Chapter 9: Thinking and LanguageThinkingCognition- the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicatingCognitive psychologists study these activities and also the logical and sometimes illogical ways which we create concepts, solve problems, make decisions, and form judgmentsWe form concepts to thinkConcept- a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or peopleWe organize concepts in hierarchiesWe form concepts by definitionWe form concepts by developing prototypesPrototype- 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)The more closely something matches our prototype of a concept, the more readily we recognize it as an example of that conceptIt takes a bit longer to conceptualize a penguin as a bird because it doesn’t match our prototype of a small, feathered, flying creatureOnce we place an in a category, our memory of it later shifts toward the category prototypeConcepts seek and guide our thinking, but they don’t always make us wiseWhen we move away from our prototypes, category boundaries may blurEx. We confuse a whale as a mammal or fishSolving problemsSome problems we solve with trial and errorFor other problems we use algorithmsAlgorithms- 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 solutionFor other problems we use heuristicsHeuristic- 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 solutionsThe aha! MomentObstacles to problem solvingConfirmation bias and fixation often lead us astrayConfirmation bias- a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidenceMajor obstacle to problem solvingFixation- the inability to see a problem from a new perspective, by employing a different mental setTwo examples: mental set and functional fixednessMental set- a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the pastFunctional fixedness- the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem solvingA coin might take the job of a screwdriverMaking decisions and forming judgmentsWe often follow are intuitionUsing and misusing heuristicsHelpful shortcuts can lead to dumb decisionsRepresentative heuristic- judging the likelihood in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant informationFast problem solving using only our mental representation- leads to false conclusionsAvailability 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 commonWe base our judgments on how mentally available info isAnything that allows info to “pop up in mind” quickly and with vividness can increase its perceived availability, making it seem commonplaceEx. Fear of flying because of 9/11thanks to readily available images, we come to fear extremely rare eventsquick and easy but sometimes misleading guide to judging realityOverconfidence- the tendency to be more confident than correct- to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgmentsBelief perseverance- clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discreditedThe more we come to appreciate why our beliefs might be true, the more tightly we cling to themThe perils and powers of intuitionIntuition- an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoningIntuition’s perils and powersIntuition’s Dozen deadly sinsEvidence of intuition’s powersHindsight bias- looking back at events, we falsely surmise that we knew it all alongBlindsight- brain- damaged persons’ “sight unseen” as their bodies react to things and faces not consciously recognizedIllusory correlation- intuitively perceiving a relationship where none existsRight-brain thinking- split-brain persons displaying knowledge they cannot verbalizeMemory construction- influenced by our present moods and by misinformation, we may form false memoriesInfant’s intuitive learning- of language and physicsRepresentativeness and availability heuristics-fast and frugal heuristics become quick and dirty when leading us to illogical and incorrect judgmentsMoral intuition- quick gut feelings that precede moral reasoningOverconfidence- our intuitive assessments of our own knowledge are more often confident than correctDivided attention and priming- unattended info processed by the mind’s downstairs radar watchersBelief perseverance and confirmation bias- thanks partly our preference of confirming information, beliefs are often durable, even after their foundation is discreditedEveryday perception- an instant parallel processing and integration complex information streamsFraming- judgments flip-flop, depending on how the same issue or information is posedAutomatic processing- the cognitive autopilot that guides us through most of lifeInterviewer illusion- inflated confidence in one’s discernment based on interview aloneImplicit memory- learning how to do something without knowing that one knowsMispredicting our own feelings- we often mispredict the intensity and duration of our emotionsHeuristics- those fast and frugal mental shortcuts that normally serve us well enoughSelf-serving bias- in various ways, we exhibit inflated self-assessmentsIntuitive expertise-phenomena of unconscious learning, expert learning, and physical geniusFundamental attribution error- overly attributing other’s behavior to their dispositions by discounting unnoticed situational forcesCreativity- the sometimes-spontaneous appearance of novel and valuable ideasMispredicting our own behavior- out intuitive self-predictions often go astraySocial and emotional intelligence- the intuitive know-how to comprehend and manage ourselves in social situations and to perceive and express emotionsThe wisdom of