8.2 - Decisions Flashcards
Decision Making
A cognitive process that results in the selection of a course of action or belief from several options
Heuristics
Shortcuts (rules of thumb or informal guidelines) used to reduce the amount of thinking that is needed to make decisions
- usually occurs unconsiously
Anchoring
The tendency, in making judgments, to rely on the first piece of information encountered or information that comes most quickly to mind
What is framing and loss aversion?
Framing: in decison making, an emphasis on the potential losses or potential gains from at least one alternative
Loss Aversion: tendency for people to be more concerned with costs than with benefits (potential losses affect decision making more than potential gains do)
Availability Heuristic
Making a decision based on the answer that most easily comes to mind
Representativeness Heuristic
Placing a person or an object in a category if that person or object is similar to one’s prototype for that category
Affective Forecasting
The tendency for people to overestimate how events will make them feel in the future
Restructuring
A new way of thinking about a problem that aids its solution
Mental sets
Problem-solving strategies that have worked in the past
- can make it hard to explore other possible solutions to a problem because you keep trying what you know has been successful in the past
Functional Fixedness
In problem solving, having fixed ideas about the typical functions of objects
Insight
the sudden realization of a solution to a problem
Q: Your aunt is outside in the wind and wants to fix her hair, but she does not have a mirror to help her see what she is doing. You suggest using her phone’s camera. Why did she fail to think of this?
Because of functional fixedness, she forgets you could use your phone as a mirror (not only for texting)
