Ch 8 Flashcards
Elements of Cognition
Elements of Cognition
Concept
A mental category that groups objects, relations, activities,
abstractions, or qualities having common properties.
Basic concepts
Concepts that have a moderate number of instances and that are easier to acquire than those having few or many instances. Example: fruit (abstract) apple (basic) McIntosh apple (specific)
Prototype
An especially representative example of a concept.
Proposition
A unit of meaning that is made up of concepts and expresses a single
idea. Example: “Sarah raises border collies.”
Cognitive schema
An integrated mental network of knowledge, beliefs, and expectations
concerning a particular topic or aspect of the world.
Example: Gender schema - a person’s beliefs and expectations about
what it means to be male or female.
Mental image
A mental representation that mirrors or
resembles the thing it represents; mental
images occur in many and perhaps all
sensory modalities.
How Conscious is Thought?
Subconscious processes Mental processes occurring outside of conscious awareness but accessible to consciousness when necessary. Nonconscious processes Mental processes occurring outside of and not available to conscious awareness.
Insight and Intuition
Stage
Stage One
Nonconscious process.
Clues in the problem automatically activate certain memories or
knowledge.
Begin to see a pattern or structure in the problem.
Stage Two
Conscious process.
Become aware of a possible solution to the problem.
“Aha, now I see!”.
Langer, Blank, & Chanowitz (1978)
A researcher approached people as they were about to
use a photocopier and made one of three requests:
1. “Excuse me, may I use the Xerox machine?”
2. “Excuse me, may I use the Xerox machine, because
I have to make copies?”
3. “Excuse me, may I use the Xerox machine, because
I’m in a rush?”
Mindless Processing
Advantage Helps us complete tasks faster. Disadvantage Leads to trivial mishaps and serious errors. Conscious awareness is needed only when we must make a deliberate choice.
Reasoning
The drawing of conclusions or inferences from
observations, facts, or assumptions.
Formal Reasoning Problems
The information needed for drawing a conclusion or reaching a solution is
specified clearly, and there is a single right or best answer.
Algorithms
A problem-solving strategy guaranteed to produce a solution even if the
user does not know how it works.
Example: A cake recipe.
Deductive Reasoning
premise true + premise true-> conclusion must be true
inductive reasoning
premise true + premise true + possibility of discrepent information-> conclusion probably true
Informal Reasoning Problems
There is often many possible solutions, and you will have to decide which
one is most reasonable.
Heuristic
A rule of thumb that suggests a course of action or guides problem
solving but does not guarantee an optimal solution.
Dialectical reasoning
A process in which opposing facts or ideas are weighed and compared, with a view to determining the best solution or resolving differences
Reflective Judgment
Reflective Judgment involves:
- Questioning assumptions.
- Evaluating and integrating evidence.
- Considering alternative interpretations.
- Reaching conclusions that can be defended as reasonable.
- Willingness to reassess conclusions in the face of new information.
King & Kitchener’s Reflective Judgment Model
1. Prereflective Stages Stage 1 Stage 2 2. Quasi-reflective Stages Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 3. Reflective Judgment Stages Stage 6 Stage 7
Barriers to Reasoning Rationally
- Exaggerating the improbable
- Avoiding loss
- Relying on mental sets
- Committing the hindsight bias
- Succumbing to the confirmation bias
- Creating cognitive consistency
Exaggerating the Improbable
The inclination to exaggerate the
probability of rare events
Availability heuristic
The tendency to judge the probability of
a type of event by how easy it is to think
of examples or instances
Avoiding Loss
Human beings try to avoid or minimize risks and
losses when they make decisions.
The decisions we make depend on how the
alternatives are framed.
Respond cautiously when choices are framed in
terms of losses
Respond positively when choices are framed in
terms of gain
Fairness Bias
Demonstrated using Ultimatum Game
Partner Gets $20 and decides how much to
give to you
If you accept, money is split based on the
offer.
If you reject, no one receives any money
Many people reject offers they consider too low
or “unfair”
The Hindsight Bias
The tendency to overestimate our
ability to have predicted an event
once the outcome is known.