Important definitions Flashcards
a problem that has a specific goal state,
clearly defined solutions paths and clearly
expected solutions
Well-Defined Problems
a problem that does NOT have clear goal
states, solutions paths or expected solutions
(e.g., choosing a major, deciding whether to
break-up with your partner)
Ill-Defined Problems
AI can solve well-defined
problems well, but not ill-defined problems
because of the uncertainty
Moravec’s Paradox
a systematic algorithm that represents all possible steps
from a problem to a goal state
Brute Force
select the operation that brings you closer to the goal without
examining the whole problem space
Some problems require moving AWAY from goal to solve it
Hill Climbing
create sub-goals as you move closer to the final
goal state (more flexible)
Means-End Analysis
problems are solved using
knowledge and trial and error
The Behaviorist Approach
problems are solved by considering
them more deeply
The Gestalt Approach
uses knowledge from past experiences
and uses a trial-and-error strategy to work out solutions
Reproductive process
a response that produces a satisfying effect
will become more likely to occur again in that situation, and a
response that produce a discomforting effect will become less likely
to occur again in that situation
Law of Effect
Reproductive process and Law of Effect are part of what theory
Behaviorist Approach
solution to a problem suddenly comes
to consciousness; Max Wertheimer
insight phenomena
process
of problem solving that occurs when thinking is characterized by
the restructuring of information in such a way as to provide a
solution (produces insight)
a productive process
actively manipulating information to change its
representation in your mind
restructuring
experience of having a sudden switch in how you see
something
Gestalt switches
Problems in which the solution occurs
suddenly in your consciousness
Insight Problems
Problems in which you must
consciously work through each step of a
problem to arrive at a solution
Non-Insight Problems
Suddenness, Ease, Positive, Confidence
Four Features of Insight
Making comparisons between two situations; applying the
solution from one of the situations to another situation
Analogical Problem Solving
bias to use familiar methods to solve a problem
can result in the inability to seek and use a better method
Einstellung Effect
However, participants continued to use this more complex
mental set on subsequent tasks
The Water Jug Problem
the tendency to view objects only for
their intended purpose because of prior experience with that object
Functional Fixedness
the ability to use
existing knowledge and skills in order to deal with novelty and create
ideas that are appropriate given the current situation and that are
also valuable
Creative Intelligence (Sternberg)
the number ideas a person can generate about a particular
topic or item
ideational
fluency
Computer programs, algorithms, and artificial intelligence can
solve problems much quicker and more effectively than
people
Information Processing Approach
a mental shortcut or rule of thumb that can be used to
get a quick and mostly accurate response in some situations but may
lead to errors in others
Heuristic
deviations from rationality (errors) that are caused by
using heuristics
Bias
estimate the probability of an event based on the ease at which it can be brought to mind
Availability Heuristic
tendency to make inferences on the basis that small samples resemble the larger population they were drawn
Representative Heuristic
People start off with one value and adjust accordingly from there
Anchoring and Adjustment Heuristic
Seeing casual relationships when there are none
Illusory Correlation
Can explain deviations, extreme values will be closer to the mean when measured a second time
Regression Towards the Mean
people are limited by both
environmental constraints
People are satisficers - look
for situations that are “good enough”
Bounded Rationality
sees heuristics are the optimal
approach
Given the right environment, heuristic
can be better than optimization or
other complex strategies
Ecological Rationality
objective (externally defined)
criterion for making your choice
Perceptual Decision Making
subjective (internally
defined) criterion for making your choice
Value-Based Decision Making
taking an action despite an outcome being uncertain
Risk
when you have incomplete information about
the consequences
Ambiguity
Loss aversion is captured in the endowment effect
Once ownership is established, people are averse to give it up
Endowment Effect
difference between the expected gains of a
risky option and a certain option
Risk Premium
The way in which questions and information are organized influences decisions even
when content is identical.
Positive Frame: what you can gain
Negative Frame: what you can lose
fMRI studies show increased amygdala
The Framing Effect
difference between what you predicted
would happen and what actually happened
Prediction error
_______ prediction error increases positive affect (i.e., happiness), and
then leads to more risky behaviors (e.g., gambling)
Positive
subjective value assigned to an object
Utility
describes how people map money to satisfaction
Utility function
Probabilities are not treated objectively (extreme events tend to be rare)
Availability of an option (how easy it comes to mind) changes the perceived frequency of occurrence
Prospect Theory: Probability Weighting Function
System 1: fast, effortless, automatic, intuitive, emotional
System 2: slow, deliberative, effortful, explicit, logical
Dual Process Theory
When people are faced with multiple options, they will choose the one that returns the highest likely value.
Expected Utility Hypotheses (EUT)
the tendency to rate more believable conclusions as more valid
Belief bias
People rate a conclusion as valid as long as the
qualifying word (e.g., ‘all,’ ‘some’) in the premise match those in the conclusion.
The Atmospheric Effect (Woodsworth, 1935)
People construct mental simulations of the world in their minds based on syllogisms
Mental Models
People have trouble reasoning with negative information
thinking that
“withholding is not as bad as doing”
Omission bias
The tendency to look for evidence that supports one’s current belief and
to not look for/actively ignore contradictory information
Confirmation bias
The tendency to hold beliefs about risk that are consistent with their
broader social and moral values
Cultural cognition
our tendency to overestimate our likelihood of experiencing positive events
and underestimate our likelihood of experiencing negative events.
