Cognitive Psychology Terms

noun a board game for two players, played on a chessboard with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid

• Chess is a game of strategy that requires critical thinking and foresight.
• Hey, do you want to play some chess later?
• I'm totally going to checkmate you in chess!
• Life is like a game of chess, you have to think several moves ahead to succeed.

verb distracted - past tense of distract, meaning to prevent someone from giving full attention to something

adjective distracted - having one's attention diverted or unable to concentrate on something

• The driver was distracted by his phone and caused an accident.
• I keep getting distracted by my phone when I'm trying to study.
• I was so distracted by the new video game that I forgot to do my homework.
• Her mind was distracted by worries, making it hard for her to focus on the task at hand.

noun a state of being incomplete or not finished

• The incompleteness of the data set led to inconclusive results.
• The project was left with incompleteness, so we couldn't finish it on time.
• The homework was a mess due to all the incompleteness in my notes.
• Her incompleteness in understanding the situation left her feeling lost.

pronoun A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun to avoid repetition. 'It' is a pronoun that is used to represent a thing, animal, or concept that has already been mentioned or is understood from the context.

• It is important to follow proper procedures when conducting experiments in a laboratory.
• I think it's best to just go with the flow and see where it takes us.
• I can't believe it, that party was lit!
• Sometimes in life, it's like trying to catch a butterfly - the harder you chase it, the more it eludes you.

adverb in a mindless manner; without thought or consideration

• He mindlessly scrolled through the document without paying attention to the details.
• I just mindlessly clicked through the terms and conditions without reading them.
• She mindlessly binged-watched the entire series in one sitting.
• The politician mindlessly repeated the same talking points during the debate.

noun a person or thing that is strange or unusual compared to others

adjective strange or unusual

• The research team identified him as the oddball in the group due to his unique approach to problem-solving.
• She's definitely the oddball of the family with her quirky sense of humor.
• That guy is such an oddball, always doing things his own way.
• In a sea of conformity, she stood out like an oddball, unafraid to be herself.

verb The word 'picturing' is a verb that describes the action of forming a mental image or concept of something.

• She had a talent for picturing complex mathematical concepts in her mind.
• I have a hard time picturing what you're describing without seeing it in person.
• I can't even picture how crazy the party was last night.
• Picturing a world without technology is nearly impossible in today's society.

noun the state of being first in importance, order, or rank

adjective relating to or denoting a form of primacy

• The primacy of the scientific method is crucial in conducting research.
• In our group project, we need to prioritize the primacy of teamwork.
• Dude, the primacy of getting tickets early for the concert is key.
• In the game of chess, the primacy of controlling the center of the board cannot be underestimated.

noun a word that represents a person, place, thing, or idea

verb a word that expresses an action or state of being

preposition a word that shows the relationship between a noun (or pronoun) and other words in a sentence

article a word that is used to specify a noun, indicating the type of reference being made

• Based on the evidence presented, there is reason to believe that the defendant is guilty.
• I have reason to believe that she is lying about her whereabouts last night.
• I got a gut feeling that there's reason to believe he's up to no good.
• The dark clouds gathering in the sky gave us reason to believe that a storm was approaching.

verb to have in or be able to bring to one's mind an awareness of (someone or something that one has seen, known, or experienced in the past)

• It is important to remember to cite your sources in academic writing.
• Hey, remember to pick up some milk on your way home.
• I remember when we used to hang out at that spot all the time.
• As we grow older, we must remember to cherish the memories we've made.

verb to have a particular opinion, belief, or idea about someone or something

• I think it would be prudent to conduct a thorough analysis before making a decision.
• I think we should grab some lunch before heading to the meeting.
• I don't think we have a chance of winning this game.
• Sometimes I think the universe has a way of guiding us towards our true path.

noun a cognitive bias that causes people to give more weight to negative information and experiences than positive ones

• The concept of negativity bias suggests that humans tend to focus more on negative experiences than positive ones.
• Negativity bias is why we always remember the one bad thing that happened on a trip, even if everything else was great.
• Negativity bias is like our brain's default setting to always expect the worst.
• Just like how a magnet is drawn to metal, our minds are naturally drawn to negativity bias in challenging situations.

noun the act of confabulating, or inventing imaginary experiences to fill in gaps in memory

• The patient's confabulation was a result of their memory impairment.
• She tends to confabulate when she's had a few drinks.
• I think he's just confabulating to make himself look better.
• The politician's confabulation was evident in his twisting of the facts.