Post on 03-Jan-2016
4
Thinking Cognition
mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
Cognitive Psychologists study these mental activities
concept formation problem solving decision making judgment formation
7Triangle (definition) Bird (mental image)
Daniel J. C
ox/ Getty Im
ages
J. Messerschm
idt/ The Picture C
ube
PrototypeMental image or best example of a category.
Matching new items to the prototype provides a quick and easy method for including items in a
category (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin)
9
Categories
Once we place an item in a category, our memory shifts toward the category prototype.
A computer generated face that was 70 percentCaucasian led people to classify it as Caucasian.
Cou
rtesy o
f Olive
r Co
rne
ille
10
Problem SolvingProblem solving strategies include:
1. Trial and Error2. Algorithms3. Heuristics4. Insight
11
Thinking Algorithm
methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem
contrasts with the usually speedier–but also more error-prone--use of heuristics
12
Algorithms
Algorithms, which are very time consuming, exhaust all possibilities before arriving at a
solution. Computers use algorithms.
S P L O Y O C H Y G
If we were to unscramble these letters to form a word using an algorithmic approach, we would face
907,200 possibilities.
13
Heuristics
Heuristics are mental shortcuts that allow us to make judgments and
solve problems efficiently. Heuristics
are less time consuming, but more
error-prone than algorithms.
Heuristics with the psych files 15:12
B2M
Productions/D
igital Version/G
etty Images
14
Heuristics
Heuristics make it easier for us to use simple principles to arrive at solutions to problems.
S P L O Y O C H Y GS P L O Y O C H G YP S L O Y O C H G YP S Y C H O L O G Y
Put a Y at the end, and see if the wordbegins to make sense.
15
InsightInsight involves a sudden
novel realization of a solution to a problem.
Humans and animals have insight.
Chimp Problem solving: Link 1:03
Crow Problem solvingLink :48
Rook Prob solvingLink 1:40
Grande using boxes toobtain food
16
Try to connect these dots with three lines, without lifting your pencil from the paper or retracing any of the lines you draw. You must also end the drawing where you began it. You can take up to three minutes.
19
Insight (it can be seen in the brain before you are
conscious of it)Brain imaging and
EEG studies suggest that when an insight
strikes (the “Aha” experience), it
activates the right temporal cortex (Jung-
Beeman & others, 2004). The time
between not knowing the solution and
responding is about 0.3 seconds.
From M
ark Jung-Beekm
an, Northw
estern U
niversity and John Kounios, D
rexel University
20
Thought Puzzle #1
• Predict the next number in this sequence.
• In your notes, write down your thought process. Include any “dead ends.”
• Don’t talk about your process or your answer so that everyone can work on the puzzle.
Sequence
8 5 9 1 7 2 ____
21
Thought Puzzle #1
Sequence
8 5 9 1 7 2 ____
Now think about the words rather than the numbers
Eight Five Nine One Seven Two _____
22
Thought Puzzle #1
What got in the way of solving this problem?
Mental Set - Old pattern of problem solving is applied to a new problem.
Functional Fixedness – A tendency to think about familiar objects in familiar ways which may prevent more creative use of those objects to solve the problem.
Where should we put the armor… where are the missing
bullet holes???
25
Section of plane Bullet holes per square foot
Engine 1.11
Fuselage l.73
Fuel system 1.55
Rest of the plane 1.8
30
Thought Puzzle #2 – Connect the dots with no more than 4 straight lines without
lifting your pen.
* * ** * ** * *
31
Thought Puzzle #2 – Connect the dots with no more than 4 straight lines
without lifting your pen.
* * ** * ** * *
32
Thought Puzzle #2 – Connect the dots with no more than 4 straight lines
without lifting your pen.Many people suffer from the Mental Set which states that they must stay within the square defined by the dots.
Functional Fixedness keeps most people in a “connect the dots” mode.
33
What path will the marble follow when it leaves the curved tube?
Figure 8.7: Applying a Mental Model
36
Obstacles in Solving Problems
Confirmation Bias: A tendency to search for information that confirms a personal bias.
2 – 4 – 6
Discover the rule
37
Fixation
Fixation: An inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective. This impedes
problem solving and creativity. An example of fixation is functional fixedness.
The Matchstick Problem: How would
you arrange six matches to form four equilateral triangles?
From
“Problem
Solving” by M
. Scheerer. C
opyright © 1963 by
Scientific A
merican, Inc. A
ll Rights R
eserved.
38
Functional Fixedness
A tendency to think only of the familiar functions of an object.
