Review and Discussion Questions #6 [Lecture 14: Deductive and Inductive Reasoning] 1. Come up with your own example of deductive reasoning. All squares are rectancles. All rectangles have ninety degree angles. All squares have ninety degree angles 2. Come up with your own example of inductive reasoning. My phone only turns on when it is charged. The phone must need charge to turn on. 3. What are valid conclusions in conditional syllogisms? (Make sure you understand the names of the 4 different conditional syllogisms (e.g., modus ponens, etc. so that you know what is being referred to).) P Not-p Q Not-q 4. Wason card selection task: What choices are normatively correct? Why are they correct choices? The normatiely correct choices are p and not-q because those are the only cards that, if deviating from the rule, would make the claim invalid. 5. What are the implications of the content effect in Wason’s card selection task? Because people are better at determining inferences about conditional syllogisms when the content is specific to a domain, specifically an action-precondition schema, the content effect can explain why people were not likely to choose the normatively correct options in an abstracted version of these questions, like Wason’s card selection task. 6. There are 4 types of statements in categorical syllogisms (i.e., All As are Bs, No As are B, Some A are B, Some A are not B.). Make sure you understand the meaning or implications of each of the 4 types. All A are B: Universal Affirmative No A are B: Universal Negative Some A are B: Particular Affirmative Some A are not B: Particular Negative 7. Do the categorical syllogism practice problems shown at the end of this document. We will not go over these during the discussion section unless you have a specific question, and the answers are shown at the end. (Note: During the lecture, it was stated that there are 256 categorical syllogisms. This is correct, but it’s not because of 4 (premise 1) X 4 (premise 2) X 4 (conclusion); that would be 64! It should be multiplied by 4 again because of where the “middle term” (M; the term that does not appear in the conclusion) appears in the premises; if you don’t care about this, you can skip the rest. Suppose the conclusion is about S and P. Then, there are 4 different ways in which the middle term can appear across the two premises; 1) M-P, S-M 2) P-M, S-M 3) M-P, M-S 4) P-M, M-S So, 4X4X4X4 = 256.) qm 8. What is the belief bias in categorical syllogistic reasoning? The belief bias is when people confuse truth with validity. Validity is whether a conclusion must be true if the premises are true. Truth is whether or not a conclusion is satisfied in the real world. 9. The following lists the reasoning fallacies covered under inductive reasoning. Come up with your own example for each. Slippery slope “If we expand immigration policy, terrorists will overun our country” ● False dichotomy You don’t like that one government policy so you must be an anarchist ● Straw person argument Person 1: I think we should reduce our military spending a little Person 2: I don’t think we should leave the country defenseless to attack ● Circular reasoning I need to get a new phone. My current one is old. ● Guilt by association The unabomber went to Harvard. ● Appeal to pride You’re always so helpful so I came to you. I really need help moving ● Appeal to pity ● But I always dreamed of going to Disney World. It’s no fair that you get to go before me. I’m going to fall apart. 10. The following three constructs were discussed in class as ways to create stronger inductive arguments. For each of them, come up with a real-life example that utilizes the respective concept. ● Law of large numbers When we take a survey of the entire class about how good the school is, it will be much more accurate for predicting than asking a single student. ● Typicality More typical: All iPhone’s have chips. Therefore, all smartphones have chips. Less Typical: All motorola phones have chips. Therefore, all smartphones have chips. ● Diversity A goldfish has gills and a swordfish has gills. Therefore, all fish have gills. [Lecture 15: Problem Solving and Creativity] 1. What are the four scoring criteria for Unusual Uses Test (UUT)? What aspect of creative thinking does this test measure? 1. Quantity 2. Relevance 3. Flexibiilty 4. Originality Divergent thinking 2. What is the Remote Associate Test, and what does it measure? The RAT measures convergent thinking. In it, you must come up with a word that is associated to two other given words. 3. Restating a given problem can help us come up with creative solutions. Please provide a reallife example where you rephrase a problem. In your response, initially present the problem as it is typically stated (e.g., How can I save money?), and then offer a rephrased version that could foster creative problem-solving (e.g., How can I make more money?). How can I free up time in my schedule? How can I work more efficiently? 