ch 8 slide deck Flashcards
analogical representations
pictures
symbolic representations
describing what happened
writing path
reality, analogical representation, symbolic representations
reading path
symbolic representations, analogical, reality
Problem solving
– Finding a way around an obstacle to reach a goal.
– Building an analogical representation of a problem is the first step to
effectively solve the problem
Decision making
A cognitive process that results in the selection of a course of action
or belief from several options
The Buddhist monk problem
One morning a Buddhist monk sets out at sunrise to climb a path up
the mountain to reach the temple at the summit. He arrives at the
temple just before sunset. A few days later, he leaves the temple at
sunrise to descend the mountain, traveling somewhat faster since it is
downhill. Is there a spot along the path that the monk will occupy at
precisely the same time of day on both trips?
* How do you construct an analogical representation of this
problem?
unproductive representation?
- Thinking in terms of distance &
speed - Trying to locate that spot as if
solving a math or physics
problem—it is not this
complicated
The Buddhist monk problem
One morning a Buddhist monk sets out at sunrise to climb a path up
the mountain to reach the temple at the summit. He arrives at the
temple just before sunset. A few days later, he leaves the temple at
sunrise to descend the mountain, traveling somewhat faster since it is
downhill. Is there a spot along the path that the monk will occupy at
precisely the same time of day on both trips?
* How do you construct an analogical representation of this
problem?
productive representation??
Productive Representation
* Visualize the path of the monk
ascending and descending the
mountain.
* The paths start at opposite ends
and proceed in opposite direction.
* Think of two monks walking in
opposite directions along the same
path on the same day.
Chi, Feltovich, & Glaser (1981) background
– The quality of problem representation influences the ease with which
the problem can be solved.
– Experts possess domain specific knowledge (or problem schemata)
with which solutions to the problems are easily arrived.
– “…much of expert power lies in the expert’s ability to quickly
establish correspondence between externally presented events and
internal models for these events” (p. 123)
– Experts represent problem by category (i.e., perceptual chunking)
Chi, Feltovich, & Glaser (1981), purpose?
To investigate the qualitative differences between the
representations of physics problems by experts and novices.
* To understand the role of categorization in expert problem
solving.
Chi, Feltovich, & Glaser (1981) results?
- Novices sorted the problems based on surface structures : the
objects (e.g., inclined plane) referred to in the problems, the
literal physics terms mentioned in the problems (e.g., friction),
the physical configuration described in the problems (e.g., a
block on an inclined plane). - Experts sorted the problems based on deep structures: physics
principles governing the solutions of the problems (e.g.,
Newton’s second law, conservation of energy)
Chi, Feltovich, & Glaser (1981). experts were ___ in sorting the problem
slower
- Experts spent more time analyzing the problems; they tried to
understand the problems before solving the problems
Chi, Feltovich, & Glaser. expertise is only an advantage in ……
Expertise is only an advantage in the expert’s specialty (recall that
the chess master was not better than the novice in memorizing
random chess positions)
Question to think about:
* What might be a disadvantage of being an expert?
we are more capable of thinking in ____ ways than ___ ways
concrete than abstract
we tend to search for evidence that …..
confirms our decisions, beliefs, and hyptheses
we are often overly influenced by _____ _____ _____ stored in our memories when making judgements
general world knowledge
Our world knowledge sometimes has prevented us from seeing
he pure logic; and sometimes has enabled us to see it.
Deductive reasoning is a type of reasoning which
begins with
some specific premises that are assumed to be true. Based on
the premises, a conclusion is drawn.
A conclusion is valid if
it follows the principles of logic
Deductive reasoning involves determining whether the
conclusion is
valid
two major types of deductive reasoning:
– Syllogism
– Conditional reasoning (also called propositioning reasoning)
Syllogism
- A three-statement logical form.
- The first two parts state the premises or statements taken to
be true. - The third part states a conclusion based on those premises.
Syllogism abstract vs concrete form
abstract- all A are B, all B are C, therefore all A are C
concrete: all poddles are dogs, all dogs are animals, therefore all poodles are animals
A valid conclusion does not always have
empirical truth
When doing research, if one of the initial assumptions is
wrong,
the whole conclusion does not have empirical truth (we
are wrong from the beginning)
An invalid syllogism is one that
the first two premises are true
(or assumed to be true), but the conclusion is false (or is not
always true)
venn diagram stuff
Conditional reasoning involves a
a logical determination of a
conclusion (or no conclusion) if one part of the if/then
statement is assumed to be true or not true
Conditional Reasoning: If P then Q
Two parts:
1) A conditional clause
- If P (the antecedent), then Q (the consequent)
2) Evidence
- P is true (P)
- P is not true (not P)
- Q is true (Q)
- Q is not true (not Q)
Modus ponens
Affirming the
antecedent
Modus tollens
Denying the
consequent
People are good at inferring the truth of the consequent given
evidence that the antecedent is
true
Performance was excellent (100% in one study) for the case of
modus ponens when the problems were presented in
either concrete or abstract
Rate of making correct inferences for the case of modus tollens
ranged from ____ to ____ when the problems were stated in an
abstract form
57% to 77%
modus tollen presented in the form of
everyday experience, on average _____ people could make a correct conclusion
87.5%
The Wason cards are created with the following rules:
A card with a vowel on it will have an even number on the
other side.
