CORRECT Ch.13 - Judgement Reasoning and Decisions

Availability heuristic

A mental shortcut where events more easily remembered are judged as more probable - words starting with r seem more common than words with r as third letter

Falsification principle

The principle that to test a rule you must look for situations that would falsify it - finding a vowel on the other side of 7 falsifies the vowel-even number rule

Base rates

The relative proportion of different classes in the population - there are far more school teachers than holistic healers

Filter bubble

Internet phenomenon where search engines shield people from certain aspects of reality - internet programmes filter information based on past selections

Belief bias

The tendency to think a syllogism is valid if its conclusion is believable - judging Some students are irritable as valid because it seems believable

Framing effect

Decisions are influenced by how choices are stated - Programme A saves 200 lives vs Programme C 400 die

Categorical syllogisms

Syllogisms with premises and conclusion that begin with All No or Some - All A are B All B are C Therefore all A are C

Heuristics

Rules of thumb that are likely to provide correct answers but are not foolproof - availability heuristic and representativeness heuristic

Choice overload

Having more choice leads to less purchasing and less satisfaction - more alternatives means higher search costs and greater uncertainty

Illusory correlations

When a correlation appears to exist but in reality does not or is weaker - stereotype that all gay males are effeminate

Conclusion of syllogism

The final statement in a syllogism - Therefore all birds eat food

Incidental emotions

Emotions that have nothing to do with the decision itself - weather conditions affecting university admissions decisions

Conditional syllogisms

Syllogisms where the first premise has the form If then - If I study I will get a good grade I studied Therefore I will get a good grade

Inductive reasoning

Reasoning based on observations or reaching conclusions from evidence - concluding all geese are white based on observations

Confirmation bias

The tendency to selectively look for information that confirms a hypothesis - in Wasons number task only testing confirming sequences

Law of large numbers

The larger the number of individuals randomly drawn from a population the more representative the group will be - small hospital has more days with over 60 percent male births

Conjunction rule

The probability of a conjunction of two events cannot be higher than the probability of the single events - Linda is more likely to be a bank cashier than a feminist bank cashier

Mental model

A specific situation represented in a persons mind to help determine syllogism validity - imagining ball arrangement on a pool table

Mental model approach

Approach of using mental models to solve deductive reasoning problems - Johnson-Lairds approach to solving syllogisms

Decisions

Choices among alternatives - what clothes to wear what movie to see which school to attend

Deductive reasoning

Determining whether a conclusion logically follows from premises - Sherlock Holmes reasoning about dogs not barking

Myopic-misery hypothesis

Sadness increases impatience due to a sense of loss and need for reward replacement - sad participants preferred immediate rewards over delayed larger rewards

Dual systems approach

The idea that there are two mental systems a fast automatic intuitive System 1 and a slower deliberative System 2 - System 1 gives intuitive answer to bat and ball problem System 2 gives correct answer

Myside bias

The tendency to generate and evaluate evidence biased toward ones own opinions and attitudes - Lord et als experiment on death penalty attitudes

Evolutionary perspective on cognition

The idea that adaptive features of the mind become basic characteristics through evolution - detecting cheating in social exchange

Neuroeconomics

Approach combining psychology neuroscience and economics to study brain activation related to decisions - Sanfey et al ultimatum game experiment

Expected emotions

Emotions people predict will happen in response to the outcome of a decision - Deal or No Deal contestant thinking about how good she will feel accepting the banks offer

Opt-in procedure

Procedure where someone actively has to register to donate organs - Germany uses this procedure

Expected utility theory

Theory assuming people are rational and will make decisions that result in maximum expected utility - deciding whether to drive or take the train based on probabilities

Opt-out procedure

Procedure where everyone is an organ donor unless they request not to be - Spain UK and Austria use this procedure

Permission schema

Schema stating that if a person satisfies a condition they get to carry out an action - if of legal drinking age then can be served alcohol

Premises

Statements in deductive reasoning from which conclusions are drawn - All birds are animals All animals eat food

Prospect theory

Theory proposing peoples choices are better predicted by values they assign to gains and losses - losing 100 Euros feels worse than winning 100 Euros feels good

Representativeness heuristic

Heuristic where probability that A is a member of class B is determined by how well A resembles B - judging Ella as more likely to be a holistic healer than a school teacher

Risk aversion

Tendency to avoid taking risks - declining a 50-50 bet to win 100 Euros or lose 100 Euros

Risk aversion strategy

Strategy that avoids risk - choosing Programme A 200 people saved for certain

Risk-taking strategy

Strategy that takes risk - choosing Programme D 1/3 chance nobody dies 2/3 chance 600 die

Sadder-but-wiser hypothesis

Sadness is associated with careful deliberate decision making - people value academic achievement more on cloudy days

Social exchange theory

Theory that an important aspect of human behaviour is cooperation beneficial to both parties - Morg lends Eng his carving tool in exchange for food

Somatic marker hypothesis

Hypothesis that emotion-related signals may bias certain choices - ventromedial and orbitofrontal regions trigger markers from memories

Status quo bias

The tendency to do nothing when faced with making a decision - staying with present service provider retirement plan or health plan

Stereotype

An oversimplified generalization about a group often focusing on the negative - all gay males are effeminate

Syllogism

A form of deductive reasoning with two premises and a conclusion - All birds are animals All animals eat food Therefore all A are C

Temporal discounting

Choosing between immediate smaller rewards and larger delayed rewards - Lerner et al experiment with immediate vs delayed cash amounts

Ultimatum game

Economic game with two players proposer and responder - Sanfey et al experiment where proposer offers a split of 10

Utility

Outcomes that achieve a persons goals - in expected utility theory outcomes are valued based on goal achievement

Validity

When the form of a syllogism indicates its conclusion follows logically from premises - Syllogism 1 is valid because its conclusion follows from its premises

Wason four-card problem

A reasoning problem with four cards to test a conditional rule - abstract task with E K 4 7 card