Cognition Exam 3

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts that are efficient and provide a solution but are not always correct.

-The more experience you have the more useful they can become

Understanding Problems Step 1

Construct a well-organized mental representation of the problem from information outside the problem or experience

Semantic Memory

Long-term memory comprised of our organized knowledge about the world. (facts)

Implicit Memory

Nondeclarative memory that involves any task that requires learning but does not produce conscious awareness of accessing memory.

The Analogy Approach

Using a solution from a similar, older, problem to solve a new problem

When would you not think to apply an analogy?

If the surface level difficulties make the problems seem distinct.

Arcuate Fasciculus

Band of white matter connecting Wernick’s and Broca’s areas.

Insight Problems

Seems impossible until the solution suddenly appears like a lightbulb moment.

Non-insight Problems

Problem is solved gradually and confidence grows over time.

Prosody

Emotional components of language that conveys emotional tone, humor, sincerity, emphasis. (Pitch, rhythm/timing, stress, volume)

Phonemes

The smallest changes in sound that confer different meaning. Say spot again (each letter represents a different phoneme)

Morphemes

The smallest grammatical unit of a word, can be individual words, prefixes, suffixes, etc. (shoe, pre, ing)

Words

The building blocks of language, one or more morphemes

Sentences

Sequences of words, qualities include syntax, semantics, and prosody

Expertise

Top-down processing, knowledge, memory, means-end heuristic, systematic approach, structural analogy, speed and accuracy, metacognitive skills

Confirmation Bias

People often affirm the antecedent than deny the consequent or people easily agree with evidence supporting an opinion they already have but fail to consider opposing evidence

Belief Bias

People make judgments based on prior beliefs and general knowledge rather than on the rules of logic. If the conclusion matches our understanding we accept invalid syllogisms.

What makes you vulnerable to the belief bias?

low intelligence and non-flexible thinking

Language Components

Meaning, symbolic, infinite combinations, novel ideas, displacement (past, present, future), abstraction (ideas not just things), recursive (complex).

Levels of categorization

Super-ordinate (animal), Basic entry level (dog, cat), Sub-ordinate (poodle, Calico)

Quirks of levels of categorization

People prefer basic/entry level terms

when given super-ordinate or sub-ordinate terms people often later remember the basic level name instead

Symbols

People have a hard time translating words into symbols and tend to oversimplify sentences. People do better when they’re given multiple options for interpretation.

Fundamental Attribution Error

We attribute our good behavior to internal causes and bad behavior to external causes

We attribute others good behavior to external causes and their bad behavior to internal causes

Good-Enough Approach

Our representation of language input may not match the actual input

we focus on nouns and verbs, adjectives, prepositions, then articles

Stable attributions

Behavior that is freely chosen, ha unpredictable effects, and low social desirability

Situational Attributions

Behavior that is strongly motivated, has predictable effects, and has high social desirability

Embodied Cognition Approach

Ones body and physical motion are critical parts of abstract reasoning, language, and thought. Gesturing helps us remember words and solve problems

Mirror Neurons

Neurons that fire both when an action is actually performed or when simply observed. Associated with the frontal lobe and parietal lobe (dorsal stream)

McGurk Effect

Auditory and visual information are integrated to produce perception of sound

Salience

The degree to which a particular social object stands out relative to other social objects in a situation. Associated with higher use of schemas

Anchoring and Adjustment

When making an estimate, people begin with a first approximation (anchor) and then make an adjustment to that number. People tend to rely to heavily on the anchor.

Semantics

Rules of meaning (colorless green ideas sleep furiously)

Syntax

Sequence of words (dogs the near wheel are trucks explosives three the carrying)

Situational-Cognition Approach

Emphasizes the importance of the external situation/context in problem solving. You can solve problems easily in the same context you normally do them in.

Representativeness Heuristic

People judge something to be likely based on mental representations of a category. We tend to ignore sample size and base rate. Prediction of conjunctions as more likely than individual elements

Base Rules

How often an item occurs in the population.

Base Rate Fallacy

Emphasis on representativeness over base rate information

Mental Set

Using the same solutions from previous problems even though there is an easier method. Happens due to overactive top-down processing.

