Cognition and Language part 1

Question 1

What is thinking?

Answer 1

Thinking is manipulating mental representations (images or words) for a purpose.

Question 1

What is problem-solving?

Answer 1

The process by which we transform one situation (a problem) into another (the solution) to meet a goal.

Question 2

What are well-defined problems?

Answer 2

The initial state (situation), goal state (solution), and operators are easily determined.

Question 3

What are ill-defined problems?

Answer 3

Both the information needed to solve the problem and the criteria for determining when the goal state has been met are vague.

Question 4

What are the two strategies for problem solving?

Answer 4

Algorithms and Heuristics

Question 5

What is an algorithm?

Answer 5

Step-by-step rules or procedures that guarantee a (normatively correct) solution.

Question 6

What is a heuristic?

Answer 6

Heuristics are “rules of thumb” that people use to solve problems. (e.g., turn right on caps to tighten them: this assumes the threading is designed that way)

Question 7

What is insight?

Answer 7

Sudden and often novel realisation of a solution to a problem (“aha-erlebnis” or eureka effect).

Implicit problem-solving

Question 8

What are 4 things that hinder problem-solving?

Answer 8

1. Mental sets: only see solutions that have worked in the past
2. Fixation: inability to see a problem from a new perspective
3. Functional Fixedness: tendency only consider the usual/intended functions of things
4. Focussing on irrelevant information

Question 9

What are 3 things that aid problem-solving?

Answer 9

1. Positive transfer: methods used in problems that were solved before may apply to your current problem
2. Analogies: finding similarities to a problem you have previously solved
3. Incubation: “clearing your head”

Question 10

What are the two types of heuristics?

Answer 10

Representativeness Heuristic and the Availability Heuristic.

Question 11

Describe the Representativeness Heuristic.

Answer 11

Judging that something belongs to a certain group because of its similarity to some group members.

Ignores base rate information.

Question 12

Describe the Availability Heuristic.

Answer 12

When we base our judgments and decisions on the availability of information in our memories.

Question 13

Name the three biases in decision making.

Answer 13

1. Confirmation bias
2. Overconfidence
3. Framing

Question 14

What is a Confirmation Bias?

Answer 14

A tendency to search for information that confirms a personal bias or consistent with our preconceptions.

Question 15

What is Overconfidence?

Answer 15

The tendency to be more confident than correct — to overestimate the accuracy of one’s beliefs and judgments.

Question 16

What is Framing.

Answer 16

The way an issue is posed - how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments.

Question 17

What are the 3 things that make up the ocgnitive

Answer 17

Categories, Concepts, and Schemas

Question 18

What is a schema?

Answer 18

A mental framework: an organised pattern of thought about some aspect of the world.

Question 19

What is a heuristic?

Answer 19

A form of schema used to solve problems.

Like an intuitive formula for each problem you’ve encountered before.

Question 20

What is a script?

Answer 20

A type of schema that specifies a well-learned sequence of actions or events.

Question 21

What is expertise?

Answer 21

The acquisition of complex schemas and scripts through extensive practice, which allows us to perform complex activities to a high level of accuracy with minimal thought.

Question 22

According to the cognitive economy, what is a Category?

Answer 22

A collection of real or imagined objects, actions, and characteristics that share core properties

Question 23

According to the cognitive economy, what is a Concept?

Answer 23

The knowledge you have about a particular category.

Question 24

What are defining features?

Answer 24

Qualities that are essential for membership in a category of things.