PSYC 1315 1st Edition Lecture 10 Last Lecture Memory Current Lecture Thinking intelligence and language COGNITIVE REVOLUTION Cognition The way in which information is processed and manipulated in remembering thinking and knowing 1950s psychology resumes focus on the mind and mental processes The relationship between the brain and cognition A Computer The physical brain Hardware Cognition Software Computer are quite limited in their ability to learn and generalize WHAT IS THINKING Manipulating information mentally such as by forming concepts solving problems making decisions and reflecting in a critical or creative manner Critical thinking Creativity Expertise CONCEPTS Mental categories that are used to group objects events and characteristics E g All sports fruit pets Classical model instances of a concept share defining properties e g a triangle Prototype model Compare a given item with the most typical item s in that category and look for resemblance e g bird PROBLEM SOLVING Find and frame problems Develop good problem solving strategies Evaluate Solutions Rethink and Redefine Problems and Solutions over time PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGIES Subgoaling Setting intermediate goals or defining intermediate problems that put you in a better position for reaching the final goal or solution SONA credit do 1 5 credits for each exam PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGIES Algorithms Step by step rules that if applied correctly guarantee a problem solution Computers often programmed to run them Math problems FOIL Please excuse my dear Aunt Sally PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGIES Heuristics Problem solving rules of thumb or shortcuts I before E except after C Righty tighty lefty loosey PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGIES Mental Relying problem sets on tried and true strategies when attempting to solve a new How to use a pliers Getting good grades in college FIXATION Using a prior strategy and failing to look at a problem from a fresh new perspective Functional Fixedness Individuals functions Box fail to solve a problem because they are fixated on a thing s usual of matches pliers dots in a square Think outside the box REASONING The mental activity of transforming information to reach conclusions Inductive Reasoning from the specific to the general bottom up e g plays by Shakespeare Deductive reasoning reasoning Reasoning from the general to the specific e g Sherlock Holmes DECISION MAKING Evaluating alternatives and choosing among them Attempting Outcome DECISION MAKING PROBLEMS Confirmation bias search for use information that supports our ideas rather than refutes them to Maximize Hindsight bias tendency to report falsely after the fact that we accurately predicted the outcome Availability heuristic prediction about the probability of an event based on the ease of recalling similar events Base Rate Fallacy ignore info about general principles Representativeness Heuristic make judgments based on stereotypes Bias Blind Spot Notice biases in others but not in self CRITICAL THINKING Thinking reflectively and productively and evaluating the evidence Mindfullness Being alert and mentally present for one s everyday activities Open mindedness Being CREATIVITY The ability to think about something in novel and unusual ways and come up with unconventional solutions to problems Divergent thinking Thinking that produces many answers to the same question What image comes to mind when you hear the phrase sitting alone in a dark room Convergent receptive to other ways of looking at things thinking Thinking that produces one correct answer How many quarters will you get in return for 60 dimes EXPERTISE The quality of having a particular talent that something special for the things that one does in a particular domain Chess physics mathematics electronics etc Expertise is domain specific INTELLIGENCE Problem solving skills and the ability to adapt to and learn from life s everyday experiences Relatively stable People can be compared Varies according to the culture MEASURING INTELLIGENCE Validity The extent to which a test measures what it is intended to measure Reliability The extent to which a test yields a consistent reproducible measure of performance Standardization Uniform procedures for administering and scoring a test as well as creating norms for the test