4. Why would monetary incentives exacerbate functional fixedness when the tacks are inside the box? When monetary incentives were introduced, people were worse at understanding the true use of the box. This may have happened because the monetary incentives inhibited their divergent thinking, causing them to find less creative solutions. 5. What is problem-solving set? Describe a study that demonstrates a method of overcoming this. Problem-solving set is when people begin to apply a formulaic answer to similar repeating problems because they assume that all questions will continue to follow the pattern of those before them. In one study, researchers asked participants to "incubate" by working on a different problem for some time. After the incubation period, they were more able to think differently and apply new ideas. 6. Describe a study that demonstrated that constraints can promote creativity. In one study, participants were assigned to a variety of tasks to determine different uses for common objects. Those participants who were asked to take the perspective of various professions came up with more original ideas than those that didn’t. 7. Why can’t we say that creative processes are always sudden Aha experiences? We can’t say that creative processes are always sudden aha moments because of examples of incremental creative improvements to things like the sewing needle and art. 8. Describe a study that demonstrated that those with depressive tendencies can be more creative. Make sure to explain why this can happen. People with low DHEAS, a proxy for vulnerability to experiencing negative moods, became more creative after being rejected. This might indicate that social rejection could cause both depression and creativity. This might happen because people are more likely to focus on their internal goals than the creative constraints of society after rejection. 9. The four rules for brainstorming are; 1) Criticism is ruled out. 2) Freewheeling is welcomed. 3) Quantity is wanted. 4) Combination and improvement are sought. Imagine you are hired to brainstorm with five other people to solve the problem of “how to enhance mental health support for college students” following the above four rules. What could be the reasons why people in your group may not be as creative as they can be while following these rules? How could these problems be prevented? There are no constraints so it may be harder to generate ideas. Because of freewheeling and quantity goals, there may be a lot of poor ideas thrown out just to say them. Instead, some more constraints and incremental additions could be introduced to the process to improve group creativity. 10. Suppose a person says 'I'm not creative. I'm just born this way.' Describe studies or theories presented in the lecture that can be used to counter this person's claim. There are different kinds of creativity, convergent and divergent thinking and different ways to improve creativity, such as adding constraints or systematically looking at two things to generate new ideas. These should combine to allow anyone to come up with creative ideas. [Lecture 16: Concepts and Genetic Essentialism] 1. (a) What is the classical view of conceptual representations? (b) What are problems with the classical view as a theory of conceptual representations? The classical view is that every concept can be represented with a definition. Some problems are that there are some concepts that do not have precise definitions nor can the classical theory account for the typicality effect. 2. (a) What is the prototype view of conceptual representations? (b) Describe an experiment that showed automatic acquisition of prototypes. The prototype view is that we have mental prototypes of every concept and that members in the same category are generally similar to each other but those that more resemble the prototype are more typical in a family resemblance structure. A study where people are shown dots proved that people were able to infer a prototype from different distortions of the prototype. 3. What counts as evidence for the typicality effect? 1. Reaction times are faster for more typical examples 2. Typical examples can substitute for a category name in a sentence 3. Typical examples serve as reference points (ex. With numbers) 4. Describe the problems with the prototype view as a theory of concepts. For example, in the Rips’ pizza experiment, there was a difference in what people said an ambiguous object was more similar to and what it was more likely to be, indicating that possibly the prototype theory (wherein similarity to the prototype should be likelihood to being such a thing) is wrong. 5. (a) In what ways are psychological essentialism and the classical view the same? (b) In what ways are they different? Both suggest that all and only things of a category have defining features/ essences. Both suggest that people form concepts based on either definitions or essences. However, in essentialism, people do not necessarily need to know what the definition of an essence because essences don’t actually exist. But, unlike definitions, which do exist, for essences, we act as if they do exist. 