8.2: Problem Solving, Judgment, Decision Making

Question 1

Cognitive Schema

Answer 1

integrated mental network of:
Knowledge
Beliefs
Expectations concerning a topic of aspect of world

Question 2

Attribution Theory

Answer 2

theory that people are motivated to explain their own & other people’s behavior by attributing causes of that behavior to a situation/ disposition

Question 3

Internal (related to person) Attribution

Answer 3

based in individuals perceived stable characteristics (attitudes, personality, traits, abilities)
These are dispositional

Question 4

External (situation) Attribution

Answer 4

based on current situation / events
=These are called situational

Question 5

Fundamental Attribution Error

Answer 5

tendency in explaining other’s behaviors to overestimate personality factors & underestimate situational influence

Question 6

Problem solving

Answer 6

accomplishing a goal when the solution/ path to the solution is not clear

Question 7

Algorithms

Answer 7

problem-solving strategies based on a series of rules

Question 8

Heuristics

Answer 8

Strategy that stem from prior experiences & provide an educated guess as to what is most likely solution (rule of thumb)

Question 9

how would algorithm and heuristics differ in problem solving

Answer 9

algorithm= map out every possible route and determine which one would be the fastest

Heuristics= are more commonly used in everyday situations, such as figuring out the best route to get from point A to point B

Question 10

mental set

Answer 10

cognitive obstacle that occurs when an individual attempts to apply a routine solution to what is actually a new type of problem

Question 11

functional fixedness

Answer 11

occurs when indiv identifies an object / method that could potentially solve a problem but can think of only its most obvious function

Question 12

how is problem solving related to humor

Answer 12

joke = problems that need to be solved to get a laugh

Question 13

Availability Heuristic

Answer 13

tendency to judge probability of an event by how easily examples of it come to mind

Question 14

conjunction fallacy

Answer 14

reflects the mistaken belief that finding a specific member in 2 overlapping categories

Question 15

representativeness heuristic

Answer 15

making judgments of likelihood based on how well an example represents a specific category

Question 16

Anchoring Heuristic

Answer 16

first information learned about a subject can anchor a person’s judgment about that subject (related to initial anchor point)

Question 17

anchoring effect

Answer 17

occurs when people attempts to solve a problem involving numbers and uses previous knowledge to keep the response within a limited range

Question 18

anchor effect with saving money

Answer 18

The anchoring effect is a type of cognitive bias because people tend to rely on their first piece of information, and they can either decide too quickly and fail to shop for better prices or overlook other information, such as the quality of the product.

Question 19

belief perseverance

Answer 19

when an individual remains committed to their decision or belief even in the face of evidence against it

Question 20

confirmation bias

Answer 20

when an individual searches for (or pays attention to) only evidence that will confirm his/ her beliefs instead of evidence that might disconfirm them

Question 21

how do maximizers and satisficers differ in their decision making process

Answer 21

maximizers = indiv who attempt to evaluate every option for every choice until they find the perfect fit

satisficers = good enough mindset

Question 22

Hindsight Bias

Answer 22

tendency to overestimate one’s ability to have predicted an event once outcome is known,
= “I knew it all along”

Question 23

Avoiding Loss

Answer 23

people minimize risks and losses when making decisions
=Responses to the same choice will differ based on whether outcome is frame as gain or loss

Question 24

Selling Fear

Answer 24

commercials for alarm companies show bad guys breaking in to rich, suburban homes

Question 25

Difference b/w availability and representativeness heuristic

Answer 25

Availability = quick things that come to mind due to examples

Representativeness = stereotypes