Cognitive Approach - Cognitive Processing - Thinking & Decision-Making Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
1
Q

Thinking

A
  • The process of using knowledge and information to make plans, interpret the world and make predictions about the world
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Decison-Making

A
  • A cognitive process where people choose a belief or action from a wide range of possibilities
    • Needed for problem-solving to reach a conclusion
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Dual Processing Model

A
  • Developed by Kahneman
  • System 1
    • automatic
    • intuitive (nonconscious)
    • effortless
    • fast
    • not logic based
    • prone to error/biases
  • System 2
    • analytic
    • rational
    • under conscious control
    • takes effort
    • slow
    • reliable
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Dual Processing Model Strength

A
  • Lot of evidence to support the conclusion that we use heuristics in decision making and that they do not always lead to errors
  • The dual process model (System 1 & 2) is widely used and helps us to understand humans as “activated actors” with access to automatic thinking and conscious controlled processing
  • The tests for cognitive biases are reliable in their results.
  • The is biological evidence that difference types of thinking may be processed in different parts other brain
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Dual Processing Model Limitations

A
  • Overly reductionist model as it does not clearly explain how (or even if) these modes of thinking interact or how our thinking and decision making could be influenced by emotions
  • The labels “representativeness” or “anchor” are simplistic and fail to show underlying mechanisms involved in making a decision
  • The definitions of System 1 and System 2 are not always clear (construct validity)
  • Research on the model often lacks ecological validity
  • People are asked to make decisions with very limited information
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Alter et al. (2007)

A

Aim:
- Investigate whether individuals employ System-2 rather than System-1 thinking when tasks become unusually difficult.

Pps:
- 40 undergraduates

Procedure:
- Pps were asked to complete the 3-item Cognitive Relfection Test
- control condition (fleunt): printed in an easy-to-read
font
- test condition (disfluent): printed in a hard-to-read font

Results:

  • Higher accuract in the test (disfluent) condition (M=2.45) vs control (fluent) condiiton (M=1.90)
  • 90% of the fluent condition answered min. 1 question wrong, only 35% in the disfluent condition
  • 23% of the pps gave incorrected and intuitive responses in the fluent condition vs 10% disfluent condition
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Englich and Mussweiler (2001)

A

Experiment 1

Aim:
- Investigate if anchoring bias (that sentencing demands can serve as anchors) could play a significant role in determining sentencing in courtrooms

Pps:
- 44 senior German law students

Procedure:
- PPS were given a scenario of a rape case, along with copies of the relevant passages from the penal code

  • The materials were related to a case of an alleged rape
  • After pps had formed an option about the case, they were handed a questionnaire.
  • 1/2 of the participants were first told that the prosecutor demanded a sentence of 34 months, and the other half 12 months, for the defendant.
  • They had to indicate whether this sentence was too low, adequate, or too high.
  • After, pps were asked to indicate the sentence they would give

Results:
- for 34 months: pps recommended on average 8 months longer in prison than for 12 months

Experiment 2:

Aim:
- Examine the role of experience in decision making in trial judges

Pps:

  • 16 trial judges (12 male, 4 female) from one regional superior court in Germany
  • Mean age 44.6 years
  • Worked as judges for M=15.40 years

Procedure:
- Randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions

  • Same case materials as experiment 1
  • Same central questionnaire and general instructions as experiment 1
  • 1/2 demand was 34 months, other1.2 demand was 12 months
  • Pps were sent the case materials and central questionnaire and general instructions
  • In the instructions, they were told to form an opinion about the case before answering the questionnaire

Results:
- The given sentences were higher when pps evaluated the high demand than when they evaluated the low demand

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly