PSY 101 Exam 4 Study Guide 07 27 2012 Chapter 9 Thinking and Language Thinking o Cognition the mental activities associated with thinking knowing remembering and communicating Cognitive psychologists study these activities and also the logical and sometimes illogical ways which we create concepts solve problems make decisions and form judgments o We form concepts to think Concept a mental grouping of similar objects events ideas or people We organize concepts in hierarchies We form concepts by definition We form concepts by developing prototypes Prototype a mental image or best example of a category Matching new items to a prototype provides a quick and easy method of sorting items into categories as when feathered creatures to a prototypical bird such as a robin o The more closely something matches our prototype of a concept the more readily we recognize it as an example of that concept o It takes a bit longer to conceptualize a penguin as a bird because it doesn t match our prototype of a small feathered flying creature Once we place an in a category our memory of it later shifts toward the category prototype Concepts seek and guide our thinking but they don t always make us wise When we move away from our prototypes category boundaries may blur Ex We confuse a whale as a mammal or fish o Solving problems Some problems we solve with trial and error For other problems we use algorithms Algorithms a methodical logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem Contrasts with the usually speedier but also more prone to error use of heuristics Step by step procedure that guarantees a solution For other problems we use heuristics Heuristic a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently usually speedier but more prone to error than algorithms Insight a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem it contrasts with strategy based solutions The aha Moment o Obstacles to problem solving Confirmation bias and fixation often lead us astray Confirmation bias a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence Major obstacle to problem solving Fixation the inability to see a problem from a new perspective by employing a different mental set Two examples mental set and functional fixedness Mental set a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way often a way that has been successful in the past Functional fixedness the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions an impediment to problem solving A coin might take the job of a screwdriver o Making decisions and forming judgments We often follow are intuition Using and misusing heuristics Helpful shortcuts can lead to dumb decisions Representative heuristic judging the likelihood in terms of how well they seem to represent or match particular prototypes may lead us to ignore other relevant information Fast problem solving using only our mental representation leads to false conclusions 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 some events are common We base our judgments on how mentally available info is Anything that allows info to pop up in mind quickly and with vividness can increase its perceived availability making it seem commonplace Ex Fear of flying because of 9 11 thanks to readily available images we come to fear extremely rare events quick and easy but sometimes misleading guide to judging reality Overconfidence the tendency to be more confident than correct to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs Belief perseverance clinging to one s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been and judgments discredited The more we come to appreciate why our beliefs might be true the more tightly we cling to them o The perils and powers of intuition Intuition an effortless immediate automatic feeling or thought as contrasted with explicit conscious reasoning Intuition s perils and powers Intuition s Dozen deadly sins Evidence of intuition s powers Hindsight bias looking back at Blindsight brain damaged persons sight events we falsely surmise that we unseen as their bodies react to things and knew it all along faces not consciously recognized Illusory correlation intuitively Right brain thinking split brain persons perceiving a relationship where none displaying knowledge they cannot verbalize Memory construction influenced by Infant s intuitive learning of language and our present moods and by physics misinformation we may form false exists memories Representativeness and availability heuristics fast and frugal heuristics Moral intuition quick gut feelings that precede moral reasoning become quick and dirty when leading us to illogical and incorrect judgments Overconfidence our intuitive Divided attention and priming unattended assessments of our own knowledge info processed by the mind s downstairs are more often confident than correct radar watchers Belief perseverance and confirmation Everyday perception an instant parallel bias thanks partly our preference of processing and integration complex confirming information beliefs are information streams often durable even after their foundation is discredited Framing judgments flip flop Automatic processing the cognitive depending on how the same issue or autopilot that guides us through most of life information is posed based on interview alone Interviewer illusion inflated Implicit memory learning how to do confidence in one s discernment something without knowing that one knows Mispredicting our own feelings we Heuristics those fast and frugal mental often mispredict the intensity and shortcuts that normally serve us well duration of our emotions enough Self serving bias in various ways we Intuitive expertise phenomena of exhibit inflated self assessments unconscious learning expert learning and Fundamental attribution error overly Creativity the sometimes spontaneous attributing other s behavior to their appearance of novel and valuable ideas physical genius dispositions by discounting unnoticed situational forces Mispredicting our own behavior out Social and emotional intelligence the intuitive self predictions often go intuitive know how to comprehend and astray manage ourselves in social situations and to perceive and express emotions The wisdom of