Thinking

Cognition• Cognition – all mental activities

associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating– Example: Thinking how to solve the

candle problem

• Cognitive psychologist – study how we create concepts, solve problems, make decisions and form judgments– Example: Identifying ways to

improve someone’s memory

What is thought?Concepts – mental

groupings of similar objects, events, ideas and people– Example: Animals– Category hierarchies –

collection of subordinate categories to a basic category

– Example: Birds, Fish, Mammals, Reptiles, etc.

Prototypes – mental image or best example of a category– Example: Prototype of a

bird…A robin, of course!

Our concept of men may include all of the following guys….

But they are based on our prototype (ideal) male…..

Concept and Prototype Practice• Respond to the category with the

very first example that comes to mind

1. A bird2. A color3. A triangle (drawing a picture is fine)4. A motor vehicle5. A sentence6. A hero7. A Heroic action8. A game9. A philosopher 10.A writer

• Provide a category hierarchy for the following concepts

1. People2. Transportation3. Animals4. Classroom5. Holiday

Problem Solving Strategies

Types of problem solving strategies1.Trial and Error2.Algorithms3.Heuristics4.Insight

Problem solving activity

Problem Solving Strategies• Algorithm – step by step

procedure that guarantees the right solution to a problem.– Usually by using a formula.– Work, but time consuming– Don’t work – subjective values

or too many unknowns

• Example – finding the combination to a lock by trying every possible combination starting with 0-0-0

Problem Solving StrategiesHeuristic - A rule of thumb that

generally, but not always, can be used to make a judgment to solve a problem.– Fast, but prone to errors– Doesn’t guarantee a solution

• Two types of heuristics– Representative heuristic*– Availability Heuristic*

• Examples – “Always stick with your first answer”, “i before e except after c”

Types of Problem solving • Insight – sudden realization of the

solution to a problem– Doesn’t involve strategy based solutions

• Examples: – Did you hear about the guy whose whole

left side was cut off? He's all right now.– Did you see the sign at the drug rehab

center? It said keep off the grass• sudden comprehension of a double meaning

pun

– Kohler’s chimpanzee

Trial and Error

• Trial and error - experimentation or investigation in which various methods or means are tried and faulty ones eliminated in order to find the correct solution Example: Thomas Edison

tried thousands of random light bulb filaments until he found one that would work.

Problem Solving Strategies

• Give an example using each of the problem solving strategies to

1. Find granola bars in the Supermarket2. Fix your Computer 3. Build a Bridge4. Car doesn’t start

Hurdles to problem solvingMental SetFixationFunctional fixednessAvailability HeuristicRepresentative HeuristicConfirmation BiasOverconfidenceBelief PerseveranceFraming

Confirmation Bias

• We look for evidence to confirm our beliefs and ignore evidence that contradicts them.

• Example: believes that all Italians are in shape and go tanning, then they turn on MTV…oh its true or is it?

Look…I knew it was true!!!But is it really?

Fixation• Fixation - Inability to solve a problem from a

new perspective– Examples1. Matchstick problem 2. Functional Fixedness - The inability to see a new

use for an object– Example: when solving the candle-mounting problem, you

fail to recognize that the matchbox can have other functions besides holding matches

3. Mental set –tendency to approach a problem with the same mind set that has worked in the past

– Example: Mr. Gielink so often uses threats to get his children to do chores, he fails to recognize that rewards would be more effective

Mental Set

• Mental Set # 1 – There are 6 eggs in a basket. Six people take one of the

eggs each. How is it that one egg can still be left in the basket?

• Mental Set #2 – What occurs once in June, twice in August, but never in

October?

Mental Set # 3 A hunter sees a bear 1 mile due south. He shoots and misses, and the bear runs off. The hunter walks the 1 mile south to where the bear had been, then 1 mile due east, then 1 mile due north—at which point the hunter is standing again at exactly the same spot from which the gun had been fired. What color was the bear?

