Cog - Lecture 20 - Decision Making & Reasoning

reasoning

the thought process that uses the info that we have to come to some sort of conclusion

we ____ with info to come to a conclusion/end point

reason

reasoning guides…

decision making

ppl make ______(#) a day ~ _____(#) an hour

35 000, 2 000

decision fatigue

when you make too many decisions, your brain gets tired, making it harder to make good choices

Ex. After a long day of making choices at work, you order fast food for dinner bc you’re too tired to cook

This is an example of…

decision fatigue

neuroeconomics

a field that uses ideas from economics, psychology, and neuroscience, to understand how ppl make value-based decisions

what is a value-based decision?

making decisions based on what you find important, useful, or rewarding

Ex. Choosing to buy a laptop you like because it will help you study, even if it’s more expensive than other options

This is an example of…

a value-based decision

We know that decision related to regions of the brain like the _____ (important in emotional processing), and the ______ (important in executive functions)

amygdala, PFC

executive functions

mental skills that help you plan, make decisions, problem solve, and control your actions

How are our decision processes dynamic?

Our decisions change across context

Ex. Hunger makes people choose smaller, immediate rewards over larger, delayed rewards

This is evidence that…

Our decision processes are dynamic

Inductive reasoning

making a generalization from observations

______ reasoning is abstract, meanwhile _____ reasoning is concrete

deductive, inductive

which type of reasoning is a “probably but not definitely true” type of reasoning

inductive

How do we learn from inductive reasoning?

We often learn by seeing examples and figure out the general idea from them

Deductive reasoning

Using theories to reason about specific observations

Ex. My homerski loved his squeaky toys, so I assume all dogs love squeaky toys

This is an example of…

inductive reasoning

Ex. You know that every Rare beauty blush is very pigmented, so you expect the new shade you bought to be very pigmented too

This is an example of…

deductive reasoning

inductive reasoning develops at _____ (age range), while deductive reasoning develops in _________

age 7-9, adolescence

different brain recruitment for deductive vs inductive reasoning, especially in the …

frontal cortex

In a neuroimaging study, they found greater involvement of the inferior frontal gyrus for ______ reasoning tasks

deductive

In a neuroimaging study, they found greater involvement of the dorsal lateral PFC for ______ reasoning tasks

inductive

System 1: automatically, & w/ little effort =

inductive reasoning

System 2: slower & requires more effort =

deductive reasoning

Ex. If someone went to a park everyday and saw dogs wearing top-hats, they conclude that all dogs that visit this park wear top-hats. This is an example of _______ reasoning because you’re reasoning _______(from/towards) information.

inductive, from

syllogisms

a kind of argument where you use two premise statements to figure out a new conclusion

syllogisms measure ____ reasoning

deductive

which philosopher used syllogisms?

Aristotle

validity of syllogisms is about ____

logic

T/F: If 2 premise statements are true, then the conclusion of the syllogism is also true

F

By using syllogisms, you have to reason if the _____ _____ is valid given what you’ve learn by the _____ _____

concluding statement, premise statements

T/F: In syllogisms: valid ≠ true

T

Ex. All birds are animals, all animals eat food. Therefore, all birds eat food

Is an example of _____ in syllogisms

validity

What is the structure for validity for syllogisms?

All A are B: All B are C: Therefore, All A are C

Ex. All birds are animals, All animals have four legs, Therefore, all birds have four legs

Is it valid? Is it true?

Valid: Yes

True: No

What are the 3 types of syllogisms?

All statements, Negative statements, Some statements

Atmosphere effect

syllogisms that can trick your mind into believing a conclusion that feels right but is actually not logically valid

when we reason, we build a mental picture (a _____) based on what we know

mental model

negative statements are hard to picture (like imagining something not happening). Because of this…

it’s harder for us to reason with negatives

Syllogisms really should be solved following…

logic

omission bias

we think that doing nothing is better than doing the “wrong” thing, even if the result is the same

Ex. In a soccer game, you could stop the ball but choose not to move. It feels less bad than if you kicked the ball into your own goal by accident—even though in both cases, your team loses.

