cognition
all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
concept
a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people
prototype
a mental image or best example of a category. Matching new items to a prototype provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin)
algorithm
a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Contrasts with the usually speedier—but also more error-prone—use of heuristics
heuristic
a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than an algorithm
insight
a sudden realization of a problem's solution; contrasts with strategy based solutions
confirmation bias
a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence
fixation
in thinking, the inability to see a problem from a new perspective; an obstacle to problem solving
mental set
a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past
functional fixedness
the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions, an impediment to problem-solving
representativeness heuristic
estimating the likelihood of events in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information
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
overconfidence
the tendency to be more confident than correct—to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments
belief bias
the tendency for one's preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning, sometimes by making invalid conclusions seem valid, or valid conclusion seem invalid
belief perseverance
clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited
deduction
reasoning from the general to the specific; in logic, if the premises are true then the conclusion must be true; Socrates is a man, All men are mortal, thus Socrates is mortal
induction
reasoning from the specific to the general; in logic if the premises are true then the conclusion is one of probability; Mary went to nursing school, Mary works at a hospital, thus Mary is a nurse
expert versus novice
experts use induction, insight, and heuristics; novices use deduction and algorithmic schemas, experiment: experts pick the expert 90% people off the street 60%, teachers of that subject only 30%
Dilthey's hermeneutical circle
reasoning oscillates back and forth between deduction and induction
fallacy
an error in logical reasoning; some famous fallacies: ad hoc - it does not follow, ad hominem - attack the man, ad verecundiam - appeal to a false authority, red herring - get off track by an emotional appeal
base-rate rule
the probability of something being a member of a class is greater the more class members there are; experiment with 30 engineers and 70 lawyers and people say 50/50
conjunction rule
the probability of a proposition cannot be less than the probability of that proposition conjoined with another proposition, example: Mary was an outspoken philosophy major at Berkeley in the 60's, A - Mary is now a bank teller, B - Mary is now a bank teller who protests the war in Iraq. more people picked B though A is more likely
anchoring
the tendency to be influenced by a suggested reference point, pulling our response towards that point
prospect theory
researched by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky; as the magnitude of the gain increases the amount of additional satisfaction people get out of each additional unit decreases; economists call this "the law of diminishing marginal utility"
loss aversion
researched by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky; losing $100 produces a feeling of negativity that is more intense than the feelings of elation produced by a gain of $100
endowment effect
when something becomes an object of our possession we consider it to have more value
convergent thinking
conventional thinking; thinking directed toward a single correct solution
divergent thinking
thinking that produces many alternatives or ideas; creativity
propositional thought
one mode of thought that takes the form of verbal sentences making a statement
imaginal thought
one mode of thought that consists of images that we can see, hear, or feel in our mind
motor thought
one mode of thought that relates to mental representations of motor movements, such as throwing an object
incubation
flash of insight after we have temporarily given up and put the problem aside
script
a schema that unfolds in a regular or standardized order
means-ends analysis
identify differences between the present situation and the desired goal, then make changes that will reduce the differences
subgoal analysis
formulating subgoals or intermediate steps toward a solution
sequential processing
processing one aspect of a problem at a time; generally used to process new information or to solve difficult problems
ad hoc
a fallacy that does not follow
ad hominem
a fallacy that attacks the man
ad verecundiam
a fallacy that appeals to a false authority
red herring
a fallacy that gets off track by an emotional appeal
Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky
investigated the use of heuristics in decision-making; studied the availability, anchoring, and representativeness heuristics; developed loss aversion and prospect theory