Which card or cards would you turn over to obtain conclusive
evidence about the rule (i.e., to find out whether the rule is
followed)
Conditional: If a card has a vowel on one side, then it has an
even number on the other.
evidence??
E (vowel): Affirming the antecedent (modus ponens)
K (not vowel): Denying the antecedent
4 (even): Affirming the consequence
7 (not even): Denying the consequence (modus tollens)
(wason cards problem) Only the modus ponens and modus tollens will yield conclusive
evidence about
the validity of the rule
* Therefore, the cards to be turned over are E and 7.
Empirical results of the Wason Selection Task
33% of Wason’s subjects turned over only the E card.
* Only 4% of subjects turned over both the E & 7 cards.
* 46% of subjects turned over both the E & 4 cards.
* Generally, subjects tended to search for positive evidence—
evidence that affirms the antecedent and the consequent.
* This is the confirmation bias (discussed later): People would
rather try to confirm or support a hypothesis than try to
disprove/falsify it.
How well do people apply conditional reasoning to solve an
everyday problem?
Empirical finding: People checked both the modus ponens and
modus tollens when the problem to be solved is presented in a
concrete form (in this case, people might not be aware that
they are actually solving a conditional reasoning problem).
When we become skeptical, we are
sensitive to negative
evidence
Two Types of Errors Relating to Conditional
Reasoning
form errors and search errors
form erroes
Form Errors
- People assume that:
If P, then Q = If Q, then P
- The right equation should be:
If P, then Q = If not Q, then not P
search errors
People tend to search for positive evidence only (unless they
become skeptical, then they will pay attention to negative
evidence).
- The tendency to search for information that supports a
conclusion (or a belief) is called a confirmation bias.
- People tend to ignore the rules of logics when they are
occupied with a confirmation bias
Dual-process theory: Distinguish between two types of cognitive
processing:
Type I processing
– Fast & automatic
– Requires little conscious attention
– E.g., stereotyping, use of heuristics (discussed later)
* Type II processing
– Slow and controlled
– Requires focused attention
– E.g., think of exceptions to a general rule
inductive reasoning
uses specific examples to make a general rule
deductive reasoning
takes a general rule and uses it to make a more specific example
Heuristic is a
a “rule of thumb” that provides a best-guess
solution to a problem.
The representativeness heuristic is a judgment rule in which an estimate of the probability or likelihood of an event is
determined by one of two features:
1) how similar the event is to the population of events it came from or
2) whether the event seems similar to the process that produced it (e.g.,
random process should produce random patterns of results)
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.
Representativeness Heuristic
- In the coin toss example, the population of events are those
with a combination of H and T. - The result HHTHTT has alterations between heads and tails and
thus it resembles the population of random events. - The result HHHHHH is an odd combination, the chance of
getting this unique result is 1/64. - In fact, the combination of HHTHTT is equally unique and the
chance of getting it is also 1/64.
The gambler’s fallacy
If a fair coin toss comes up heads five times in a row, what
would you bet on the next toss? heads or tails?
* H H H H H ?
* Most gamblers would believe that the next toss would be tails.
* This is called the gambler’s fallacy.
Gamblers mistakenly believe that the five previous tosses have
bearing on the 6th one.
* HHHHHH is harder to get than HHHHHT.
* HHHHHT has greater resemblance to the population of events
that are the results of a random process.
* In fact, the result of the 6th toss is independent of the results of
the previous tosses.
people usually
ignore the
base rates of events.
A guess based on stereotype has a better chance of being right
than a
blind guess
Availability Heuristic
- Availability means ease of retrieval.
- The availability heuristic holds that when people have to make
estimates of likelihood or frequency, their estimates are
influenced by the ease with which relevant examples can be
remembered.
Availability Heuristic
Example 1: How reliable is a Japanese car?
- In this case, you are asked to estimate the frequency of repair
required by a Japanese car. - Suppose you have a friend who has a Toyota that needs to be
repaired frequently. - If your major source of knowledge about Japanese cars is your
friend’s Toyota, you tend to think that Japanese cars are unreliable. - Your bias against Japanese cars comes from a readily retrieved
example of your friend’s car.
The more frequently people are exposed to a stimulus, the
more
easily the stimulus is retrieved from memory.
Confirmation bias is
the tendency
to search for, interpret, and recall
information in a way that
confirms one’s belief or
hypothesis, while giving
disproportionately less
consideration to alternative
possibilities.
Experiment demonstrating confirmation bias in
making diagnosis (dangerous!
- Medical students and psychiatrists read a case about a 65-year-
old-man. - They gave a preliminary diagnosis of either Alzheimer’s disease
or severe depression. - Each person then decided what kind of additional information
they would like. - 25% of medical students and 13% of psychiatrists selected only
the information that was consistent with their original
diagnosis
The availability heuristic is used to estimate frequency based
on available examples.
