Thinking ch. 9 Flashcards
Propositional Thought
Expresses a proposition statement of facts
Imaginable thought
Consists of images we see, hear, or feel
Motoring thought
Relates to mental representations of motor movements
Concept
Mental category that groups objects, relations etc having common properties
Basic unit of semantic memory
• We form some concepts by definition
• We organize concepts into category hierarchies (Collins & Quillian, )
Prototype
An especially representative example of a concept
The “best” example of a category
• Most elementary method of forming concepts
• Example: who is more representative of “bachelor” (even though they all fit the category;
A. Justin beiber
B. Pope
C. Ryan gosling
Deductive reasoning
The Role of Top-Down Processing
• Deductive Reasoning = Make a conclusion about a specific case from general principles
Inductive reasoning
• The Role of Bottom-Up Processing
• Inductive Reasoning = Develop a general principle from specific facts
Stumbling blocks in reasoning
Distraction by irrelevant information
• Failure to focus on relevant information
• Belief bias
• Abandon logical rules in favour of personal beliefs
• Confuse factual correctness with logical correctness
• Emotions and framing
• Refers to the idea that the same information, problem, or options can be structured and presented in different ways
Fallacies in use of language
Fallacy = a plausible argument that rests on invalid or false
inferences.
1. Dualism (black-and-white thinking)
• “If you know about BMW, you either own one or you want one.”
2. Circularity
• “I asked my doctor why my mouth was so dry, and he told me that it was because my saliva glands are not producing enough saliva.”
- **3. Appeal to ignorance ***
• “He is an innocent man. He was tried before a jury of his peers and the prosecution was unable to prove him guilty.”
4. Slippery slope fallacy (domino theory)
• “If you don’t pick up your clothes before you go to bed at night,
pretty soon you’ll be knee deep in dirty clothes.”
5. Irrelevant reason
• “TV can’t be harmful for children because it occupies their attention for hours and keeps them off the streets.”
6. Hasty generalization fallacy
• “I don’t see how he can get elected. No one I know is going to vote for him.”
7. Questionable-analogy fallacy
• “If socialized medicine will result in better and lower-cost health care, shouldn’t the same logic be applied to automobiles? Wouldn’t nationalization of the auto industry produce better and lower-cost cars? And if we nationalize auto mechanics, wouldn’t we get better and less expensive repairs?”
Steps in problem solving
Step 1- Framing
• Mentally represent a problem
• Decision making can be influenced by how a problem is framed (=worded/understood).
Step 2- Generating and Evaluating Solutions
• Which solution is supported by observable evidence? • Confirmation Bias
• Tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence
Step 3- Making Decisions • Algorithms
• explicit; conscious
• “trial and error” exhaustively; step-by-step procedures that guarantee a solution.
• Heuristic (Intuition)
• Effortless; automatic
• “mental short cuts”; a simple but efficient thinking strategy that often allows us to make quick judgments
Fixation
• The inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective
1. Mental Set
• Tendency to stick to a particular solution, often a solution that has been successful in the past
• Pros: facilitate the solution of similar problems
Functional Fixedness
• Tendency to think of only the familiar functions for objects, without imagining alternative uses
• Pros: knowing what is the optimal tool for solving a certain problem
Intuitions 3 deadly sins
Representativeness Heuristic
• Judgments made based on how well something fits prototype for particular concept
• Pros: can quickly determine class membership based on prototypes
• Cons: mistakable; may ignore critical features
Availability Heuristic
• Judgments & decisions are based on availability of information in memory
• Cons: just because information is in the ‘forefront’ of our memories does not mean it frequently happens
Overconfidence
• Tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our knowledge and judgments
• Reasons: confirmation bias; illusion of knowing
Intuition powers (creativity)
Creativity
• Produce something new & valuable
• Divergent thinking
• Generation of novel ideas
• Incubation
• Creative solutions pop into mind after a break
Role of problem solving schemas
Step-by-step scripts for selecting information
• Developed with experience
• Experts = large # of schemas to guide problem solving in their field; better than novices at applying schemas
Help solve specialized classes of problems
• Novices rely on general problem-solving methods
Metacogniton
Recognizing what you do and don’t know
• Applications:
• People w/ high self-efficacy more likely to take challenges
-self reflection