Optimism bias
thinking that a person who experiences success will keep having success
Hot-hand belief
People tend to prefer avoiding losing something as compared to gaining something of
equal value (a cognitive bias)
Loss Aversion
People are willing to pay more money for products that are assembled versus not assembled
IKEA Effect
emotions directly related to a decision being made
Integral emotions
unrelated emotions someone is experiencing at the time of
decision making
Incidental emotions
What region is partly responsible for decision-making
Ventromedial PFT (vPFC)
Those with damage to
the vmPFC can identify
correct decisions, but
often do not choose to
make them
True
had a racially-motivated view on intelligence tests
Galton (1822 to 1911)
general intelligence factor (g) that varies across people but
stable within a person
Charles Spearman
- the capacity to learn new ways of solving
problems and performing activities - driven by genetics
- sensitive to normative aging
Fluid intelligence
- the accumulated knowledge of the world
we have acquired throughout our lives
(vocabulary, math) - affect by personality, education, culture
- driven by motivation to learn
Crystallized intelligence
someone with limited mental
ability and has an exceptional specific ability
Savant Syndrome
suggests
that there various types of intelligence & that are
all equally important & can vary independently
from one another
Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence
3 types of
intelligence (analytical, creative, and practical)
which interact to produce intelligent behavior;
Sternberg’s theory of intelligence
“The global capacity of a person to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to
deal effectively with his environment”
- Created separate tests for children and adults & types of intelligence
Weschler Tests
non-verbal assessment of fluid intelligence
Raven’s progressive matrices
the test is measuring what it is intended to measure
It is valid
there is consistency of test scores over time, across different test items or across
different raters
It is reliable
Rationalism
Logic & a priori knowledge
Influential for theory development
Plato
Empiricism
Experience & (systemic observation)
Influential for experimental methods
Aristotle
understand the structure of the mind by identifying the
basic building block and then see how they give rise to more complex
behaviours
Introspection
Structuralism
focus on understanding the functions of the mind
Functionalism (William James)
Psychology can be objectively studied through observations; focus on stimulus-response
Behaviourism (Watson)
Associate an involuntary response and a stimulus
Classical conditioning
Associate a voluntary behaviour and a
consequence (reward or punishment)
Operant conditioning
mathematic equation to show that the more information
contained in a signal, the longer it takes to make a (correct) response to
this signal
Response time increased as the number of stimulus alternatives (number
of lights) increased
More information = slower reaction times
Hick’s law
Suggests processing capacity is limited; what gets processed is determined by familiarity and certainty
Webster & Thomas (Airplane control)
The deteriorating quality of
decisions made by an individual after a long session of decision making
Decision fatigue
The ability to generalize lab findings to real-world settings
Ecological validity
certain cognitive function reside in specific
regions of the brain
functional specialization
the mind and brain are separate
Dualism
the mind and brain are the same
Monism
mind and brain are separate substances that interact with
and influence each other
Interactionism (form of Dualism)
mind is a superfluous by-product of bodily functioning
Epiphenomenalism (form of Dualism)
all realities the
result of physical processes
Physicalism/materialism
all reality is a mental construct
Idealism
neither physical nor
mental; mind & brain composed of the same
neutral element
Neutral monism
investigate brain mechanisms in animals to learn about
the human brain
Animal models
study brain function by comparing
behaviour/response of brain injured patient to that of a healthy control
Neuropsychological case studies
info about WHERE activity is located
Spatial resolution
info about WHEN activity occurred
Temporal resolution
Records the electrical activity of the brain via electrodes affixed to the
scalp
Good temporal resolution but poor spatial resolution
Electroencephalography (EEG)
A non-invasive imaging technique that uses a magnetic field and
computer-generated radio waves to create detailed images of the organs
and tissues in your body
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
image metabolic activity
*good spatial but poor temporal resolution
fMRI
a noninvasive form of brain stimulation in which
a changing magnetic field is used to induce
an electric current in the brain
Brain stimulation
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
sense of where our limbs are in space
Proprioception
sense of pain
due to body damage
Nociception
sense of balance
Equilibrioception
low resolution, good for seeing in low light conditions, no colour
Rods
high resolution, good for
seeing sharp details, colour
Cones
difficulty recognizing or perceiving one kind of visual stimulus while maintaining the ability to process other kinds of stimuli
Visual agnosia
difficulty in recognizing individual faces
Related to the inferior temporal cortex (or fusiform face area (FFA))
Prosopagnosia
difficulty recognizing everyday objects such
as tools, eating implements, etc.
Related to the lateral occipital cortex (LOC)
Semantic agnosia (optic ataxia)
difficulty with understanding the meaning of what
you are seeing
Associative visual agnosia
processing the “where” aspects
Dorsal Stream
processing the “what” aspects
Ventral stream
the influence from the external environment on perception
Bottom-up processing:
the influence of knowledge
(expectations, context, goals) on perception
Top-down processing
perceptual processing is your brain’s attempt to construct a mental model of the external world
based on sensory input
Constructive perception
perception is based on the relationship between
sensory stimuli and a person’s actions
Direct perception
perception is based on the relationship between
sensory stimuli and a person’s actions
Direct perception
Principle of proximity
Principle of closed forms
Principle of good contour
Principle of similarity
Gestalt Organization Principles
Good, but cannot explain how we identify objects from different perspectives and how we identify new objects to a known category
Template matching theory
Average representation
Flexible object identification
Prototype theory
Visual input is broken down into individual parts and each feature is
processed separately
Feature detection
