Decision Making and Reasoning Flashcards
Decision Making and Reasoning
Reasoning throught process that brings an individual to a conclusion
-Guides decision making
-People make 35,000 decisions a day
Neuroeconomics
The study of how we make (value-based) decisions
-Formalizing psychology theories, evaluations and linking it to the brain
*Amygdala
*Prefrontal Cortex
Decision Processes are Dynamic
Our decisions change across CONTEXT
-E.g. people gamble more on sunny days than cloudy days due to positive mood
-E.g. hunger makes people choose smaller, immediate rewards over large, delayed rewards
Inductive Reasoning
-Concrete form of reasoning
-Making general conclusions from specific observations
-The conclusions can be false; this is a ‘‘probably but not definitely true’’- type of reasoning
-E.g. a detective enters a crime scene. They notice glass from a broken window; strewn books; spilled milk. They use these observations to make a conclusion about what happened
-Specific –> General
it can become a heuristic and stereotyping
When we are unaware of inductive reasoning…
Learning from Experience
Applying learned rules to new situations (helpful)
Language Learning
Learning the meaning of balloon when you see ‘‘the purple balloon dog’’ and already know ‘purple’ and ‘dog’
Deductive Reasoning
-Abstract form of reasoning
-Using general theories to reason about specific observations
-E.g. my genera belief is that ‘‘the cog dog loves cognition’’. The cog dog is a dog. Thus, I assume all dogs love cognition
-General –> Specific
-Induction (age 7-11)
-Deduction (teenage years)
These forms of reasoning develop at different rates…
frontal cortex
Different brain recruitment for deductive vs. inductive reasoning, especially in the…
System 1
Automatically, and with little effort (inductive)
System 2
Slower and requires more effort (deductive)
deductive; from
If someone went to a park everyday and saw dogs wearing top-hats. They conclude that all dogs tha visit this park wear top-hats. This is an example of _____ reasoning because you are reasoning _____ information
Syllogisms measure deductive reasoning
-Formal systems for generating statements
-These statements will be true if the formal rules are followed
Syllogisms
-Premises are presumed to be true
-Determine if the premise statements support the conclusion based on the logical structure NOT CONTENT
–Major premise (general)
–Minor premise (specific)
–Conclusion (test)
Validity of syllogisms
Is the conclusion true given the premises’ logical form?
-Not necessarily true in real life, but conclusion made is valid
Types of Syllogisms
-All statements
-Negative statements
-Some statements
All statements
All A are B
-All men are mortal
-Socrates is a man
-Therefor, Socrates is mortal
Negative Statements
No A is B
No B is A
-All psychology professors have PhDs
-No PhD holders are human
-Therefor, psychology professors are not human
Some Statements
Some A are B (at least one, possibly all)
-No provinces with coastlines are provinces that are landlocked
-Some provinces are landlocked
-Therefor, some provinces are not states with coastlines
Atmosphere Effect
People rate a conclusion as valid when the qualifying word (e.g. ‘all’, ‘some’) in the premise match those in the conclusion
Can’t imagine negative statements
Problem with Negative statements
Mental Model Theory
People construct mental representations of the world based on statements (e.g. syllogisms) to judge logic and validity
Omission Bias
Biased thought that ‘‘withholding is not as bad as doing’’
-Inaction is harder to classify as wrong than action
-Not doing something is not as immoral as doing something
-Not engaging = not as bad
-People tend to react more strongly to harmful actions than to harmful inactions
