Thinking Flashcards
What are different types of problems?
problems of inducing structure, problems of arrangement, and problems of transformation
What is functional fixedness?
tendency to perceive an item only in terms of its most common use
What is a mental set?
exists when people persist in using strategies that worked in the past but are no longer optimal
What is the gambler’s fallacy?
belief that the odds increase if something hasn’t happened recently
What does the availability heuristic cause?
people to inflate estimates of improbable events that garner a lot of media attention
What are some approaches to problem solving?
trial and error, heuristic (rule of thumb or mental shortcut), formulate subgoals, spotting analogies, changing representation of problem
Can taking a break help with problem solving? Why?
yes, incubation effect
What does the theory of bounded rationality say?
people tend to use simple decision strategies that often cause seemingly irrational results because they can only juggle so much info
What can choice overload lead to?
rumination, regret, and diminished well being
What is the availability heuristic?
basing estimated probability off of the ease we remember something similar happening
What is the representative heuristic?
basing estimated probability off of how similar it is to a prototype
What is the conjunction fallacy?
when people estimate odds of two uncertain events happening together are greater than the odds of either event happening soon
What is the sunk cost fallacy?
when people persist in behaviour in an attempt to recover costs that can not be recovered
What is problem solving?
Active efforts to discover what to do in order to achieve something
What are problems of inducing structure?
Require people to discover the relationships among numbers, words, symbols, or ideas
What are problems of arrangement?
Require people to arrange parts of a problem in a way that satisfies some criteria (anagrams etc)
What is insight?
Sudden discovery of the correct solution following incorrect attempts based on trial and error
What are problems of transformation?
Require people to carry out a sequence of transformations in order to reach a goal
What are common obstacles to problem solving?
Focusing on irrelevant info, functional fixedness, mental set, and the imposition of unnecessary constraints
What do people assume when trying to solve a problem?
All numerical information is necessary to solve it
What is the special process view?
Insights come from sudden restructurings of problems that occur at an unconscious level
What is the business as usual view?
Insights come from normal, step by step, analytical thinking that occurs at a conscious level
What is the incubation effect?
Occurs when new solutions surface for a previously unsolved problem after a period of not consciously thinking about the problem
What are behavioral economics?
Field of study that examines the effects of humans actual decision making process on economic decisions
What is framing?
Refers to how decision issues are posed or how choices are structured
What is confirmation bias?
Tendency to seek information that supports your decisions and beliefs whil ignoring information that doesnt
What is belief perseverance?
Tendency to hang onto beliefs in the face of contradictory evidence
What is loss aversion?
Idea that losses are worse than wins are good
Worse to lost 1000 than to win 1000
What are some cognitive distortions?
Magnification and minimization (focusing on negative and ignoring positive), overgeneralization, reasoning from how you feel, personalization (taking fault for things out of control), mind reading (assuming what others think)
How do we know what we know?
Authority, reason, deductive reasoning (some a are b, some b are c, therefore some a are c), inductive reasoning (drawing conclusions from specific to general)
What is thinking critically?
Able to make objective judgements on the basis of well supported reasons and evidence
How can we improve critical thinking?
Confidence doesn’t equal accuracy, define terms, examine evidence, be aware of your biases, avoid emotional reasoning, avoid simplistic explanations
What are three premises of bounded rationality?
Humans are cognitively restrained, constraints impact decisions making, difficult problems reveal these constraints
