Lecture 10 - Thinking, Reasoning, Decision Making & Creativity/ Introspection Flashcards
What are the key cognitive processes included in the psychological definition of “thinking”?
Inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, problem-solving, judgement and decision-making, creative thinking.
What has research on thinking typically focused on?
Situations with a correct answer, ways to evaluate rationality or efficiency, and understanding human thinking processes.
What are common limitations in human thinking studied in psychology?
Irrationality, inefficiency, limited working memory, biases, and attention to irrelevant information.
What is System 1 in dual-process theory?
An intuitive, automatic, fast, and unconscious process using heuristics and domain-specific rules.
What is System 2 in dual-process theory?
A slow, deliberate, effortful, and logical reasoning system that requires working memory and attention.
How do System 1 and System 2 interact under cognitive load?
When System 2 is depleted, System 1 dominates, increasing impulsivity and reliance on heuristics.
What is inductive reasoning?
Making generalizations or predictions based on specific observations or past data.
What is deductive reasoning?
Drawing specific, logically certain conclusions from general principles or premises.
What test illustrates deductive reasoning limitations and domain-specific heuristics?
Wason’s 4-card selection task.
In the crime mystery, which reasoning method led to the correct conclusion?
Deductive reasoning (James had means, motive, and opportunity).
Why was inductive reasoning misleading in the mystery?
It focused on patterns and suspicious behavior without direct evidence.
What is the availability heuristic?
Judging frequency or probability based on how easily examples come to mind.
What factors affect the availability of information in memory?
Recency, salience, and similarity to current situations.
What is illusory correlation?
Perceiving a relationship between unrelated events, often due to memorable coincidences.
What is the gambler’s fallacy?
Believing future probabilities are affected by past random events.
What is the base rate neglect bias?
Ignoring statistical base rates in favor of case-specific details.
What is representativeness bias?
Assuming something belongs to a category because it looks like a typical example, ignoring base rates.
What is functional fixedness?
The inability to see objects as having functions other than their usual ones, hindering problem-solving.
What is the candle problem an example of?
Functional fixedness.
What does the missionaries and cannibals problem illustrate?
lanning, constraint satisfaction, and problem representation.
What cognitive strategy involves identifying sub-goals to reach an overall goal?
Means-end analysis.
What are some “design” limitations of human cognition?
Limited working memory, biased memory retrieval, difficulty shifting cognitive set, and reliance on heuristics.
What does Mental Model Theory suggest about reasoning?
People reason by constructing mental models of situations described by premises rather than using formal logic.
What limits mental model reasoning?
Working memory constraints that prevent maintaining multiple possible models simultaneously.
Why might Artist A being a beekeeper and Beekeeper B being a violinist not imply Artist A is a violinist?
Because they could be different people—no necessary logical connection.
What rule does the Wason task typically test?
If a card has a vowel on one side, it must have an odd number on the other.
Which cards should be turned over to test the rule: A, B, 1, 2?
A (vowel) and 2 (even number).
Why is “2” relevant and “1” irrelevant in Wason’s task?
“2” could violate the rule if it hides a vowel (P but not Q). “1” doesn’t test the rule because the rule doesn’t state that all odd numbers must have vowels.
How does context affect reasoning in the Wason task?
Performance improves dramatically when the task is presented in familiar or meaningful contexts (e.g. police checking drinkers).
What is the Overconfidence Bias?
When people’s confidence in their judgements exceeds their actual accuracy.
What are three forms of overconfidence?
Overestimating one’s actual performance
Believing one’s performance is better than others’
Overestimating the accuracy of one’s beliefs
Name three key reasons why human thinking is error-prone.
Cognitive design limitations (e.g., limited working memory)
Use of mental models that don’t account for all possibilities
Reliance on domain-specific heuristics that may be inappropriate
What are the primary components of the cognitive model of creativity?
Problem finding, ideation (divergent thinking), and evaluation.
What are the secondary components of creativity?
Knowledge and motivation.
What is divergent thinking?
The ability to generate many and varied ideas; includes fluency, originality, and flexibility.
What is the Alternative Uses Task?
A test of creativity where participants generate as many uses as possible for a common object (e.g. a brick).
How do highly creative individuals navigate semantic space?
They make larger associative leaps and switch between semantic subcategories more flexibly.
What is introspection useful for reporting?
Intentions, emotions, decisions, and causal reasoning (to some degree).
What is the problem with introspection in cognitive psychology?
It is often unverifiable and may not reflect actual cognitive processes.
What is blindsight and what does it show?
A condition where individuals can respond to visual stimuli without conscious awareness, showing cognition can occur without awareness.
What is the illusion of introspection?
People often confabulate reasons for their decisions, unaware of the true underlying cognitive processes.
Give an example of a cognitive process that typically happens outside of awareness.
Face recognition, object recognition, or reading.
