cognition : The mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

concept : A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people. prototype : A mental image or best example of a category. Matching new items to the prototype provides a quick and easy method for including items in a category (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin). algorithm : A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Contrasts with the usually speedierbut also more error-proneuse of heuristics. heuristic : A simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms. insight : A sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem; it contrasts with strategybased solutions. confirmation bias : A tendency to search for information that confirms one's preconceptions. fixation : The inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an impediment to problem solving. mental set : A tendency to approach a problem in a particular way, especially a way that has been successful in the past but may or may not be helpful in solving a new problem. functional fixedness : The tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; a impediment to problem solving. representativeness heuristic : Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead one to ignore the relevant information. availability heuristic : Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common. overconfidence : The tendency to be more confident than correctto overestimate the accuracy of one's beliefs and judgments. framing : The way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments. belief bias : The tendency for one's preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning, sometimes by making invalid conclusions seem valid, or valid conclusions invalid. belief perseverance : Clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited.

artificial intelligence (AI) : The science of designing and programming computer systems to do intelligent things and to simulate human thought processes, such as intuitive reasoning, learning, and understanding language. computer neural networks : Computer circuits that mimic the brain's interconnected neural cells, performing tasks such as learning to recognize visual patterns and smells. language : Our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning. phoneme : In a spoken language, the smallest distinctive sound unit. morpheme : In a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix). grammar : In a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others. semantics : The set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language; also, the study of meaning. syntax : The rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language. babbling stage : Beginning at 3 to 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language. one-word stage : The stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words. two-word stage : Beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly two-word statements. telegraphic speech : Early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram"go car"using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting "auxiliary" words. linguistic determinism : Whorf's hypothesis that language determines the way we think. thinking: image: symbol: concept: prototype: rule: changing and reorganizing the information stored in memory to create new information a visual, mental representation of an event or object an abstract unit of thought that represents an object or quality a label for a class of objects or events that have at least one attribute in common a representative example of a concept

a statement of relation between concepts

metacognition: algorithm: heuristic: mental set:

the awareness of one's own cognitive processes (thinking about how you think)

a step by step procedure for solving a problem a rule of thumb problem solving strategy a habitual strategy or pattern of problem solving the inability to imagine new functions for familiar objects

functional fixedness: creativity: flexibility:

the capacity to use information and/or abilities in a new and original way the ability to overcome rigidity rearranging the elements of a problem to arrive at an original solution

recombination: insight:

the apparent sudden realization of the solution to a problem an individual sound that is a basic structural element of language the smallest unit of meaning in a given language

phoneme: morpheme:

syntax: language rules that govern how words can be combined to form meaningful phrases and sentences semantics: the study of meaning in language