Thinking, problem solving, judgements, and decision making

famous cognitive scientists

• albert bandura

  • social learning theory, Bobo Doll, modeling

• julian Rotter

  • locus of control

• martin seligman

  • learning helplessness, positive psychology

• Aaron Beck

  • cognitive triad

    • depression seems from a negative view of the world in general, of oneself and of the future

• albert Ellis

  • rational emotive therapy

difference types of categories

• superordinate category

  • basic category

    • subordinate category

how do categories affect our schemas? (the way we see the world)

• once we place an item in a category our memory shifts toward the categr=ory’s prototype

• we are more likely to think of the characteristics of the prototype rather than the individual characteristics of that particular object

  • this is why sometimes we dont notice the details

Assimilation

• involves integrating new information into existing cognitive schemas

• when you take new information and fit it into a schema (mental category) you already have

• ex. a child who knows about dogs might see a cow and call it a dog because it has four legs and fur, trying to assimilate the cow into their existing schema for dogs

accommodation

• alternating existing schemas/ creating new ones in response to new information that doesnt fit into existing schemas

• when you change or create a new schema because new information doesn’t fit your old understanding.

Algorithms

• exhaust all possibilities before arriving at a solution

• they take a long time

• guarantees a solution to a problem

Heuristics

• mental shortcuts that allow us to make quick judgements and decisions, often based on limited information

• speedier but more error-prone

representative heuristic

• estimating the likelihood of events in reference to how closely they resemble a particular prototype

• how well an individual/ event matches our preconceived notions or stereotypes

• ex. assuming that a well-dresses person is more intelligent or successful than someone who is casually dressed

availability heuristic

• making a decision by comparing the present situation to the most representative mental prototype

• estimating the likelihood of events on how readily they come to mind

• ex. overestimating the likelihood of place crashes because they are more memorable and widely reported than other types of accidents

• which causes more american deaths? terrorists or toddlers?

creativity

• ability to produce ideas that we both novel and valuable

• though we can understand what creativity is, it is difficult to teach or measure

Robert Sternberg identified five components of creativity

1. expertise

2. imagination

3. a venturesome personality

4. intrinsic motivation

5. a creative environment

creativity requires divergent thinking

    expanding the number of possible problem solutions

divergent thinking

• multiple solutions

• ex. brainstorming various uses for a paperclip, beyond its intended purpose

convergent thinking

• narrows down the solutions to the single best option

insight

• aha moment

• sudden novel realization of a solution to a problem

other elements to decision making

intuition

• an effortless, immediately, automatic feeling or thought with explicit conscious reasoning to make decisions

• making a quick judgment or decision without conscious reasoning, based on experience or gut feeling

• each day we have to make hundreds of decisions but we would never devote equalt time and attention to all of them and get everything acomplished

obstacles in solving problems

confirmation bias

• tendency to search for information that confirms our personal bias

  • a reporter who is writing an article on an important issue may only interview experts that support her or his views on the issue

fixation

• inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective

• impediment to problem solving

• ex. mental set, functional fixedness

functional fixedness

• tendency to think of only familiar functions for objects

• cognitive barrier to creativity, in which an individual becomes fixated on the typical use of an object, hindering their ability to see alternative applications

  • if you dont have a screwdriver, a dime may work

  • struggling to see how a brick could be used as a doorstop, because we are fixated on its usual function in construction

mental set

• a tendency to approach a problem in a particular way especially a way that has been successful in the past    

  • always solve math problems using the same method even when a more efficient approach is available

overconfidence

• tendency to overestimate the accuracy of one’s beliefs and judgements

exaggerated fear

• opposed to overconfidence

• tendency for exaggerated fear about how things may happen

• such fears may be ill-founded

  • 9/11 crashes led to decline in air travel due to fear

framing decisions

• how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgements

• ex. what is the best way to market ground beef- 25% fat or 75% lean

belief bias

• tendency for one’s preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning sometimes by making invalid and conclusions

• ex. god is love, love is blind, ray charles is blind, ray charles is god

belief perservance

• tendency to cling to out beliefs in the face of contrary evidence

  • once someone has let you down, it is difficult to believe that they will come through when you need them

    • even if they have totally redeemed themselves

cognitive stations

algorithm

• defined set of set-by-step procedures that provide the correct answer to a particular problem

• …

sunk-cost fallacy

• cognitive bias that make you feel as if you should continue pouring money/time/effort because you have already sunk so much

gambler’s fallacy

• believs taht the outcome of a random event is influenced by previous outcomes, despite eaach event being independent

prototypes and schemas