Final answer:
The student's observation supports Daniel Kahneman's theory of 'thinking fast' and 'thinking slow', where 'thinking fast' involves quick, intuitive responses, and 'thinking slow' requires more cognitive effort to access information. The concept of prototypes and the use of semantic memory also play roles in how quickly Kunal could retrieve the required information.
Step-by-step explanation:
The concept that the student's question supports is commonly referred to as Daniel Kahneman's theory of 'thinking fast' and 'thinking slow'. Kunal's response to the question about his father's name, which he answered quickly, exemplifies 'thinking fast' or intuitive thinking. This type of thinking occurs almost instantly and without conscious effort. On the other hand, the question about the name of a famous dog from a television program required 'thinking slow', involving conscious effort and cognitive processes to access and retrieve the less readily available information.
Humans often rely on prototypes or the most familiar examples of a concept when thinking fast. For instance, if Kunal's prototype for the concept of 'dog' is his own pet if he had one, he would quickly respond when asked about dogs in general. However, recalling a particular famous dog from television requires him to search through his memory, which takes more cognitive energy and time.
This observation of fast and slow thinking aligns with the understanding that our terms are informed by our semantic memory, with more frequently accessed information (like the name of a family member) being retrieved faster than less common details (such as the name of a specific dog from a myriad of possible television shows).