Unit V and VI: Thinking:

Thinking:

Cognition: another term for thinking, knowing, and remembering.

In order to think about the world, we form CONCEPTS- A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people.

-Concepts similar to Piagets idea of Schemas.

We base our concepts on Prototypes- A mental image or best example of a category.

-If a new object is similar to our prototype we are better able to recognize it.

We solve problems on TRIAL AND ERROR.

Algorithms: a methodical, logical rule, or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem.

Heuristics: a rule of thumb strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently. A short cut.

Insight: a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem. No real strategy involved.

Obstacles to problem solving:

Confirmation Bias: a tendency to search for information that confirms ones preconceptions. Match Problem: fixation: the inability to see a problem from a new prospective.

The jug problem: B-A-2C = desires amount of water.

Mental Set: a tendency to approach a problem in a particular way especially if it has worked in the past. May or may not be a good thing.

Functional fixedness: the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions.

Types of Heuristics:

Representativesness Heuristics: a rule of thumb for judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they match our prototype. Can cause us to ignore important information.

Availability Heuristic: estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in our memory. If it comes to mind easily we presume it is common.

Overconfidence: the tendency to be more confident than correct. To overestimate the accuracy of your beliefs and judgements.

Framing: the way an issued is posed. It can have drastic effects on your decisions and judgments.

Belief Bias: 1. democrats support free speech. The tendency for ones preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning.

2. Dictators are not democrats. Sometimes making invalid conclusions valid or vise versa.

Belief Perservance: clinging to your initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited.