Cognitive Psychology Exam 4 Study Guide

deductive reasoning

type of reasoning where you start with some statements that are true. then ypu judge whether these statements allow you to draw a specific conclusion, based on logic

conditional reasoning task (propositional reasoning task)

describes the relationship between conditions

example: if a child is allergic to peanuts, then eating peanuts produces a breathing problem. child has a breathing problem, therefore this child has eaten peanuts

syllogism

two statements that we must assume to be true, plus a conclusion (usually uses the words all, none, some

ex: some psychology majors are friendly people, some friendly people are concerned about poverty, therefore some psychology majors are concerned about poverty

propositional calculus

system for categorizing the four kinds of reasoning used in analyzing propositions or statement

propositions

statements that are made up of antecedents and consequents

antecedent

first proposition or statement

consequent

the proposition that comes second

affirming the antecedent

you say the if part if the sentence is true, valid conclusion

affirming the consequent

you say the then part of the sentence is true, invalid conclusion

denying the antecedent

the “if…” part of the setence is false, invalid conclusion

denying the consequent

then part of the sentence is false, valid conclusion

dual-process theory

distinguishes between two types of cognitive processing: type 1 and type 2

type 1 processing

fast and automatic, requires little conscious attention

type 2 processing

relatively slow and controlled. requires more focused attention and is more accurate

belief-bias effect

happens in reasoning when people make judgements based on prior beliefs and general knowledge, instead of the rules of logic

ex: feather at window example

confirmation bias

people would rather try to confirm or support a hypothesis than try to disprove it

Differentiate between conditional reasoning and syllogism. Think of examples for each.

conditional reasoning deals with “if-then” logic and it’s about evaluating if a conclusion is valid based on the initial statement

ex: If it is raining, then the ground will be wet.

• It is raining.

• → Therefore, the ground is wet.

syllogism is about drawing a conclusion from two premises, its more general.

ex: All humans are mortal.

• Socrates is a human.

• → Therefore, Socrates is mortal.

if I study for my exam, then I will get a good grade.” Which type of deductive reasoning is this?
Identify the antecedent and the consequent.

conditional reasoning

antecedent: if i study for my exam

consequent: then i will get a good grade

Describe the relationship between confirmation bias and affirming the antecedent and denying the consequent

when people have confirmation bias, they’re more likely to affirm the antecedent and may struggle with propely denying the consequent

Why is the belief-bias effect and confirmation bias considered examples of top-down processing?

These are considered examples of top-down processing because belief bias alters judgements due to existing beliefs. confirmation bias is an exmaple as we have a tendency to seek out or interpret information that fits what we already believe

Let’s say that you can’t decide between moving to California or New York after college. How can creating a pros/cons list reduce confirmation bias during big decision making?e confirmation bias during big decision making?

Creating a pros/cons list can help with bias towards either option. If you subconsciously want to move to one place, you might only want to confirm that you want to go there without analyzing the cons. By making a pros/cons list, your bias distorts your judgement less.

decision making

you assess the info and choose among two or more alternatives

heuristic

a strategy that’s usually right

representative

when a sample looks similar in important characteristics to the population from which it was selected

representativeness heuristic

when ppl make judgements in terms of the similarity between the sample and the population from which the sample was selected

small sample fallacy

the assumption that a small sample will be representative of the population from which it is selected

base rate

in decision making, how often an item occurs in the population. people tend to ignore this info

base rate fallacy

people pay little attention to important information about how often an item occurs in the population (its base rate)

Baye’s theorem

judgments should be influenced by two factors: the base rate (how often it shows up in the population) and the likelihood ratio (the description that is given)

likelihood ratio

whether the description is more likely to apply to Population A or Population B

ex: rudy examples, likelihood ratio is more likely to call rudy a trapeze artist

conjuction rule

the probability of the conjuction of two events can’t be larger than the probability of either of its constituent events

conjuction fallacy

when someone judges the probability of the conjuction of two events to be greater than the probability of either constituent event

availibility heuristic

estimate probability in terms of how easy it is to think of relevant examples of something

illusory correlation

occurs when people believe two variables are statistically related, when there’s no actual evidence for this relationship (stereotypes)

social cognition approach

stereotypes and many other components of social psychology can be traced to normal cognitive processes

anchor

the first example used in the anchoring and adjustment heuristic

anchoring and adjustment heuristic

you begin with one example (anchor) and then make adjustments to the anchor based on additional info. ppl tend to rely too heavily on the anchor and their adjustments are too small

Differentiate between deductive reasoning and decision making. When would you use each? Try to come up with a few specific situations in your daily life

deductive reasoning means applying general rules to reach a certain, logical conclusion

ex: solving a math problem

decision making is when you choose between different options, often under uncertainty, much more ambiguous, some info might be missing, no clear cut rules

ex: picking what college to attend

What is the general role of heuristics in decision making?

general role is to help you make a correct judgement

Example of representative heuristic

When lottery ticket numbers are released and the sequence is 1,2,3,4,5, you get suspicious even though it is a result of a random draw because this isn’t representative of a random draw

Example of availibility heuristic

You’re more likely to say you’ll die from a plane crash in comparison to a car crash because there’s been a significant number of plane crashes reported this year.

Example of anchoring and adjustment heuristic

Someone makes an estimate on how many students are in their class. They estimate about 200 and then extend their range to 180-210. They were incorrect because they relied too heavily on their initial range

Problem with representative heuristic

• ignoring base rates bc they focus on mental stereotypes

• conjuction fallacy: u think specific conditions are more probable than a single general one

• small sample fallacy

Problem with availibility heuristic

• illusory correlation (stereotypes)

• creates irrational fears

• bias from recent events

• emotional impact skews judgement

Problem with anchoring and adjustment heuristic

• people rely too heavily on the anchor and their adjustments r too small

• anchor may restrict the search for relevant info

• confident intervals may be too small, people don’t understand confidence intervals

What important statistical evidence does the representative heuristic lead us to ignore?

the base rate (how likely something is to show up in a population)

How can illusionary correlations explain stereotypes? Provide an example. How is this related to the social cognition approach?

illusionary correlations can lead us to believe two things are related when there’s no evidence this a true, this can lead to stereotypes like crazy things happen on a full moon night, because people are looking for this relationship and not paying attention on other nights. social cognition approach explains how mental short cuts and biases make people hold onto stereotypes

framing effect

when decisions are influenced by the background context of the choice or the way in which a question is worded

prospect theory

people’s tendencies to think that possible gains are different from possible losses. when dealing with possible gains, ppl avoid risks. when dealing with possible losses, people tend to seek risks

overconfidence

when one’s confidence judgements are higher than they should be based on actual performance on the task

crystal ball technique

imagine that a crystal ball has determined that a favored hypothesis is wrong. the decision makers must search for alternative explanations for why it was bad

planning fallacy

the tendency to underestimate the amount of time required to complete a project and to estimate that the task will be relatively easy to complete

group think

a group of people makes poor or irrational decisions because they are too focused on maintaining harmony, agreement, and avoiding conflict — instead of critically evaluating all options

hindsight

people’s judgements about events that already happened in the past

hindsight bias

in decision making, the belief after an event has already happened, that the event had been inevitable and was predicted all along

ecological rationality

how people create a wide variety of heuristics to help make useful, adaptive choices in the real world

default heuristic

in decision making, the tendency to choose a default option, when one is presented

Explain how the wording of a question and our own background information can lead to the
framing effect

framing effect refers to how background info and wording can affect our answer to a problem. if problem is worded with a lot of negatives, we’re more likely to make an incorrect judgement. also when dealing with possible gains, we’re more likely to avoid risks while we’re more likely to seek risks with possible losses

Why is it important to consider both the possible gains and losses when making big decisions?

It can help make a less biased decision

How can planning fallacies be avoided to maximize test preparation?

use past experiences

break the work into parts

build in buffer time

set small deadlines

Discuss possible reasons for overconfidence

1. ppl are unaware that their knowledge is based on very tenuous and uncertain assumptions and unreliable info

2. examples confirming our hypotheses are readily available, whereas we resist searching for counterexamples

3. ppl have difficulty recalling the other possible hypotheses, and decision making depends on memory

4. even if ppl manage to recall the other possible hypotheses, they dont treat them seriously

5. groupthink

6. researchers don’t educate the public about overconfidence

Try to come up with an example from your personal life where groupthink impacted your decision making processes

my friend group just deciding to go to sonic bc we didn’t want to make lyn mad and it ended up not being that good

