The field of applied intelligence deals with the effective use of your mind in every aspect of your life. Here is a comprehensive list of concepts that come into play in this dynamic field.

Analogy by Projection An associative means of generating ideas. Something is like, and thereby suggests, something else which could be. Example: One finds a beautiful stone and imagines it would make an attractive paperweight.

Associative Principle Rule of mental operation that governs all thinking. In accordance with this, the intellect forms ideas through association, by making connections. The associative principle is best exemplified in creative thinking.

Autothink Mental state whereby the mind is thinking but is not actively aware of its thinking process.

Black Bullet A counterexample which destroys a generalization that looks to be absolute, without exceptions.

Calculated Offset Positioning Method employed in politics and elsewhere. As political groups or advocacy groups oppose one another, each side slants its position to offset the position of the other side. Truth is given secondary importance.

Cardinal Qualities of Intelligence Twelve in all. Intelligence is self-aware, associative, perceptive, energetic, open, retentive, manuceptive, genuine, exact, analytical, objective, and logical.

Cave Mind Set of primitive tendencies frequently apparent in human thinking and mostly countereffective. The cave mentality may hinder both creative and critical thinking.

Cerebrosomatic Involving the mind or brain function (cerebro) and the body (somatic). Effective thinking is often cerebrosomatic in character. A common cerebrosomatic technique is manuception (see entry).

Classical Fallacies Standard mistakes in reasoning that are traditionally covered in books on critical thinking. Example: Straw Man fallacy.

Closure Psychological principle by which human perception automatically fills in gaps in a configuration to make it whole. Example: The broken outline of a square is seen as a square.

Cognitive Science Interdisciplinary study of cognition, the process of knowing. Field includes psychology, philosophy, anthropology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and linguistics.

Confirmation Bias Inclination to favor selectively the evidence that supports one’s belief at the expense of evidence against one’s belief.

Content-Method Switch Technique for generating ideas when the thinker perceives a need to redirect his thought process. His attention shifts from ideas themselves (content) to an effective strategy for producing ideas (method).

Control Attribute of thought process whereby the thinker, aware of alternatives, exercises discipline and commands the course of his thinking.

Counterthinking Contrary thinking or, otherwise, thinking which is deliberately different from the ordinary in ideas entertained or in method employed. Technique for progressive discovery.

Deductive Reasoning Method of logic. In deductive logic, if one’s premises are true and one’s reasoning is valid, the resulting conclusion is certain to be true. Mathematics, for instance, employs deductive logic. Contrasts with inductive reasoning (see entry).

Dialectic Special type of dialogue or conversation. A progressive interaction, or give-and-take, through which the participants gain a better knowledge of the truth.

Dominion of the Original In generative thinking, the excessive influence of whatever one starts with, such as a beginning idea or beginning model. May block discovery.

Driving Value Primary value motivating an idea. Safety would be the driving value, for example, if a law were proposed requiring cyclists to wear helmets.

Effective Intelligence Intelligence as measured by constructive results in life. Is distinguished from IQ, which is measured by a standardized test and is not a gauge of constructive outcomes.

Expectancy (or Set) In psychology, the readiness of a person to perceive a situation, or react to it, in his own predetermined way.

Gather and Package Generative method. Collect (gather) and synthesize (package) one’s own and others’ ideas, information, data, materials, and such . . . in writing a biography, for instance, or in developing a new board game. Familiar strategy for invention and discovery.

Generative Thinking Mental process that originates ideas. Applies the associative principle (see entry).

Genuine Thinking An engaged manner of thinking: fresh, active, and independent. The genuine thinker is his own first resource; his thinking is seldom secondhand.

Getting Out of Your Head Technique used by actors in rehearsal to freshen their approach to a scene. They exaggerate their performance (melodramatic, too fast, too slow, etc.) and they improvise in order to gain spontaneity and discover new possibilities in the material.

Gifts Original ideas, novel thoughts, insights, and the like that arrive of themselves and are not directly produced by method. Inspiration.

Giving the Mind Hands Employing external aids to assist the mind toward its goal, as when a person gives himself written reminders or, at another time, manipulates note slips to organize a complex idea.

Great Conversation, The Wide and diverse intellectual exchange within society by which ideas present themselves, contend, and develop. Features of the Great Conversation are books, editorials, talk shows, debates, interviews, speeches, and so on. This is the broad dialectic (see entry).

Idioscope Word which stems from the same root as idiot. Denotes one who limits the scope of his thinking totally to his own very limited interests. Adjective: idioscopic.

Immersion Involving oneself in a subject in every possible way in order to gain ideas, intuitions, and perhaps inspiration.

Incubation Process by which the mind develops ideas over a period of time without consciously attending to them. A source of inspiration.

Inductive Reasoning Method of logic. In inductive logic, if one employs good reasoning from true premises, the resulting conclusion is likely to be true, or very likely, or almost certain—but never altogether certain. A meteorologist, for instance, employs inductive logic in forecasting the weather. Contrasts with deductive reasoning (see entry).

