C&L UNIT 6 : Reasoning & Decision Making

Cognition & Learning

Reasoning

Purposeful mental activity that involves drawing inferences or conclusions from facts, observations, or assumptions.

Inductive Reasoning

A type of reasoning that moves from specific observations to general conclusions.

Deductive Reasoning

A type of reasoning that moves from general premises to specific conclusions.

Decision Making

A cognitive process involving the selection of a course of action from among multiple alternatives.

Mindful Learning

The deliberate, conscious, and effortful use of cognitive strategies and awareness to learn effectively.

Self-Regulated Learning

When learners plan, monitor, and evaluate their own learning processes independently.

Meaningful Learning

Learning that is active, constructive, and self-directed, where knowledge is connected to prior experience and understanding.

Transfer of Learning

Applying knowledge learned in one context to a different context or situation.

High Road Transfer

The intentional and effortful application of learned concepts in unfamiliar contexts.

Low Road Transfer

The automatic application of learned skills in similar situations.

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts or rules of thumb used to make decisions quickly and efficiently.

Availability Heuristic

Judging the likelihood of an event based on how easily it comes to mind.

Anchoring-Adjustment Heuristic

Basing decisions on an initial value (anchor) and making adjustments from it, often insufficiently.

Hindsight Bias

The tendency to believe, after an event occurs, that it was predictable or obvious all along.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to favor information that supports one’s existing beliefs or assumptions.

Transitivity (in Decision Making)

A principle stating that if option A is preferred over B, and B over C, then A should be preferred over C.

Rational Decision

A decision based on logic, available information, and aimed at maximizing personal utility.

Subjective Probability

An individual’s personal estimate of the likelihood of an event based on opinion or intuition.

Objective Probability

Probability based on measurable data and historical evidence, such as statistics.

Errors in Reasoning

Mistakes in logic often caused by biases, mental laziness, or hasty generalization.