7) Chapter 7 252-262, 285-287

Question 1

How does a mental concept relate to food?

Answer 1

When we think of the concept of food we think of things ranging from fruits to vegetables, etc. We are forming a mental concept in which we group similar objects/events/ideas/ or people. In this case, we group together objects aka fruits, think about it in our head

Question 2

How is concept used to describe the difference in categorizing things according to state of matter vs classifying something as a “vehicle”?

Answer 2

When we categorize according to the SOM, we categorize according to a well-defined concept. SOM is a well defined concept, because it has properties that clearly set it part from others, solid (particles are compacted). This method is relatively easy compared to classifying something as a vehicle which is a fuzzy concept. Fuzzy concept is not easily defined because meaning changes with context, is a bicycle a vehicle?

Question 3

What are the three reasoning strategies?

Answer 3

Algorithms, heuristics, insight

Question 4

If I am trying to convert from kelvin to celsius, what reasoning strategy should I use?

Answer 4

Use an algorithm, because it’s a step by step procedure that guarantees a correct solution

Question 5

What is a heuristic?

Answer 5

Mental shortcut for making decisions in a rapid manner, give answers that are good enough, unconscious level*

Question 6

True of false: heuristics can lead you in the wrong direction

Answer 6

True, you can come up with an statistically wrong answer

Question 7

This is an example of what type of heuristic?
An individual has been described by a neighbor as follows: “Steve is very shy and withdrawn, invariably helpful but with very little interest in people or in the world of reality. A meek and tidy soul, he has a need for order and structure, and a passion for detail.” Is Steve more likely to be a librarian or a farmer?You answer librarian. what type of reasoning strategy are you using?

Answer 7

Heuristics we answer in a fast manner with a good enough answer, unconscious level.
In this case, it would be a Representative heuristics: A shortcut in which people judge things by how closely they resemble a prototype, (Ex:librarian), people do not process how likely the match is REPRESENTATIVENESS(how likely something is to occur). In this case, statics is that there are more farmers than librarians, and yet we choose the more incorrect data answer.

Question 8

If I ask you to think of words that end with -ite. And you respond with bite, kite, cite,etc. What type of reasoning are you using?

Answer 8

Availability heuristic- making a judgment based on how easy something is to recall, assumed to occur more often(letters-words)(words organize by sounds of 1st letter /meaning/ rhymes/vivid) estimating frequency

Question 9

If I ask you: what is the height of a red maple? How might you find the answer

Answer 9

Anchoring and adjustment heurisitic, a shortcut where people estimate by choosing a starting point then make a compensation to get to the right answer. Aka compensate for the perceived difference between the starting point and the most likely answer(adjustment) . Think of the height of a 1 story building and then changing

Question 10

If having a good anchor essential to the the anchoring and adjustment heuristic model?

Answer 10

yes,*bad anchor, never fully adjust to the right answer

Question 11

A computer fails at it but a person can do ___

Answer 11

Insight,A leap in logic, see a connection between problem and its solution,

Question 12

What are the three types of ways to deal with insight?

Answer 12

Selective encoding
Selective combination
Selective comparison

Question 13

What type of reasoning strategy should I use to answer my biology questions?

Answer 13

selective encoding, leap of login in selecting info that is relevant to problem and ignoring distractors

Question 14

What is selective combination?

Answer 14

selective combination,bringing together seemingly unrelated bits of useful info,Leap of logic combing relevant information in the right way to get the correct answer ,

Question 15

What is selective comparison?

Answer 15

selective comparison,ability to compare new problems with old info or with problems already solved,
Leap of logic in seeing a non-obvious relationship between old and new information. Usually involves using analogies

Question 16

What are two problems with insight?

Answer 16

Functional Fixedness
Confirmation bias

Question 17

If I have a plastic folder but I don’t use it as a head cover to shield myself from the rain , what type of reasoning strategy am I using and what issue is there with it?

Answer 17

Insight, functional fixedness, Tendency to ignore other possible uses of object when one already has a use in mind Ex: folder not associated with shielding from rain, don’t use it that way can’t think of it

Question 18

If I am conducting a research on people from LA on intelligence and I already have the assumption that they are dumb, how does that affect my study?

Answer 18

Insight problem, confirmation bias, Look for evidence to support your own idea about something, , tendency to seek information that supports the hypothesis and not information that might disprove the hypothesis

Question 19

If I see a breakfast menu with waffles as the first item.I choose the waffles, what affected my decision making?

Answer 19

order effect,people can be affected by the ordering in which options
occur; especially likely is a recency effect.

Question 20

If i’m choosing a condom and the box is labeled with “condom rate failure of 7%), i don’t choose it, based on what method?

Answer 20

framing effect, attention to wording

Question 21

If I’m gambling and losing, why do i not leave?

Answer 21

Risk analysis- people exhibit the rule of “losses loom larger”, people avoid risk when trying to gain but are risk-taking when trying to avoid a sure loss

Question 22

If I tell myself I will complete an essay today in 2 hours and I fail to do so. My decision was the result of ?

Answer 22

Over confidence effect, The tendency to overestimate the accuracy of one’s beliefs
and judgments.