Infolded Belief A belief “folded within” an idea; it is what one must also believe in believing that one’s idea is true. An assumption.

Intellectual Character Prevailing disposition of the mind determined by native intelligence and, importantly, by a person’s intellectual habits.

Intelligence Defined as applied intelligence, this is mindpower one exercises for good results in the things one does.

Interference Theory in psychology concerning difficulties in learning and remembering. Explains forgetting in terms of old and new pieces of mental information getting in the way of one another.

IQ (or Intelligence Quotient) Number representing a person’s level of intelligence as determined by a standardized test. Does not encompass certain factors of intelligence such as creativity and the ability to think practically. IQ is distinguished from effective intelligence (see entry).

Left-Brain Thinking Type of thinking which tends to be logical, methodical, exact, analytical, and objective. Contrasts with right-brain thinking (see entry).

Manuception Manual thinking. Thinking “by hand.” Writing notes or drawing diagrams, for example, to carry out a thought process. Technique for progressive discovery. Adjective: manuceptive.

Mind Arrested by Attainment A mind which, encouraged by its own achievements, perhaps minor, considers itself proficient and sufficient, not realizing its potential for increased self-awareness and a higher level of functioning. Example: intelligence arrested by advanced college degree.

Mind Scan The mind searches the mind’s own contents for ideas. Involved is a sense of mental effort. May or may not include visualization.

Mind That Folds Back on Itself A mind which reverses its perspective as needed, opposing its own belief or reframing its view of a situation in order to think creatively and critically.

Mirror Check Mental act of self-awareness. The intellect observes, as at a distance, its present idea or thinking process.

Native Intelligence Base-level intelligence that one is born with.

Physical Scan Technique for discovery by means of visual survey or scrutiny. Exploits the power of attention to generate ideas. Best-known practitioner: Sherlock Holmes.

Principle of Noncontradiction Fundamental rule of logic which says that a thing cannot be and not be at the same time and in the same respect.

Progressive Discovery Gaining an idea by degrees, in contrast with instant full insight. Primary way that generative thinking is accomplished.

Prompting Connections Employing a deliberate thought, or prompt, to stimulate sought-for ideas through association. A prompt will sometimes take the form of a question that one asks oneself. Prompting is a means of progressive discovery.

Rapid Cognition Quick, intuitive thinking without deliberation. The term is employed by Malcolm Gladwell in Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking.

Reframing Rethinking a situation or an idea from a different frame of reference (point of view). Technique for creative and critical thinking.

Retentiveness The intellectual quality conducive to intelligent remembering. Anyone possessing this quality will habitually use to advantage a variety of means for retention and recall, including external aids.

Right-Brain Thinking Type of thinking which tends to be analogical, intuitive, creative, holistic, and subjective. Contrasts with left-brain thinking (see entry).

Scripted Response A canned reply in a discussion. It is a prepackaged answer defending a position instead of an answer which is genuinely responsive and forthright in the give-and-take of the dialectic (see entry).

Scruffy Truth An authentic truth that a person might wrongly want to reject because it is unappealing in one or more of its features, being untidy, showing loose ends, containing contradictory elements, or being downright unpleasant or offensive.

Socrates Test An informal test of intelligence. Arises from the question “How do I know that I know?” To pass the Socrates test, one realizes and concedes he does not know in a case where he has a belief but might be wrong.

Square of Opposition Standard diagram in formal logic showing logical relationships among the basic categorical forms: All S is P, No S is P, Some S is P, and Some S is not P.

Stretched-Out Ingenuity Cleverness or inventiveness which gains its result over a length of time through progressive discovery.

Syllogism In deductive logic, a sequence of reasoning composed of three propositions, the third of which follows as a conclusion from the first two.

Talk for Victory Attempt to “win” in a discussion. When a person talks for victory, he seeks to best the other person who disagrees with him and he will not cooperate toward a constructive exchange of views.

Target Awareness Act of self-awareness whereby the intellect is conscious of its appropriate goal. There is the sense of should . . . awareness of what the mind should attend to at the moment.

Toolsmart An intellectual talent in a particular area, such as mathematics. The ability to think with numbers would be a toolsmart. Depending on how a person generally applies the toolsmart, it may or may not contribute to his effective intelligence.

Truth Table In symbolic logic, a table employed to show the truth or falsity of an expression under varying truth conditions of its components.

Value Something very general to which a person has an emotional commitment—designated in an abstract term like freedom or justice. Values “drive” certain ideas.

Value Bias The habitual partiality for a certain value (see preceding entry) without duly regarding the differing consequences of that value in differing applications. For example, someone opts for the value of equality in all instances of reasoning where it competes with other values, regardless of results.

Value Priority Designates the value given precedence by the reasoner when values within an issue compete with one another.