Cognitive Psychology Exam 2 Study Guide Ch 7 8 11 12 intelligence Ch 11 Problem Solving o Components of problem solving Initial state problem Goal state Obstacles Describes the situation at the beginning of the When you solve the problem The restrictions that make it difficult to proceed from the initial state to the goal state Note This is used when you want to reach a certain goal but the solution is not immediately obvious Requires you to go beyond the information you were given so you can reach a goal o Problem Solving Strategies Algorithm Step by step procedure Always produces a solution sometimes inefficient Exhaustive Search Analogy approach Try all possible answers exhaust all possibilities Using prior knowledge to see how current Using a solution to a similar earlier problem to Example Chess compare board to previous problem is similar to previous help in solving a new problem experiences General rule Strategy in which you ignore some alternatives explore only those that seem especially likely to produce a solution In other words eliminate many absurd solutions to focus on those that make sense Heuristic Means Ends Heuristic Divide the problem into sub problems Try to reduce the difference between the initial state and the goal state for each of the sub problems Identify the ends you want and then figure out the means to reach them Maze chess solving strategies Sometimes you have to work backwards Ex One of the most effective and flexible problem o Insight Problem Seems impossible until sudden solution appears Gets at ones ability to abandon their mental set to Functional fixedness aha solve problem example 9 dot problem Due to overactive top down processing In many cases we have trouble coming up with a new way to use a tool An insight test assesses one s ability to overcome functional fixedness Try to get you to think up a new novel way to solve a problem particularly with the unconventional use of tools Example Dunker s Candle problem o Creativity Using novel solutions to problems Example Uses test How many uses for a sock Divergent thinking production Another word for creativity Measure in terms of number of different This is what the uses test measures responses made to a test item o Motivation Creativity Intrinsic motivation Motivation within ourselves Work on a task for it s own sake interesting exciting personally challenging Ch 12 Decision Making o Decision Making People are more likely to be creative with this sort of motivation Extrinsic motivation External motives rewards Often produce less creative projects Creativity can be enhanced if extrinsic factors provide useful feedback o Persistence Expend effort on challenging situations despite failure Effort in the face of frustration Motivation in difficult or impossible situations Assessing and choosing among several alternatives Process of making a judgment based on prior We re not very good at making decisions knowledge o Dual Process Theory There are two types of processing to make a decision Type 1 processing Fast and automatic Many people only use this type Slow and controlled Type 2 processing o Heuristic General strategy we use in many cases to make Can be fraught with fallacies subject to many biases decisions o Belief Bias Effect Influence of prior knowledge When we make judgments based on beliefs general knowledge rather than on the rules of logic People tend to make errors when the logic of a reasoning problem conflict with their prior knowledge Example Feather Window scenario where feather breaks window doesn t make sense o Confirmation Bias Seek to support confirm a hypothesis rather than try to disprove it Most pervasive Often seen when people seek to confirm evidence Ex Cards with vowels odd numbers when self diagnosing disorders o Base Rate Fallacy People rely on stereotypes when asked to judge Inability to incorporate basic statistical info to make decisions category membership Ignore base rate information science due to context but should have looked at base rate of popular majors instead Example Student s major people guessed computer o Conjunction Fallacy When we think that the likelihood of 2 things occurring in conjunction is more likely than single events in isolation is both a bank teller and a feminist Ex Reading a description about Linda believing she o Availability Heuristic memory Making decisions based on what s readily available in Using the past especially recent experiences Ex How many students at FSU are from Idaho If you recently met someone from Idaho you may believe there are many o Illusory Correlation People believe that two variables are statistically related even though there is no real evidence for the relationship Attributing a relationship based on insufficient info o Prospect Theory When dealing with a possible gain people avoid risks When dealing with a possible loss people take risks This can be bad for companies Intelligence o Fluid Crystalized Intelligence Fluid knowledge Ability to reason solve abstract problems independent of knowledge Problem solving Thinking on the spot novel problems Perceive relationships gain new types of Can decline over age Knowledge of facts about the world Arithmetic facts word meanings state capitals Can continue to grow Crystalized o Gardner s Approach to Intelligence He pluralized intelligence Believed there were 9 types Didn t believe there was this unitary g Very popular though not a lot of hard data o Non cognitive skills intelligence intelligence tests Any sort of skill that isn t related to original Soft skills personal skills Personality attitudes values beliefs Validity Performances on non cognitive tests predict conscientiousness teamwork etc work force performance and achievement tests o Predictive Validity of Spatial Ability Spatial ability predicts performance in STEM science technology engineering and mathematics disciplines Video game use links to this as well o Mental Rotation Task Mentally rotate objects Assesses visual spatial ability The more we have to rotate something the longer it Relates to mental imagery will take Ch 7 Mental Imagery o Analog Theory Analog representation very similar to actual Supporting evidence representation Mental rotation task when rotating a visual image a larger rotation takes longer just as they take longer when making a large rotation w a physical stimulus o Propositional Theory Using language to represent information Mental images stored in an abstract language like form that doesn t
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