Psych Chapter 9: Thinking and Language – Flashcards
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belief perseverance
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clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited.
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language
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our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning.
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cognition
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all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.
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linguistic determinism
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Whorf's hypothesis that language determines the way we think.
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confirmation bias
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a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence.
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mental set
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a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past.
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grammar
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in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others. In a given language, semantics is the set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds, and syntax is the set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences.
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Students were asked to figure out the rule used to devise the three-number sequence 2-4-6. After generating sets of three numbers to learn whether their sets met the rule, they typically convinced themselves of the wrong rule. Their errors best illustrate the impact of
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Confirmation Bias
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In testing thousands of different materials for use as light bulb filaments, Thomas Edison best illustrated a problem-solving approach known as
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Trial and Error
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Most people take less time to identify a cow as a mammal than a mouse as a mammal because a cow more closely resembles their mammal
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Prototype
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Which linguistic theorist was most impressed by the underlying similarities of all human language systems?
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Noam Chomsky
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The English language has ________ letters than phonemes, and the consonant phonemes generally carry ________ information than the vowel phonemes.
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Fewer letters than phonemes Carry more information than the vowel phonemes
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Many people overestimate how long they actually remain awake during restless nights because their moments of wakefulness are easier to recall than their moments of sleep. This best illustrates the impact of
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the availability heuristic
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People who demonstrate overconfidence are especially likely to
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make difficult decisions more easily
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The tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions is called
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confirmation bias
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Jahmal cites his cousin Luana's many car accidents as evidence that women are worse drivers than men. He overlooks the fact that his wife and three daughters have had far fewer car accidents than he and his two sons. Jahmal's prejudicial conclusion about women's driving skills best illustrates the effects of
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confirmation bias
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Noam Chomsky argues that children's readiness to learn language is a
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biological predisposition
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The fact that all human languages have nouns, verbs, and adjectives led Noam Chomsky to refer to
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universal grammar.
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A European visitor to the United States asked a taxi driver, "Can you please a ride to the airport me give?" This visitor has apparently not yet mastered the ________ of the English language.
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syntax
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A mental set is a
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tendency to approach a problem in a way that has been successful in the past
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Spoken, written, or signed words and the ways they are combined to communicate meaning constitute
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language
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Many people perceive carjackings as more serious threats to their lives than failing to use seat belts because carjackings are so much more memorable. This best illustrates the importance of
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the availability heuristic
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Phonemes are
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the smallest distinctive sound units of a language.
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Professor Thompson's research focuses on the impact of prototypes on the speed of object recognition and identification. Which specialty area does this research best represent?
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cognitive psychology
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In suggesting that our ancestral history has prepared us to fear snakes, psychologists are emphasizing that what we fear is influenced by
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genetic factors.
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Bilingual people have a somewhat ________ vocabulary in each language than do people who speak a single language, and bilingual people are ________ able to inhibit their attention to irrelevant information than are monolingual people.
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Smaller vocabulary in each language Better able to inhibit their attention to irrelevant information
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Ojinska sold many more raffle tickets when she told people they had a 10 percent chance of winning a prize than when she told them they had a 90 percent chance of not winning. This best illustrates the importance of
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framing
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Steve was sure he answered at least 70 questions correctly on his biology test. In fact, he was right on only 55 items. Steve's misjudgment of his test performance illustrates
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overconfidence
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Brainstorming sessions that encourage people to spontaneously suggest new and unusual solutions to a problem are designed to avoid
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fixations
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U.S. employees who formerly wanted to defer part of their compensation to a 401(k) retirement plan typically had to lower their take-home pay as they "opted in" to the plan. Now companies are being encouraged to enroll their employees in the 401(k) plan automatically while allowing them to choose to raise their take-home pay by "opting-out" of the 401(k) plan. Under the "opting out" rather than "opt-in" system, enrollments in 401(k) plans soared. This best illustrates the impact of
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Framing
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Which of the following was cited by Whorf as evidence in support of the linguistic determinism hypothesis?
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The Hopi cannot readily think about the past because their language has no past tense for verbs.
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Cognitive psychologists are most directly concerned with the study of
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thinking.
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The auditory cortex is especially likely to become responsive to visual input for those who
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have been deaf from birth
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The smallest speech units that carry meaning are called
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morphemes
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Sophie has an unrealistically negative self-image, which no one seems able to change. This best illustrates the importance of
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belief perseverance
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An effort to "consider the opposite" would be most likely to inhibit
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belief perseverance
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The beginning of babies' receptive language development is best illustrated by their capacity to
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match another person's distinctive mouth movements with the appropriate sou
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Chimpanzees are capable of learning to
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a. understand spoken words. b. communicate with gestures. c. string signs together into a meaningful sequence. ALL
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Myra has such low self-esteem that she is often on the lookout for critical comments about her appearance and personality. Myra's behavior best illustrates the dangers of
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confirmation bias.
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Broca's area is typically located in the left ________ lobe.
