Key Terms
Cognition
Thinking; all mental processes Concept: mental category for organizing information Prototype: best example of a concept
Cognitive psychology
The field that studies how people think, including how we process, organize, and use information.
Concept
A category or grouping of information, images, ideas, or experiences. Mental "file folders" that organize incoming infor
Prototype
The best or most typical example of a concept. Your prototype for "bird" is probably a robin, not a penguin.
Natural concept
Formed through direct or indirect experience. You learn what "rain" is by being in it, watching it, or seeing pictures o
Artificial concept
Defined by a specific, fixed set of characteristics. A square always has four equal sides and four right angles.
Schema (plural
Schemata): a mental cluster of related concepts. Your brain uses schemata to fill in gaps and make quick assumptions.
Role schema
Assumptions about how someone in a particular role will behave. You meet a police officer and your brain auto-fills expe
Event schema (cognitive script)
A sequence of expected behaviors in a familiar situation. Entering a classroom, ordering at a restaurant, riding an elev
Language
A communication system using words and grammar rules to transmit information. Not all communication is language; languag
Lexicon
The vocabulary of a language. All the words.
Grammar
The rules that govern how words are used to convey meaning. Includes semantics and syntax.
Phoneme
The smallest unit of sound in a language. "Cat" has three phonemes: /k/ /ae/ /t/.
Morpheme
The smallest unit of language that carries meaning. "Cats" has two morphemes: "cat" (animal) and "s" (plural).
Semantics
The rules for deriving meaning from words and morphemes. What words mean.