Thinking And Reasoning (Ch 8) Flashcards
1
Q
Cognition
A
- means “to know”
- refers to mental processes involved in acquiring, processing and storing knowledge
2
Q
Cognitive psychology
A
-the science of how people think, learn, remember and perceive.
3
Q
Mental representations
A
- a structure in our mind - such as an idea or image - that stands for something else, such as the external object or thing.
- used to represent ideas, knowledge, or memories
- allows us to think about and remember things in the past or imagine things in the future, and abstract ideas (love, truth, justice)
- usually represent thoughts verbally and visually
4
Q
Visual representation
A
- visual system located in the occipital lobes is older than the verbal system
- only animals with significant cortex are able to keep and store visual sensations in mind after stimulation stops
- visual imagery: involves visual representation created by the brain after the original stimulus is gone
- brain is active in same way during visual imagery as visual perception
- priming the brain to imagine success actually helps us be successful
5
Q
Mental rotation
A
- process of imagining an object rotating in 3-d space
- boys and men generally do better than females
- gender identification may affect this difference
- levels of testosterone affect this ability (non-linear relationship)
6
Q
Verbal representation
A
-humans organize sensory experience by putting like with like and then distinguishing that group from other groups
7
Q
Concept
A
- most basic unit of knowledge
- mental grouping of objects, events, or people
- help us organize our perceptions of the world
- store and process concepts in a hierarchy or by parallel distributed processing
8
Q
Concept hierarchy
A
-lets us know that certain concepts are related in a particular way, with some being general and others specific
9
Q
Parallel Distributive Processing (PDP)
A
- associations between concepts activate many networks or nodes at the same time
- concepts are activated in the network based on how strongly associated or connected they are to eachother
- also arranged by similarity and hierarchy
- location of concept based on its relationship to other concepts
- relationship between nodes can be HAS, CAN, or IS A.
10
Q
Category
A
- a concept that organizes other concepts around what they all share in common
- can be concrete or abstract
- best fitting examples of category called prototype
11
Q
Prototypes
A
-the best fitting examples of a category
12
Q
Reasoning
A
- the process of drawing inferences or conclusion from principles and evidence
- 2 types of reasoning: deductive and inductive
13
Q
Deductive reasoning
A
- occurs when we reason from general statements of what is known to specific conclusion
- the specific conclusion is always correct of the general statement is true
14
Q
Inductive reasoning
A
- draws general conclusion from specific evidence
- such conclusions are less certain than those drawn from deductive reasoning because may different conclusions might be consistence with a specific fact
- scientists who develop theories employ inductive reasoning
- using indicative reasoning is often using causal inferences (judgements about whether one thing causes another)
15
Q
Confirmation bias
A
- the tendency to selectively attend to information that supports one’s general beliefs while ignoring information that contradicts one’s beliefs
- tested by Wason with number rule… students rarely tested against their hypothesis
- best way to test an idea is to try and tear it down but people rarely do this
16
Q
Critical thinking
A
- ability to analyze facts, generate and organize ideas, defend opinions, make comparisons, draw inferences, evaluate arguments, and solve problems
- must be objective and skeptical in solving problems
- requires evaluation of evidence and arguments independently of one’ prior beliefs and opinions
- critical thinking allows use to counter assert action that have little basis in reality, and know the difference between sound and faulty reasoning
- requires that we be open to evidence that bears on whether our ideas are correct or not, even if we are not happy with the evidence
17
Q
Scientific thinking
A
- involves cognitive skills required to generate, test, and revise theories
- what we believe and theorize about the world and what the world actually is, in the form of evidence, are two different things
- scientific thinking keeps these two things separate
18
Q
Metacognitive thinking
A
- requires the ability first to think and then to reflect on ones own thinking.
- able to question their own thinking
19
Q
Heuristics
A
- mental shortcuts we use to make decisions
- methods for making complex and uncertain decisions and judgements
- 2 types: representative heuristic and availability heuristic
20
Q
Representative heuristic
A
- a strategy used to estimate the probability of one event based on how typical or representative it is of a another event.
- eg. Concluding that joe could be a real estate agent based on knowing that he is friendly, often works weekends, and knows his way around town very well.
21
Q
Availability heuristic
A
- a strategy we use when we make decisions based on the ease with which estimates come to mind or how available they are to our awareness
- eg. When people make judgements about the aggressiveness of dog breeds.
- vividness and availability lead us to overestimate how likely certain events are
22
Q
Rational choice theory
A
- given a choice between 2 options, humans will choose the one that is most likely to help them achieve their particular goals
- based on principles of behaviourism
23
Q
Cost-benefit analysis
A
-ask: do the costs outweigh the benefits?
-if yes, we dont buy
If no, we do buy
-however this usually isn’t the case
24
Q
Evidence against rational choice theory
A
- not all reasoning is rational (eg. Confirmation bias)
- if people were rational they would realize that the odds of 2 events can never be higher than the odds of one of those events alone
- sometimes we get information that can be so representative of a stereotype that it biases us and we are likely to forget this rule
- leads to conjunction fallacy
- people also ignore base rates, biased by stereotypes etc
25
Conjunction Fallacy
- occurs when people say the combination of 2 events is more likely than either event alone
- example with Linda being a bank teller and feminist.
- example of a representative heuristic
