Lecture 7 (thinking and problem solving)

Thinking

Going beyond provided information. Involves manipulation of mental representations, such as concepts, images, schemas and scripts.

Concepts

Mental representations of categories of items or ideas, based on experience.

Natural concepts

classification that develop our everyday experiences in the world. Sensory and verbal representations.

Artificial concepts

defined by rules or characteristics, such as dictionary definitions or mathematical formulas. Represent definitions, ideas or abstractions, no physical representation.

Problem

dissonance between recent and desired state

Problem solving

means mental operations that would reduce the dissonance between recent state and desired state.

Obstacles to problem solving

Mental set

Functional fixedness

Self-imposed limitations

Mental set

tendency to respond to a new problem in the same way you approached similar problem previosly

Functional fixedness

Function of a familiar obejct becomes so set (fixed) that you can’t see a new function for it

Judgements

Attributive (about traits of other people)

Evaluative (about the value of objects)

Probabilistic (about chances)

The representativeness bias

a faulty heuristic strategy based on the presumption that, once person or event is categorized, it shares all the features of other members in that category.

Gambler's fallacy

if a fair coin is tossed repeatedly and tails comes up a larger number of times than is expected, a gambler may incorrectly believe that this means that heads is more likely in future tosses

The availability bias

a faulty heuristic strategy that estimates probabilities based on information that can be recalled from personal experience

Framing

our decisions are influenced by the background of a context choice and how the question is worded. It’s impacting people because individuals perceive losses and gains differently

Positive-negative asymetry

a loss is more devastating than the equivalent gain is gratifying

• 20$ win won’t make us two times happier than 10$ win

• 20$ lose will make us more than two times unhappier than 10$ lose

Certainty effect and pseudocertainty effect

in which a sure gain is favored to a probabilistic gain, but a probabilistic loss is preferred to a definite loss.

Problem-solving cycle

A series of steps including identification, definition, strategy formulation, organization of information, allocation of resources, monitoring, and evaluation.

Strategy formulation

The process of analyzing and synthesizing information to develop a plan of action.

Reasoning

The process of drawing conclusions based on principles and evidence.

Reasoning types:

deductive (reasoning from one or more general statements)

inductive (from specific facts or observations).

Paradox of aging:

decline in cognitive and physical performance while maintaining or increasing well-being and emotional regulation. Often used explanation for this is Socioemotional Selectivity Theory

Laura Carstensen positivity effect

The idea that the time horizon influences individuals' goals and the importance they place on emotional satisfaction versus obtaining resources.

Algorithms

step-by-step procedures, to test every possible way... guarantee of a correct outcome (if correctly applied) but time consuming....

Convergent thinking

The process of narrowing down multiple possibilities to arrive at a single best answer.

Expert systems

Computer programs that can perform tasks in a specific domain as an expert would.

Expertise

Superior skills or achievements resulting from a well-developed and well-organized knowledge base.

Functional fixedness

The inability to see alternative uses for an object beyond its known function.

Heuristics

Informal, intuitive strategies that may lead to effective problem-solving but are not guaranteed to do so. cognitive strategies or „rules of thumb” used as shortcuts to solve complaex mental tasks.

Frequently used heuristic strategies

•Working backward – starting from the end and move backward. Useful to solve problems when there are many possibilities at the start. Useless when problems are „open”, so there are many „ends”.

• Searching for analogies – recognise the similarity between the new problem and the old one, that we know how to solve

•Breaking a Big problem into smaller problems – to make smaller, more manageable steps

Ill-structured problems

Problems that lack well-defined paths to a solution.

Incubation

Putting a problem aside for a period of time without actively thinking about it.

Insight

A sudden understanding or realization that aids in problem-solving.

Isomorphic

Referring to problems with the same formal structure but different content.

Mental set

A frame of mind involving existing models or procedures for problem-solving.

Negative transfer

When solving an earlier problem makes it harder to solve a later one.

Positive transfer

When solving an earlier problem makes it easier to solve a new problem.

Problem solving

The process of overcoming obstacles to reach a solution.

Problem space

The set of all possible actions that can be applied to solving a problem, given any constraints.

Productive thinking

Involves insights that go beyond existing associations.

Stereotypes

Beliefs that members of a social group have particular characteristics.

Synthesis

The process of putting together various elements to create something useful.

Transfer

The carryover of knowledge or skills from one problem situation to another.

Transparency

When people see analogies where they do not exist due to similarity of content.

Well-structured problems

Problems that have well-defined paths to a solution.