Cognition ❮ 157Overlearning—continuing to practice after memorizing information makes it more
resistant to forgetting.
Cognition—all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, and remembering.
Metacognition—thinking about how you think.
Problem-solving steps typically involve identifying a problem, generating problem-
solving strategies, trying a strategy, and evaluating the results.
Trial and error—trying possible solutions and discarding those that fail to solve the
problem.
Algorithm—problem-solving strategy that involves a step-by-step procedure that
guarantees a solution to certain types of problems.
Heuristic—a problem-solving strategy used as a mental shortcut to quickly simplify
and solve a problem, but that does not guarantee a correct solution.
Insight learning—the sudden appearance (often creative) or awareness of a solution
to a problem.
Deductive reasoning—reasoning from the general to the specific.
Inductive reasoning—reasoning from the specific to the general.
Hindrances to problem solving may include:
- Mental sets—barriers to problem solving that occur when we apply only methods
that have worked in the past rather than trying new or different strategies. - Functional fixedness—when we are not able to recognize novel uses for an object
because we are so familiar with its common use. - Cognitive illusion—systematic way of thinking that is responsible for an error in
judgment. - Availability heuristic—a tendency to estimate the probability of certain events in
terms of how readily they come to mind. - Representativeness heuristic—tendency to judge the likelihood of things accord-
ing to how they relate to a prototype. - Framing—the way an issue is stated. How an issue is framed can significantly affect
decisions and judgments. - Anchoring effect—tendency to be influenced by a suggested reference point, pull-
ing our response toward that point. - Confirmation bias—tendency to notice or seek information that already supports
our preconceptions and ignore information that refutes our ideas. - Belief perseverance—the tendency to hold onto a belief after the basis for the belief
is discredited. - Belief bias—the tendency for our preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning,
making illogical conclusions seem valid or logical conclusions seem invalid. - Hindsight bias—the tendency to falsely report, after the event, that we correctly
predicted the outcome of the event. - Overconfidence bias—the tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and
judgments.