Problem Solving

The Anchoring Effect

  • When people don't deviate far from a given value

  • Not preventable, but can be weakened

 

Risk Avoidance

  • The tendency to steer away from uncertainty or potential behaviour by rejecting choices that involve risk

    • Shorter delays = more impulsive

    • Longer delays = less impulsive

 

Concepts

  • The building blocks for thought

  • Mental category that groups elements within common properties

    • Broad concept

    • Basic concept

    • Narrow concept

  • Prototypes: based on one's experiences, which vary from person to person based on their particular history and culture

 

Propositions

  • Reflect knowledge and beliefs

  • Outline and connect multiple concepts together

 

Stereotypes

  • A special category of beliefs that express thoughts about a group of people

  • Guide our expectation of and behaviour towards other people based on what group they belong to

 

Schema

  • Connecting several thoughts into an integrated mental network of ideas

  • Help guide our expectations and behaviour in new and familiar social contexts.

    • Examples:

    • Social role: reflect a set of expectations, rights, obligations, and typical behaviours connected with a particular social situation.

    • Social script

 

Formal Reasoning Problems

  • Information that is complete and objective

  • We have all the information required to solve the problem and everyone agrees what the information means

 

Algorithms

  • Set of rules that guarantee an answer when applied correctly

    • Ex. Following a recipe (algorithm) as outline and guaranteed to create an eggnog

 

Informal Reasoning Problems

  • Information that is incomplete and subjective

  • We do not have all the information available and can be debatable

 

Heuristics

  • Rules of thumb that aid in decision making but do not guarantee a viable solution

 

Availability Heuristic

  • Bases a prediction on memorable instances rather than on base-rate probability

 

Representative Heuristic

  • Bases decision on commonality or similarity

 

Decision Making

  • Evaluate and choose among a number of alternatives

  • Alternatives are mutually exclusive, meaning there are also opportunity costs

    • Utility: the economic gain (or benefit) derived from a given option

    • Subjective Utility: the personal, psychological value an individual derives from a gain

    • Additive Strategy: Solve problems by adding elements rather than removing them

      • Used with fewer options

      • List all available options

      • Evaluate each option's positives and negatives

      • Assign scores to them and weight which one is the best alternative

    • Elimination by Aspects: reduce the number to a manageable level

      • Used with a large number of options

      • Identify the minimum criteria that must be satisfied to be considered

      • List the minimum criteria in order of their importance