Let’s say that you get a 100% on exam 3. When you see your exam grade, you exclaim to your
classmates, “I knew I was going to get a 100% on the exam!” Explain how you are expressing
hindsight bias in this situation. What are possible explanations for the hindsight bias?

you’re demonstrating hindsight bias because you’re making judgements about previous events. some explanations could be you want to sound impressive, memory distortion

What is the current perspective of heuristics on decision making?

ppl aren’t perfectly rational decision makers, but people can do relatively wells when they’re given a fair chance

decision making heuristics serves us well in the real world, we can become more effective decision makers by realizing limitations of these important strategies

lifespan approach to development

developmental changes continue beyond young adulthood. people continue to change and adapt throughout their entire lives

conjugate reinforcement technique

method for investigating cognition in infants, using a mobile hanging above a young infant’s crib, ribbon connects to the infant’s ankle and the mobile, so the infant kicks will make the mobile move

spaced learning

learning material over the span of multiple days

massed learning

cramming

source monitoring

identifying the origin of a memory (whether you did it or someone else)

script

a well-structured sequence of events in a specified order, usually associated with a highly familar activity

memory strategies

mental tool that improves encoding and retrieval of information in memory

utlizsation deficiency

the problem of not using memory strategies effectively

prospective memory

remembering things you have to do in the future (complex)

explicit memory task

memory task in which ppts are instructred to remember some info. usually tested with a recall test

implicit memory task

indirect measure of memory

recognition memory

ability to identify something as familiar when you encounter it again

chunking

a memory strategy in which the learner combines several small units to create larger units

cognitive slowing

the decline in speed of our cognitive processes as we grow older

Kisilevskey et al 2003

distinction between mother and stranger’s voice 1-2 weeks before birth and also 3 days old

childhood amnesia

children don’t have a well-organized sense of who they are

they have difficulty encoding and retrieving

Sangrigoli and De Schonen

-own ethnicity bias

-looking time for unfamiliar white woman was longer than familiar white woman

no difference for familiar/unfamiliar asian women

Carolyn Rovee-Collier et al

-Mobile, ribbon, kicking

-linear improvement during first 18 months of life

What are some factors that influence infant memory

• context effects (familiar vs unfamiliar crib liner)

• spaced learning v massed learning

How does children’s memory span change as they get older?

-it increases

-2 year old: 2 numbers

-9 year old: 6 numbers

-11 or 12 yr old: matches college student

Myers and Perlmutter

• studied object recognition and recall

• recognition: 2 yr olds and 4 yr olds did the same

• recall: 4 yr olds did better

Foley, Ratner, and colleagues

• performing v imagining how it would feel

• performing v watching another person perform a task

What are some things that hinder children’s memory

• unaware of effectiveness of memory strategies

• limitations in working memory

• utilization deficiency

• don’t use imagery until teen

Moley and colleagues

pictures from four categories, the younger children didn’t rearrange pictures

Leichtman and Ceci

preschoolers’ were eyewitness testimony of sam stone’s visit

4 groups: control, stereotype, suggestion, and both

significant difference between ¾ yr olds and 5/6 yr olds

reasons why children were affected by eyewitness testimony study

• reluctance to say idk

• social factors, they wanna impress parents,

• change statements under cross examination

how do old ppl versus young ppl differ in prospective memory

younger ppl were better a remembering they had to buy something

old ppl improve w environmental cues

they’re better at taking their medicine

Light and colleagues

implicit memory

reading familar v unfamiliar letter sequences

no age differences in amount of time needed

recognition memory in old people

declines slowly

intons and peterson > no difference

differences in explicit recall memory for old v young people

young ppl better at recalling events from robbery video and word pairs

individual differences in verbal ability, education level

hasher and colleagues

old people perform less towards the end of the day

explanations for age differences in memory

• neurocognitive changes

• difficulty paying attention

• less effective use of memory strategies

• contextual cues hypothesis

• cognitive slowing

memory strategies that can help improve children memory

-rehearsal
-organization

-imagery

metacognition

knowledge and control of cognitive processes

metamemory

refers to one’s knowledge, monitoring, and control of memory

theory of mind

ur ideas about how your own mind words, and how other people’s minds work