Me 2.2b Thinking, Problem Solving, Judgements, and Decision making: Solving Problems and Making Decisions

Question 1

Executive functions

Answer 1

cognitive processes that allow us
to plan, organise, and carry out goal-directed behaviours

Question 2

Algorithms

Answer 2

step-by-step procedures that guarantee a solution by trying all possible options Example: Solving a math problem by systematically testing every possible answer until you find the correct one

Question 3

Heuristics

Answer 3

mental shortcuts that simplify decision-making but can lead to errors. Example: guessing only a couple logical solutions to get the right one.

Question 4

Confirmation Bias

Answer 4

A tendency to only search for information that supports us and ignore or distort contradictory evidence.

Question 5

Fixation

Answer 5

The difficulty in trying to see the world from a new perspective.

Question 6

mental set (fixation)

Answer 6

A tendency to approach a task from one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past. Predisposes how we think

Question 7

Intuition

Answer 7

An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought as contrasted with conscious memory.

Question 8

Representativeness heuristic

Answer 8

Making judgments based on how well something matches a prototype

Example: Assuming someone is a librarian because they
are quiet and enjoy reading, fitting the librarian stereotype

Question 9

Availability heuristic

Answer 9

Basing judgments on the most readily available information

Example: Overestimating the danger of flying after hearing about
a plane crash, because it’s the most recent and vivid information

Question 10

Overconfidence

Answer 10

The tendency to be more confident than right.

Question 11

Planning fallacy

Answer 11

people underestimate the time it will take to complete a future task, despite knowledge that previous tasks have generally taken longer than planned.

Question 12

Sunk-cost fallacy

Answer 12

Continuing a behaviour due to previously invested resources

Example: Not selling ZJYL because I already spent 200$ on it and believe it will go up.

Question 13

Gambler’s fallacy

Answer 13

Believing that past events affect the likelihood of future events

Example: Thinking that a coin is “due” to land heads after several tails

Question 14

Belief Perseverance

Answer 14

The persistence of one’s beliefs even when facing face-down evidence of it being wrong. Considering opposing arguments reduces bias.

Question 15

framing

Answer 15

Decisions can be swayed by how information is presented

Example: Being more likely to buy something advertised as “90% fat-free” rather than “10% fat.”

Question 16

Why is intuition good?

Answer 16

It is recognition born of experience, adaptive, and based on unconscious stuff and therefore vast.