6. It was mentioned in class that Jackie Kennedy’s faux pearl necklace, which sold for $211,500, serves as an example of psychological essentialism. Does this phenomenon support or contradict the prototype view of concepts? Explain your reasoning. It should contradict the prototype view of concepts because the necklace resembles any other cheap necklace in many ways, meaning that through a prototype theory lens, people should not see this necklace as very different from another. This would contradict it because people paid much more for this necklace than they would for another similar one that hadn’t been worn by Jackie Kennedy. 7. What are the characteristics of essences? How does each of these explain the problems with endorsing psychological essentialism for social categories (e.g., race, gender)? Essences are immutable. They cause surface features. And only the category members have the essences of that group. Because of these characteristics, people will be more likely to place people into stereotypes because essencialism suggests that they must fit into one of these categories due to their essence. 8. Describe a study that showcases the influence of psychological essentialism on attitudes toward organ transplantation. A study found an aversion in participants to receiving organs donated by suicide victims compared to other victims because they thought that the organs still contained the “essence” 9. Describe a study demonstrating that category labels cause people to perceive a certain disorder more permanent. When asked to rate the permanence of a disease in someone with a made up disease, participants rated higher when refered to as “is a” then “is.” The lowest rating was for someone who “has” the disease. 10. Explain each of the following phenomena using at least one of the characteristics of essences. (a) People show more racism the more they make genetic attributions for racial differences If these people view genetics as a kind of proxy for essences, they will be more likely to assume that others will have the same surface features (leading to racism) because of this characteristic of essences. (b) Female participants performed worse in Math GRE, upon reading a passage that says that genes are responsible for gender differences in math (Dar-Nimrod & Heine, 2006) In this case, they may have also felt a stronger sense of homogeneity within a group with which they perceived to have the same essence. 11. (Challenge Question: As with previous challenge questions, this one will not be discussed in class, and you may not consult the instructor, TFs, or other students about it.) A recent study published in 'Science' concluded that human DNA cannot predict who is homosexual or heterosexual. Instead, sexuality is polygenic (i.e., hundreds or thousands of genes make small contributions to the trait), and as a result, it can be strongly influenced by the environment. Regardless of the actual genetic basis of sexuality, discuss how attributing homosexuality to genetic factors could elicit both positive and negative attitudes toward homosexuality. (Note: It is strongly recommended that you read the section on this topic covered in the assigned reading (Dar-Nimrod & Heine, 2011).) Positive: It could give people the impression that there is nothing that homosexuals can do about their homeosexuality, so instead of trying to change or exclude homesexuals, people may realize that it is better to just support and accept them in all aspects of society. Negative: It may lead people to believe that their is a more deeply rooted difference between heterosexuals and homesexuals, leading to further dehumanization and discrimination. 12. (Challenge Question). Read Adam Grant’s article on MBTI. https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/give-and-take/201309/goodbye-to-mbti-the-fadthat-wont-die (If you don’t know what MBTI is, here’s a link for an overview.) Summarize the four problems with MBTI that Grant discusses (in one or two sentences per problem). Which one of these problems is related to “inductive inferences” discussed under the functions of concepts? “1. MBTI categories that it cannot reliably determine the same category over multiple testings. This makes it unreliable. 2. There has not been found to be a significant enough relationship between personality type and performance for this test to be useful. 3. There is enough category overlap between these groups such that the test is inconsistent due to the way the main gradient scales are defined. 4. The MBTI is missing a key indicator of emotional stability vs. reactivity. **************************************************************** Categorical Syllogism Practice Problems Determine whether the argument is valid or invalid. If invalid, provide a Venn Diagram that disproves it. 1. All events are things describable by science. All mental decisions are events. All mental decisions are things describable by science. Valid 2. No free choices are caused occurrences. Some natural processes are not caused occurrences. Therefore, some natural processes are not free choices. Not valid 3. Some decisions are careful reflections. All uses of free will are decisions. Therefore, some uses of free will are careful reflections. