Thinking & Language
What effects how you think?
Obstacles to problem solving
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What can make
problem solving
difficult?
Do you have confirmation bias?
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Looking for and accepting evidence that
supports our preconceived ideas.
“Don’t bother me with the facts, I have
made up my mind.”
Makes it difficult to consider
contradictory information.
Do you have fixation?

Inability to see a problem from a new
viewpoint.
Psychological experiment

Odd numbered SS# students close your
eyes & put your head down
Even numbered students
Please write these down
Psychological experiment

Even numbered SS# students close
your eyes & put your head down
Odd numbered students
Please write these down
What did you see?
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Even SS# students?
Odd SS# students?
Mental set
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We see what we expect
What worked in the
past
Makes it difficult to see
a problem differently.
Do you have
functional fixedness?
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Seeing things only one way
Makes it difficult to see different uses for
things.
Do you use heuristics?
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Mental shortcuts
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Simple thinking strategies that allow us to
solve problems and make judgments
efficiently
Often helpful, but can cause problems.
Do you remember?
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What is confirmation bias?
What is an example of a mental set?
What is functional fixedness?
What are heuristics?
Heuristics
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Representativeness
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This person is representative of
(similar to) this group.
Therefore, she has these
characteristics
Availability
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An available (memorable) clear
powerful memory is more powerful
than a statistical reality.
We over feel and under think
E.g. Deaths from 9/11 VS smoking
Heuristics
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Overconfidence
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We tend to overestimate our own
abilities and underestimate
others.
Stock purchases - E.g. E-trade,
or Charles Schwab online trades
Reality rarely reduces their
overconfidence in the next
situation.
Heuristics
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Belief perseverance
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When given mixed evidence, two opposing parties will
actually increase their disagreement.
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We believe only what supports our preexisting beliefs
Prejudice persists because once formed, opposing evidence is
rejected.
What you can do: Consider the opposite (or argue the
other‘s point of view).
E.g. Family therapy
Do you remember?
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How could representativeness relate to race
relations?
How does “availability” relate to risk
assessment?
Have you ever overestimated your own ability
and underestimated others?
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What is that?
When people argue they become more set in
their ways.
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Why (what heuristic) is that?
Framing
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We judge things differently based on how the
information is presented.
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10% die VS. 90% survival rate of an operation
“Aid to the needy” vs.”Welfare”
“Cloning” vs. “Nuclear cell transfer”
Divorce = Sin vs. independence
Politics: Economic stimulus VS deficit spending
You can change people’s perception of a
situation by reframing it.
What do you fear?
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We fear:
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1. What evolution and our ancestral history
prepared us to fear.
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2. What we can not control
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E.g. Tandem jump VS static line
3. What is immediate VS. long term
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E.g. heights and spiders
E.g. flying vs. smoking.
4. What is most memorable
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E.g. 9/11 vs. traffic deaths
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Result: Check your fears against the facts
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We fear too little events that claim lives
undramatically.
Thought problems you can avoid
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1. Hindsight bias
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“I knew it all along.” - After you know the result.
2. Illusory correlation
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Thinking 2 things are related when they are not.
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E.g. adoption and pregnancy
3. Memory Construction
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Misinformation can create false memories
Thought problems you can avoid
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4. Self serving bias
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Inflated self assessments
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E.g. If I do well I take the credit
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If I do poorly, others are to blame
5. Fundamental attribution error
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Attributing behavior of others to their
disposition (personality) and ignoring the
environment.
E.g. The homeless person is just lazy
Do you remember?
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How can framing influence you?
What determines what we fear?
What do we fear too little?
What are the 5 thought problems to
avoid?