* This estimation is affected by:
– Recency of events
– Familiarity with the events
– Salience (vivideness) of the events
* Oftentimes, the estimation is accurate.
Comparing the representativeness & availability
heuristics
Representativeness heuristic
– Given a specific example (e.g., the profile of an individual), judge the
likelihood that the example is a membership of a general category (e.g.,
the individual is a feminist activist).
– The judgement is based on the degree of similarity between the specific
case and the general category.
* Availability heuristic
– Given a general category (e.g., air crash), judge the frequency of
occurrence of this general category.
– The judgement is based on the ease of coming up with a specific example.
Anchoring Bias
The tendency to rely on
the first piece of
information encountered
to make a judgment or
decision.
* An anchor serves as a
reference point.
Framing Effect
what do you want to highlight
Intelligence is
the ability to use knowledge to reason, make
decisions, make sense of events, solve problems, understand
complex ideas, learn quickly, and adapt to environmental
challenges.
What is the operational definition of intelligence?
“intelligence is what an intelligence test measures.”
* What do intelligence tests measure then?
* The majority of intelligence tests measure the skills that are
required to do well in academic work. E.g., abstract reasoning &
verbal fluency.
* The purpose of an intelligence test is to predict academic success.
n 1905, Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon in France published a
scale (called the ___ ___ ____) that could be used to
Binet-Simon scale
identify
children that needed special training in school
Binet-Simon scale was a success because it was capable of predicting
children’s academic performance.
- This scale measured a child’s mental age
n 1916, Lewis Terman and his colleagues at Stanford University
published the
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale.
The test itself was very close to the original Binet-Simon scale.
* The major difference was in the scoring of the test.
* The test result was expressed as an intelligence quotient (IQ):
* 𝐼𝑄 = 𝑀𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑔𝑒/
𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑔𝑒 ∗ 100
intelligence quotient (IQ) The ratio makes it possible to
compare the intellectual abilities of
children of different ages because the ratio places all children (regardless
of age) on the same scale.
WAIS
Structure of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
- The first IQ test for adults was published in 1939 by David Wechsler
Compared to the Stanford-Binet test, WAIS incorporated two major
innovations:
1) Less dependent on verbal IQ
– It has separate scores for verbal IQ, performance (non-verbal) IQ, and full-
scale(total) IQ.
2) Has a new scoring scheme
– Scoring is based on the normal distribution and standard deviation.
– The mean of the distribution is set at 100, and the standard deviation is 15
scoreing of WAIS and normal distribution
The normal distribution of
intelligence
If your IQ score = 115, it
means:
* Your IQ is one standard
deviation higher than
the average of the adult
population.
* Your IQ is higher than
84% of people
* You are labelled as high
average
Reliability =
consistency of measurement
Do intelligence tests have adequate reliability?
A reliable test yields similar scores upon repetition.
* Reliability is computed as a correlation coefficient.
* IQ tests usually have a correlation coefficient in the 0.90s
Validity =
the ability to measure what it was designed to measure
Do intelligence tests have adequate validity?
Intelligence tests can predict school performance fairly well.
* In this sense, intelligence tests have high validity (they measure
what they are meant to measure).
* The correlations between IQ scores and school grades typically
range from 0.40 to 0.50. One study with a big sample size reported
a correlation of 0.70.
Why do the correlations between IQ scores and school grades
are not in the ranges of 80s and 90s?
School grades are affected by other factors, not just intellectual
abilities. For example:
– Motivation
– Diligence
– Personality
– Conscientiousness
– Self control/regulation
– Social life/support
– Relationship
The causal link between IQ and years of schooling is
bidirectional
- Those people with higher IQ tend to stay longer in school.
– People who stay longer in school will develop better intellectual
abilities, of course
Do intelligence tests predict vocational success?
The correlation between IQ and occupational attainment is 0.37
(averaging across many studies).
* People who score high on IQ tests are more likely than those who
score low to end up in high-status jobs.
* The correlation between IQ and income is 0.21 (averaging across
many studies)
* The correlation between IQ and job performance is 0.50, (or
actually in the 0.30s before statistical corrections).
* As a whole, the correlation between IQ and vocational success is
moderate. Hiring decisions should not be made based on IQ testing
alone.
emotional intelligence is a good predictor of
quality of social relationship
school grades
workplace performance
Emotional intelligence
consists of four abilities
- Managing one’s emotions
- Using one’s own emotions to
guide thoughts and actions - Recognizing other people’s
emotions - Understanding emotional
language
Definition of giftedness:
Exceptional high ability with respect to intellect, creativity, or the
skills associated with specific disciplines.
Operational definition of giftedness
Two or more standard deviations above the mean on a standardized,
individually administered test of cognitive abilities
Gifted children may demonstrate outstanding abilities in more
than one area.
* However,
they may also have disabilities in other areas.
Paradoxical Negative Effects of Giftedness
- Gifted students are able to handle the general education
curriculum with ease—putting in minimum effort while still
earning high grades. - The long-term effect of being able to excel without working
hard is a lack of work habits. - Their “developmentally advanced” status is lost in the long run
without hard work.
