IB Psychology Cognitive Approach Key Definitions

Systematic patterns of deviation from rationality in judgment, often produced by mental shortcuts.

The inclination to seek, interpret, and remember information in a way that confirms existing beliefs.

Humans think and make decisions by categorizing their cognitive processes into two systems:

1. System 1: Fast, automatic, unconscious, and intuitive. It relies on past experiences and heuristics.
2. System 2: Slow, deliberate, conscious, and rational. It involves logical reasoning and evaluating consequences.

These systems affect judgment, which, in turn, impacts thinking and decision-making.

A vivid, detailed memory of an emotionally significant event, often remembered with high confidence but not always with complete accuracy.

Decisions are influenced by whether options are presented as gains or losses.

Heuristics are cognitive shortcuts that simplify decision-making but can lead to biases. These biases often result from System 1 thinking.

The perception of a relationship between two unrelated events, often reinforcing stereotypes.

Reconstructive memory refers to the process by which our brains actively recreate past events, integrating new information with what was originally experienced.

Schema theory explains how the mind organizes and uses mental representations called schemas to process information efficiently. These stored knowledge structures shape perception, memory, and decision-making by helping us categorize experiences and predict future events.

Proposed by Baddeley and Hitch (1974), the working memory model elaborates on the STM component of the multi-store model, suggesting it is not a single store but consists of multiple components working together to process information.