AP Psych. DMA

Write down the questions and don’t forget to leave room for your answers.

1. Which psychological specialty is most directly concerned with the systematic study of problem solving, decision making, concept formation, and forming judgments?

2. A mental set is most likely to inhibit….

Today’s Agenda

DMA

Chapter 10 Thinking & Language

Homework:

FRQ # 1 & 2 – due Thursday, Nov. 3rd

FRQ #3 – due Tuesday, Nov. 8th

Self-Experiment – due Monday, Nov. 28th

Chapter 10 & 11 Test Tuesday, Nov. 15th

Chapter 10 & 11 notes - due Tuesday Nov. 15th

Please take out your notes

Define thinking…Please turn to a neighbor

Thinking

Cognition mental activities associated with thinking, knowing,

remembering, and communicating

Cognitive Psychologists study these mental activities

concept formation problem solving decision making judgment formation

Thinking

Concept mental grouping of similar objects, events,

ideas, or people

Prototype mental image or best example of a category

matching new items to the prototype provides a quick and easy method for including items in a category Example - comparing feathered creatures

to a prototypical bird, such as a robin

Have you used algorithms in math?

What are they? How do you use them?

Thinking

Algorithm methodical, logical rule or

procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem

Opposite of the usually speedier–but also more error-prone--use of heuristics

Thinking

Heuristic simple thinking strategy that often

allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently

usually speedier than algorithms more error-prone than algorithms

Thinking

Unscramble

S P L O Y O C H Y G

Algorithm all 907,208 combinations

Heuristic throw out all YY combinations other heuristics?

Thinking

Insight sudden and often novel realization of the solution to

a problem contrasts with strategy-based solutions

Confirmation Bias tendency to search for information that confirms

one’s preconceptions

Fixation inability to see a problem from a new perspective impediment to problem solving

What are some examples of

confirmation bias?

Everyone needs six strips of paper…

The Matchstick Problem

How would you arrange six matches to form four equilateral triangles?

The Candle-Mounting Problem

Using these materials, how would you mount the candle on a bulletin board?

Thinking

Mental Set tendency to approach a

problem in a particular way especially a way that has been

successful in the past but may or may not be helpful in solving a new problem

Thinking

Functional Fixedness tendency to think of things

only in terms of their usual functions

impediment to problem solving

The Matchstick Problem

Solution to the matchstick problem

The Candle-Mounting Problem

Solving this problem requires recognizing that a box need not always serve as a container

Heuristics

Representativeness Heuristic judging the likelihood of things in

terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes

may lead one to ignore other relevant information

Heuristics

Availability Heuristic estimating the likelihood of events

based on their availability in memory if instances come readily to mind

(perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common

Example: airplane crash

Thinking

Overconfidence tendency to be more confident

than correct tendency to overestimate the

accuracy of one’s beliefs and judgments

Thinking

Framing the way an issue is posed how an issue is framed can

significantly affect decisions and judgments

Example: What is the best way to market ground beef--as 25% fat or 75% lean?

Thinking

Belief Bias the tendency for one’s preexisting

beliefs to distort logical reasoning sometimes by making invalid

conclusions seem valid or valid conclusions seem invalid

Belief Perseverance clinging to one’s initial conceptions after

the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence designing and programming

computer systems to do intelligent things to simulate human thought processes

intuitive reasoning learning understanding language