Final answer:
Applying one's personal experiences to the world does not precisely align with any of the options listed; synecdoche is the closest choice. For the concept of seeking information that confirms one's pre-existing beliefs, the term is confirmation bias. Transcendentalists are famously associated with the idea of self-reliance.
Step-by-step explanation:
Applying one's personal individual experience to the world as a whole is a type of synecdoche. In the options given, none seem to directly relate to using personal experience as a representation for global experiences. However, synecdoche involves using a part to represent a whole, which could be interpreted as applying personal experience (a part) to the world (a whole). The other terms provided do not match this concept: trope refers to a common theme or device in literature, denotation is the literal meaning of a word, and malapropism is the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one. Therefore, based on the given options and their definitions, it seems none of the choices is an exact match, but synecdoche is the closest. When we seek out information that supports our stereotypes, we are engaged in confirmation bias. This is a psychological phenomenon where an individual favors information that confirms their pre-existing beliefs or hypotheses. Transcendentalists were mostly known for their belief in self-reliance and the inherent goodness of both people and nature. They believed that society and its institutions ultimately corrupted the purity of the individual, and they stressed the importance of individual intuition and direct experience with nature as paths to truth.