PSYC 100A Chapter Notes - Chapter 9: Electrical Brain Stimulation, Belief Perseverance, Availability Heuristic
14 Dec 2017
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The forming of concepts is the mental groupings of similar objects, events, ideas, or people: concepts simplify our overthinking and provide a kind of mental shorthand, economizing cognitive efforts. Concepts are used to simplify and order the world around us, and can be measured in non-human animals as well as in humans. We often form our concepts by developing prototypes a mental image or best example of a category that we associate with features. Although concepts speed and guide our thinking, they do not always make us wise. David bjorklund tests this theory with chimps. Some problems we solve through trial and error. Other problems we use algorithms, strategies that involve following a specific rule, procedure, or method that inevitably produces the correct solution. Looking for guava juice; methodically go up and down every supermarket aisle in order until you find it.
