Problem Solving and Decision Making

Several ways we approach or find solutions to problems:

Trial and Error - Attempting various solutions until stumbling upon one that works

Algorithms - “Methodical…rule”; “step-by-step procedures” (pg. 214-215)

Heuristics - “Simple thinking strategies” (pg. 215); allow us to solve problems quickly (shortcuts)

Insight - “Sudden realization of a solution” (pg. 215); Lightbulb moment

Intuition - “Effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought” (pg. 215)

Confirmation Bias

Confirmation Bias - “tendency to search for information that supports your preconceptions” (pg. 215)

Examples

Similar to belief perseverance

Belief Perseverance - clinging to our ideas in the face of contrary evidence

Availability Heuristic

Availability Heuristic - basing our judgements on the availability of information in our memories

Availability Heuristic - basing on information that is - vivid, recent, distinctive

Overconfidence - tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our knowledge and judgments

Creativity

Creativity - “the ability to produce new and valuable ideas” (pg. 221)

Five components of creativity - Expertise, Imaginative thinking skills, Venturesome personality, Intrinsic motivation, Creative environment

Intelligence

Even the best measure of intelligence may account for only small amounts of real-world performance

Intelligence - “the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations” (pg. 229)

General Intelligence - G; “… underlies all mental abilities…” (pg. 229)

Two types of intellectual performance:

1. Crystallized Intelligence - “accumulated knowledge” (pg. 239)

   1. Tends to increase with age

2. Fluid Intelligence - “ability to reason speedily and abstractly” (pg. 239)

   1. Tends to decrease with age

Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory

1. Analytical - academic problem solving

2. Creativity - “ability to adapt to new situations and generate novel ideas” (pg. 230)

3. Practical - Street smarts

Emotional Intelligence

Social Intelligence - knowing how to manage one’s self in social situations

• one aspect is emotional intelligence

Emotional Intelligence - “the ability to perceive, understand, manage, and use emotions” (pg.231)

Components

Four Abilities

1. Perceive emotions

2. Understand emotions

3. Manage emotions

4. Use emotions to enable adaptive or creative thinking

Empathy

Key component is the ability to recognize emotion in others’ faces.

• Difficult for folks with ASD

• Assesses Empathy

  • Fostered by active listening, assuming other people’s perspective

Research Findings

Research findings regarding emotional intelligence…

• Higher Well-Being

• More Supportive and Less Conflict in Relationships

• Happier in Romantic Relationships

• More Merit Pay Increases, More Leadership Potential, and More Leadership Effectiveness in Work

Criticism - Stretches idea of intelligence too far?

Intelligence Measurement

Preferred: “Measure” or “Assessment”

Best known:

• Wechsler scales (e.g., Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale)

• Stanford-Binet

Characteristics of “Good” Measurement

Standardization - “Defining uniform testing procedures and meaningful scores by comparison with the performance of a pretested group” (pg. 233)

• Scores are typically distributes in a normal curve

Normal Curve - a bell-shaped pattern of scores

Reliability - Consistency

Reliability - Change in scores related to a construct being measured and not related to other aspects

Reliability - Scores due to systematic rather than chance factors

Validity - Accuracy

Validity - How well something measures what it is intended or assumed to measure

• Reliability is a prerequisite for validity

Examples - SSIM

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

IQ = a respondent’s performance on a measure of intelligence related to the performance of same-age others

• Average score - 100

The Shoe-Size Intelligence Measure

For the SSIM, IQ = shoe size * 10

Examples - WWI Measure

The world’s first mass administration of an IQ measure occurred during World War I

“There is nothing about an individual as important as his IQ” - Lewis Terman

Bias and Stereotype Threat

Two meanings of bias in measurement:

1. Whether it predicts future behavior only for some groups of test-takers.

2. Whether it is sensitive to performance difference caused by cultural experiences.

Bias - “A self-confirming concern that you will be judged based on a negative stereotype” (pg. 234)