Lecture 8: Thinking Flashcards
What was Paivio’s 1963 discovery about paired-associate learning?
Concrete pairs were better remembered than abstract pairs because it is easier to create mental images of concrete pairs than abstract pairs.
What did Shepard & Meltzer study in 1971?
- looked at the reaction times for same and different 3D abstract shapes.
- When the shapes were the same, reaction time was longer the greater the rotational distance.
- It was almost like participants were mentally turning one shape to match the other.
What does data from Shepard & Meltzer (1971) and Kosslyn et al. (1978) tell us?
It suggests that the way we mentally perceive is like the way we visually perceive.
-Representations are both spatial and strict analogical.
What was Pylyshyn’s (1973) contradiction to the idea that representations are spatial and strict analogical?
- Just because data looks like a spatial effect doesn’t mean the representation is spatial.
- Considers the influence of proportional representation and tacit knowledge.
What does Lenient Analogical mean?
- Spatial information about the outside world is represented in a spatial way.
- Preserves relative relationships between positions.
- e.g. London Underground map shows locations relative to whether they are N, E, S or W of each other but does not accurately display distance.
What does Strict Analogical mean?
- Spatial information about the outside world is represented in a spatial way.
- Preserves the relative and absolute relationships between positions.
- e.g. London Underground overground map shows locations relative to whether they are N, E, S or W of each other AND shows distance.
What are proportional representations?
- can be used to code spatial relationships without being analogical.
- symbolic relationships between words suffice.
- information can be stored linguistically.
What are proportional networks?
- mimic spatial relationships between portions of an image again without necessarily being analogical.
- the reaction time data are essentially the same.
What is tacit knowledge?
- Not something to be overlooked.
- We mimic internally the processes that we know happen externally when we really do look at something.
- e.g. Further away takes longer, heavier takes longer to lift.
What are the three levels of entry?
(Tanaka & Taylor, 1991)
Superordinate (expert level)
Basic Level
Subordinate
What did Collins & Quillian (1969) identify as another aspect of these semantic networks?
They preserve cognitive economy in terms of the kinds of information held at each level of the model.
- Superordinate (Animal: has skin, can move around, eats, breathes)
- Basic Level (Bird: has wings, can fly, has feathers)
- Subordinate (Canary: can sing, is yellow)
What is problematic about the relationship between levels of entry and reaction time?
-sometimes, the more levels, the shorter the reaction time.
What is a solution to the problem of the relationship between levels of entry and reaction time and what is problematic about this solution?
- Maybe by adjusting the distance between these categories and properties, we can recreate the deviations in reaction time.
- Yet this is an example of Ad-Hoc Immunisation and questions the theory’s falsifiability.
What is the availability heuristic?
- easily remembered examples are judged to be more probable than harder to remember example.
- primacy dominates.
(e. g. words experiment)
What is the representative heuristic?
- can mislead as a result of the use of stereotypes.
- often linked to a failure to take into account BASE RATE information.
(e. g. Robert is a librarian)
What is the conjunctive fallacy?
- incorrect calculation that the combination of two events can be more likely than either event occurring alone.
(e. g. Roger is 35 and a vegetarian)
What is anchoring and adjustment?
-we use available numerical information as starting points without compensation.
How do credit card companies use anchoring?
-perhaps provision of minimum payment information actually acts as an anchor for how much money your average monthly payment will be.
-e.g. smaller amount asked=smaller amount paid
(more compound interest collected overtime by the credit card companies).
What was the correlation between minimum payment amount provided by credit card companies and the actual amount paid per month?
Positive correlation
What is adjustment?
The extent to which you can/are willing to move away from the anchor.
-The provision of minimum payment information reduces how much your average credit card payment will be (Stewart, 2009).
What is reframing?
- causes options of exactly the same expect value to be selected or deselected based on how options are presented.
- we seek risk in terms of gains.
- we avoid risk in terms of losses.
What is deductive reasoning?
Discounting information that has no implication on rule.
What are the 4 Conditional Syllogisms?
(IF-THEN STATEMENTS)
1) Affirming the antecedent
2) Denying the antecedent
3) Affirming the consequent
4) Denying the consequent
What is a confirmation bias?
Trying to confirm the wrong rule.
Why did the beer example have more success?
Structural similarity.
Complete the quote: ‘a problem occurs when…’
‘a problem occurs when there is an obstacle between a present state and a goal, and it is not immediately obvious how to get round the obstacle’ (Lovett, 2002)
Complete the quote: ‘…what you do when…’
‘…what you do when you don’t know what to do…’ (Payne, 2003)
What is an efficient solution to a problem?
-one that traverses the problem space in the few numbers of moves.
What does the candle problem not involve?
- massive calculation or formula.
- As soon as the problem is restructured, the solution becomes clear(er).
What are insight problems relative to non-insight problems?
Behaviourally distinct.
How does ‘warmth’ move with non-insight problems?
Increases.
How does ‘warmth’ move with insight problems?
involves a leap of ‘warmth’.
What does functional fixedness have to do with problem solving?
We can fixate on problem elements in repetitve ways.
-solutions to problems often arise when we think of novel functions for objects.
What is a situationally produced mental set?
We might get used to solving problems in certain ways.
- This leads to difficulties in resolving certain problems that don’t fit our mental sets.
- These heuristics help to solve most problems most of the time, but flexibility is still crucial.
What are the features of heuristics?
- Fast to apply
- Less likely to produce solution
- Usually available
What are the features of algorithms?
- Slow to apply
- More likely to produce solution
- May not be available
What are mental sets?
Constraints surrounding the problem might be generated by ourselves or by previous problems.
What is an analogy?
The identification of structural rather than surface similarity between problems might help to generate solutions.
What is means-end analysis?
Break down distance between initial state and goal state into smaller sub-goals but beware of backtracking.
What is reverse engineering?
Similar to means-end analysis but work backwards from the goal state to the initial state.
What is visual imagery?
External representations of the problem may help (Halpern, 2003) but an unhelpful representation can prevent solution.
How can knowledge be represented mentally?
a ‘picture in the mind’ that is strict and analogue could also be represented in a linguistic, propositional form .
What are some of the heuristics used when making decisions?
Availability and representative heuristic, anchoring and adjustment can all lead us away from normative decision making.
