This term refers to mental groupings or categories of similar things (like "fruits" or "kinds of dogs").
What are concepts?
This cognitive shortcut leads us to assume that something is common, just because we can easily think of examples of it.
What is the availability heuristic?
This cognitive error occurs when we are unable to look a problem in a new way, and cannot come up with a novel solution.
What is fixation?
This term represents the "best example" of a category or a concept.
What is a prototype?
This phenomenon occurs when persons in certain racial/ethnic groups perform worse on intelligence tests simply because they are told that their group usually scores lower on these tests.
What is stereotype threat?
Someone who says "I've made up my mind, don't confuse me with the facts" might be a victim of this cognitive error.
What is belief perseverance?
There are many reasons why people often fear things that are not statistically likely to harm them (like shark attacks). Some reasons for this include...
What are "fears of what we cannot control?"
"fears of things that are easy to find examples of?"
"fears of things that evolution has prepared us to fear?"
"fears of things that seem like short-term threats?"
This is the type of thinking needed for creative problem-solving - coming up with many possible solutions to a problem.
What is divergent thinking?
This is the discomfort we feel when we notice a contradiction between what we believe and what we do (like smoking when we know it's not healthy for us).
What is cognitive dissonance?