a stereotype

(is a quiet man more likely to be a librarian or a farmer?  Did you consider that there are 20x more farmers than librarians?)

Question 15

What is framing?

Accepted Answer

The way a problem is posed

Question 16

How can framing affect decisions?

Accepted Answer

How an issue is framed affects perceptions

(we are more likely to buy a product that says it is 90% fat-free than a product that is 10% fat)

Question 17

What is the anchoring effect?

Accepted Answer

Tendency for answers/solutions to be influenced by a suggested reference point

Question 18

What is confirmation bias?

Accepted Answer

Tendency to search for and use information that supports our current beliefs

Ignore information that refutes our ideas

Question 19

How can we lessen confirmation bias?

Accepted Answer

Consider opposite perspectives

Question 20

What is belief perserverence?

Accepted Answer

Tendency to hold onto a belief, even after it is logically discredited

Question 21

What is belief bias?

Accepted Answer

Tendency for our preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning

Makes illogical conclusions seem valid

Question 22

What is hindsight bias?

Accepted Answer

Tendency to falsely report, after the event, that we correctly predicted the outcome of the event

Question 23

What is overconfidence bias?

Accepted Answer

Tendency to underestimate the extent to which our judgments are wrong

(we think we make less errors than we do)

Question 24

What is creativity?

Accepted Answer

Ability to think about a problem or idea in new and unusual ways

Coming up with unconventional solutions

Question 25

What are convergent thinkers?

Accepted Answer

Thinkers who use problem-solving strategies to find a single correct solution

Question 26

What are divergent thinkers?

Accepted Answer

Thinkers that produce many answers to the same question

(characteristic of creativity)

Question 27

What is brainstorming?

Accepted Answer

Generating a lot of ideas without evaluating them

(combats confirmation and overconfidence biases)

Thinking, AP Psychology Flashcards