This is an example of …

the omission bias

T/F: Morality is often driven by emotional responses

F, it IS driven by emotional responses, as demonstrated by the trolley problem

If someone had lesions to their vetromedial prefrontal cortex, and they were faced with the trolley problem, what would they most likely choose?

A) Do nothing and kill the five people

B) Switch the train to another track and kill one man/ C) Stop the trolley and save the five people by pushing a large man to his death in front of the trolley

B/C, the more utilitarian response

Lesions to the ventromedial PFC have lower emotional responding

Those w/ high-functioning autism - difference sin emotion processing leads to a more ____ response in the trolley problem

utilitarian

making someone ________ before they encounter the trolley problem may incline them to choose the utilitarian response

happy

syllogisms show us that we don’t often…

follow logical structures or rules

belief bias (in syllogisms)

we are more likely to accept a conclusion if it fits what we already believe, even if the logic is wrong

Ex. All flowers need light, Roses need light, Therefore, Roses are flowers

This is an example of…

The belief bias

The example is invalid because it does follow the valid structure of All A are B, All B are C, Therefore all A are C

when a conclusion is believable, ppl are much less likely to question its…

logic

people are easier to trick (even if the logic is wrong) if the conclusion sounds ______

believable

we can study conditional reasoning in the lab with the use of ____

the watson 4 card task

conditional reasoning

“If-then“ statements

confirmation bias

tendency to seek confirmatory evidence for a hypothesis

the confirmation bias is associated with what task?

the watson 4 card task

the falsification principle

you need to look for situations that would falsify a rule

the return trip effect

time judged returning on a route (which is now familiar) is rated as shorter than initial route

T/F: Familiarity cannot affect reasoning and judgments

F, it can, especially with time (return trip effect)

what are heuristics in reasoning?

generalizations that we apply when reasoning

heuristics are great, they’re useful, they’re adaptive, and they help us make quick decisions. BUT, they can get problematic when we rely on them too heavily and without thinking, then they can become ____

biases

representative bias

the tendency to judge something based on how similar it is to a typical example or stereotype

Ex. You meet someone who’s very talkative and loves coffee, so you assume they must be like Lorelai Gilmore, even thought they might just be an outgoing person who happens to like coffee.

This is an example of…

representative bias

base-rate neglect

ignore important rate info (statistics) when reasoning

conjunction fallacy

when we think 2 events happening together is more likely than just one event, even though it’s actually less likely

What is more likely?

a) Dr. Sheldon is a professor

b) Dr. Sheldon is a teacher and owns a dog

a is more likely. Due to conjunction fallacy, most ppl will say b, but have 2 factors makes it 2x less likely that the combination is true

availability bias

when we judge the likelihood based on how easily we remember examples of it

our memories are recalled easier than other people’s memories experiences — saying this means we’re thinking about…

availability bias

anchoring and adjustment heuristic

when ppl make decisions based on an initial piece of information (the anchor) and then make changes from that starting point, however, they usually don’t change enough, leading to biased choices

the anchoring and adjustment heuristic is mostly used in…

sales

Ex. A mattress is priced at $1000, but it is now ON SALE for $700.

You buy the mattress thinking you got a great deal.

This is an example of…

the anchoring and adjustment heuristic

gambler’s fallacy

the false belief that past events can influence future ones in situations that are random

Ex. You’re flipping a coin and you get “heads” 5 times in a row, you’re thinking to yourself that it’s due for a “tails”

This is an example of the…

gambler’s fallacy

illusory correlation

linking two co-occurring events and assuming a relationship

Ex. Wearing your “lucky jersey” when your sport team plays because they won last time you wore it to a game

This is an example of…

an illusory correlation

hot-hand belief

thinking that a person who experiences success will keep having success — a “winning streak”