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frontal
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When we use the term Hispanic to refer to a category of people, we are using this word as a
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Concept
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Two-year-old Dirk's sentences—"Dad come," "Mom laugh," and "Truck gone"—are examples of
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telegraphic speech
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Mental Set
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A tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past
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Intuition
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An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning
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Confirmation Bias
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A tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence
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Availability Heuristic
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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
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Belief Perseverance
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Clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited "consider the opposite" "biased"
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Framing
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The way an issue is posed, how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgements "10% will die during this, or 90% will live"
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Language
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Our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning
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After two minutes of exposure to an unbroken monotone string of nonsense syllables, infants could recognize three-syllable sequences that appeared repeatedly. This best illustrates the importance of ________ in language development.
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Statistical Learning
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Babies' first demonstration of productive language occurs
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During the one word stage
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Christmas is to holiday as ________ is to ________.
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prototype; category
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In the words "lightly," "neatly," and "shortly," the "ly" ending is a
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Morpheme
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Kevin succeeds in getting his children to do chores by using threats. He fails to recognize that kindness would be even more effective in gaining their cooperation. Kevin's shortsightedness best illustrates a consequence of
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Mental Set
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Introductory psychology students were more likely to achieve a good midterm exam grade if prior to the exam they repeatedly practiced visual imagery that involved
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A process simulation
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A system of rules for deriving meaning from sounds and for ordering words into sentences is called
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Grammar
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Suddenly understanding the double meaning of a joke best illustrates
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Insight *Key word = suddenly
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Despite overwhelming and highly publicized evidence that Senator McEwan was guilty of serious political corruption and misconduct, many who had supported her in past elections remained convinced of her political integrity. Their reaction best illustrates
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belief perseverance *clinging to ones initial conception
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A European visitor to the United States asked a taxi driver, "Can you please a ride to the airport me give?" This visitor has apparently not yet mastered the ________ of the English language.
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Syntax
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Syntax
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the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.
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The ability to comprehend the meaning of speech is called
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receptive language
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Anika resisted changing her answer to a test question after reminding herself that "it's always best to stick with your first answer." Anika's decision best illustrates the use of
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a heuristic
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The availability heuristic refers to our tendency to
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estimate the likelihood of an event based on how easily we remember instances of its occurrence.
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Which of the following was cited by Whorf as evidence in support of the linguistic determinism hypothesis?
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The Hopi cannot readily think about the past because their language has no past tense for verbs
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An effort to "consider the opposite" would be most likely to inhibit
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belief perseverance
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Many people are less supportive of paying a "carbon tax" than of paying an equivalent cost in the form of a "carbon offset" fee. This best illustrates the impact of
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Framing
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Our intuitions are feelings and thoughts that are best described as
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explicit
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Professor Thompson's research focuses on the impact of prototypes on the speed of object recognition and identification. Which specialty area does this research best represent?
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cognitive psychology
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If our capacity to form concepts depends on our verbal memory, this would best illustrate
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linguistic determinism.
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Many people are less supportive of paying a "carbon tax" than of paying an equivalent cost in the form of a "carbon offset" fee. This best illustrates the impact of
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framing.
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Damage to different cortical areas results in different forms of aphasia. This best illustrates that language processing involves multiple
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neural networks.
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Logical, methodical step-by-step procedures for solving problems are called
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algorithms
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Jamilla systematically tried each successive key on her dad's key ring until she found the one that unlocked his office door. This best illustrates problem solving by means of
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an algorithm
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The tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions is called
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Confirmation Bias
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At 17 months of age, Julie says "wada" whenever she wants a drink of water. Julie is most likely in the ________ stage of language development.
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one-word
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Many people overestimate how long they actually remain awake during restless nights because their moments of wakefulness are easier to recall than their moments of sleep. This best illustrates the impact of
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the availability heuristic. *Availability in memory
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Psychologist Wolfgang Köhler placed a piece of fruit and a long stick outside chimpanzee Sultan's cage. Inside the cage he placed a short stick. Prior to gaining insight into the solution of the problem Sultan used
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a. the short stick to try reaching the long stick. b. the fruit to try retrieving the long stick. c. the long stick to try retrieving the fruit. showed evidence that there is more to learning than simply conditioning
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People more easily detect male discrimination against women than female discrimination against men because the former more closely resembles their discrimination
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Prototype- mental image that best describes a category
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A best example of a category of objects, events, ideas, or people is called a
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Prototype
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Which of the following terms refers to a person's ability to reason speedily and abstractly?
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Fluid Intelligence
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Aptitude tests are specifically designed to
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predict ability to learn a new skill.
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Self-fulfilling expectations are most likely to be triggered by
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stereotype threat.
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Leland's language does not distinguish between "family love" and "romantic love," so he has difficulty realizing that he deeply loves his sister. Which of the following is most relevant to Leland's difficulty?
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linguistic
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Failing to recognize our potential for error is best demonstrated by
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overconfidence
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