Task #1 – Linda is 31, single, outspoken, and very bright. She majored in philosophy in college. As a student, she was deeply concerned with discrimination and other social issues, and she

participated in antinuclear demonstrations. Which statement is more likely?

A) Linda is a bank tellerB) Linda is a bank teller and active in the feminist movement.

Representativeness Heuristic• Representative Heuristic

- Judging a situation based on how similar the aspects are to the prototypes the person holds in their mind.

• Like thinking everyone at Gilmore is preppy, or someone with glasses is nerdy, or a blonde is not smart…you better not think that!

• May lead us to disregard

probability info that is relevant to our judgments

•If I tell you that Sonia Dara is a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, you would make certain quick judgments (heuristics) about her…like about her interests or intelligence.•She is an economics major at Harvard University.

Who went to Harvard?

Mr. Rivera is a smart dude, but did not go to Harvard (he looks like he did).

Availability Heuristic• Availability Heuristic -

Judging a situation based on how readily we remember instances of its occurrence– Recent, vivid, or

distinct examples in the news often cause an availability heuristic.

Which place would you be more scared of getting mugged or even murdered?

Cleveland

New York, NY

Example: The crime rate of Cleveland is MUCH higher than the New York. But when you think of crime, which town comes to mind?

Availability Heuristic• Readily available

images cause us to fear extremely rare events– Example: We fear

swimming in water because we replay JAWS in our heads

• Leads us to forget about probability

• Fear immediate rather than future

Overconfidence

• Overconfidence – tendency overestimate the accuracy of our knowledge and judgment– Example: – Freshman who say they

will never gain the “Freshman 15”

– Underestimating how long it will take you to do your vocab

– How well you did on a test

Belief Perseverance

• Belief Perseverance – sticking with our beliefs even after they’ve been discredited – Elaborating on your own personal

views can contribute to belief perseverance

– To eliminate – consider the opposite

– Example: Cleveland Browns fans who continue to believe the Brownies will win a title

– You always want to make a good 1st impression….why?

Divide the following terms between you and your partner, then explain and provide an example for each. Share your answers with your partnerMental SetFixationFunctional fixednessAvailability HeuristicRepresentative HeuristicConfirmation BiasOverconfidenceBelief Perseverance

Intuition• Intuition – Automatic, immediate

feeling or thought (gut feel)– Valuable – quick decisions, but can cause

irrational decision – Examples:

• Having a "gut feeling" that something would occur.

• The phone rang, and you just knew who it was going to be.

• You're out shopping and you feel that someone is looking at you, when you turn to look, he /she turns away.

Framing

Examples: • 90% of the population will

be saved with this medication…..or 10% of the population will die despite this medication.

• You should not drink more than two drinks per day….or You should not drink more than 730 drinks a year.

• 20 percent chance of rain or an 80% chance that it won’t rain

• Framing – The way an issue is posed. – can drastically

effect the way we view it.

Obstacles to Problem Solving

• You are the commissioner of a state lottery system that sponsors daily and weekly drawings. Lottery tickets have not been selling well over the past few months. Describe two ways you could take advantage of the power of the availability heuristic and framing to boost sales.

Solving Problems

• Creativity – the ability to create novel and valuable ideas– Little correlation between creativity

and intelligence.– Example : Eiffel Tower, Ferris

Wheel,

• Convergent Thinking – generating a single correct answer (parietal lobe)– Example: AP Psych Exam

• Divergent Thinking – generating multiple possible answers to a problem (frontal lobe)– Example: Uses for a paper clip

Creativity• Strernberg’s five components

– Expertise– Imaginative thinking skills– A venturesome personality– Intrinsic motivation

• Overjustification Effect – when extrinsically motivated to do something that you are already intrinsically motivated to do, you lose interest in the task

– A creative environment

Creativity

• Your friend complains, “I wish I could be more creative, but I don't think there's anything I can do about it.” Use the components of creativity described by Robert Sternberg to advise your friend about at least two of the behaviors associated with increased creativity.