?
Problem: Tie the two ropes together. Use a screw driver, cotton balls and a matchbox.
39
Using these materials, how would you mount the candle on a bulletin board?
Candle-Mounting Problem
From
“Problem
Solving” by M
. Scheerer. C
opyright © 1963 by
Scientific A
merican, Inc. A
ll Rights R
eserved.
40
The Three-Jugs Problem
Using jugs A, B, and C, with the capacities shown, how would you measure out the volumes indicated?
43
The Matchstick Problem: Solution
From
“Problem
Solving” by M
. Scheerer. C
opyright © 1963 by
Scientific A
merican, Inc. A
ll Rights R
eserved.
45
The Three-Jugs Problem
Solution: a) All seven problems can be solved by the equation shown in (a): B - A - 2C = desired volume.
b) But simpler solutions exist for problems 6 and 7, such as A - C for problem 6.
46
Making Decision & Forming Judgments
Each day we make hundreds of judgments and decisions based on our
intuition, seldom using systematic reasoning.
Link How to make better decisions
47
Heuristics
There are two kinds of heuristics, representative heuristics and
availability heuristics.
Amos Tversky Daniel Kahneman
Courtesy of G
reymeyer A
ward, U
niversity of L
ouisville and the Tversky fam
ily
Courtesy of G
reymeyer A
ward, U
niversity of L
ouisville and Daniel K
ahneman
49
Probability that that person is a truck driver is far greater than an ivy league professor just because there are more truck drivers than
such professors.
Representativeness Heuristic
Judging the likelihood of things or objects in terms of how well they seem to represent, or
match, a particular prototype.
If you meet a slim, short, man who wears glasses and likes poetry, what do you think his profession would be?
More likely an ivy league classics professor or a truck driver?
52
Heuristics
Availability Heuristic estimating the likelihood of events
based on their availability in memory if instances come readily to mind
(perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common
Example: airplane crash
55
OverconfidenceOverconfidence: tendency to
overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments.
In the stock market, both the
seller and the buyer may be
confident about their decisions on
a stock.Mind over Money at NOVA 52:52
56
• …overconfidence increases with action. As we actively engage, we become more confident in what we are doing.
57
You might steal more when asked NOT to…
• Sign posted that condemned the fact that many visitors steal the wood from Petrified Forest National Park.
• In the absence of the sign 3% stole wood
• In the presence of the sign 8% stole wood
• Messages that condemn yet highlight undesired social norms are common, and that they invite counterproductive results
58
Exaggerated Fear
Exaggerated fear: about what may
happen. Such fears may be unfounded. This is opposite of
having overconfidence.
The 9/11 attacks led to a decline in air travel due to fear.
AP
/ Wide W
orld Photos
59
We often fear the wrong things…• What is most likely to kill someone your
age…15-24.– Murder? – Criminal violence?– Accidents, mostly car wrecks…
• As a group you are more likely to kill yourself than to be murdered!
• Are you more likely to be burglarized or steal from your work?
• California State University Professor Mike Orkin points out that if a person drives ten miles to buy a lotto ticket, he or she is about sixteen times more likely to get killed in a car crash than to win the lotto.
• The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution by Sean B. Carroll
61
62
Thinking Framing
the way an issue is posed how an issue is framed can
significantly affect decisions and judgments
Example: What is the best way to market ground beef--as 25% fat or 75% lean?
63
Thinking and Belief
Belief Bias the tendency for one’s preexisting beliefs to
distort logical reasoning sometimes by making invalid conclusions
seem valid or valid conclusions seem invalid
Belief Perseverance clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the
basis on which they were formed has been discredited
Magic and the Brain at PBS
66
Belief Bias example
God is love.
Love is blind
Ray Charles is blind.
Ray Charles is God.Anonymous graffiti
67
Fluency Effect
• If the form of information is difficult to assimilate, that affects our judgments about the substance of that information.
• Subjects rated the exercise as harder and said they were less likely to try it when the instructions were printed in a font that was hard to read.
68
Perils & Powers of IntuitionIntuition may be perilous if unchecked, but
may also be extremely efficient and adaptive…it allows quick decisions.
Irrational behavior linkMyers on Intuition
70
Predictably Irrational
• The power of FREE!• Truffle at 15 cents Kiss at 1 cent,• 73% chose truffle 27% chose kiss• Truffle at 14 cents Kiss at free• 31% chose truffle 69% chose kiss• The price difference in both cases is the
same… 14 cents• So…free can make you miss something…