The Hill-Climbing Heuristic

At decision points, choosing the alternative that seems to lead most directly to the goal. Encourages short term goals over long term solutions and sometimes backtracking is more beneficial.

Maximizers

Examine as many options as possible

Satisficers

Settle for something that is satisfactory

The Insula

Interoception (sensing your own bodily state) and recognizing the reality of others experiencing emotions, empathy, pain, etc.

Creativity

Neither hemisphere of the brain is responsible for creativity. It depends on the task being performed

Where is language comprehension in the brain?

Left posterior superior temporal gyrus, Wernick’s area

Where is language production?

Left posterior inferior frontal gyrus, Broca’s Area

Where is word and name retrevial?

Left temporal lobe

Priming

Some events or stimuli increase the availability of specific types of information in your memory/conciousness.

Semantic Priming

People respond faster to an item if it is preceded by an item with a similar meaning (doctor primes nurse)

Left Lateralization of Language

Important for grammar, vocabulary, phonemic assembly, and phonetic production. Involved in both understanding and production of language.

Right Lateralization of Language

Important for prosody and involved in narrative flow.

Prototypes

A mental representation of an object or concept that is considered to be the most characteristic of its category (what is the chairest chair?) New stimuli is compared to the prototype to categorize them. Spectrum

Means-End Heuristic

Divides the main problem into smaller sub-problems. Each subproblem reduces the distance to the goal state. Desired end is reached by step by step means

What is the most effective and flexible problem solving strategies

Means end heuristic

Framing Effect

The outcome of a decision can be influenced by the way in which a question is worded. Faced with gains people avoid risk, faced with losses people seek risk.

Schemas

The result of people encoding generic information about situations and applying those assumptions to new examples of similar situations.

Scripts

Type of schema that describes a sequence of events

Exemplar Approach

After encountering and compiling several real, concrete examples of related stimuli, we compare new items directly to individual category members. Experience guides the formation of prototypes.

My wording: After seeing enough concrete examples of related stimuli, we begin to compare new items directly to the individual category members. The more experience you have, the more you are going to start forming prototypes.

Intrinsic Motivation

Motivation to work on a task for its own sake. The task is interesting, exciting, or personally challenging.

Extrinsic Motivation

Motivation to work on a task to earn a promised reward.

First Impressions

Influenced by primacy and positive by default.

Negative Information with First Impressions

More influential, more resistant to change, and more likely to be attributed to a central trait.

Halo and Horns Effect

Tendency to allow an overall impression of a person or one particular trait to influence the total rating of that person due to a desire for consistency/good continuation.

Syllogisms; Affirming

If A is yes, therefore B is yes but if yes B, yes A is not guaranteed.

Syllogisms; Denying

Not A, therefore it is not guaranteed its not B. But if not B then its not A.

Understanding Problems Step 2

Identify important information which can be difficult and requires appropriate attention direction.

Striatum

Important for habit learning and implicit memory.

Cerebellum and Implicit Memory

Receives sensory feedback and learns what works and what doesn’t in motor control. A quality control center.

What makes language comprehension difficult?

Ambiguity

Factors that influence problem solving?

Expertise, mental set, functional fixedness, stereotype threat

Daniel Kahneman’s Dual Processing Theory Type one

Fast and automatic involuntary access to memory and emotion. Uses more heuristics but more prone to mistakes, especially if you lack in expertise.

Daniel Kahneman’s Dual Processing Theory Type two

Slow and controlled, deliberate access to memory. Uses more algorithms and is more common the more complex the problem is.

What makes deductive reasoning harder?

Negative phrasing, abstract examples

Conjunction Fallacy

People judge the probability of the conjunction of two events to be greater than the probability of the standalone events.

Availability Heuristic

People estimate frequency or probability in terms of how easy it is to think of relevant examples. Especially if there is recent memories of examples.

Types of Social Schemas

Role, event, and person

What does “activated above the baseline mean with FMRIS?

A specific region of the brain has above the normal rate of oxygenated blood flow, indicating neural activity.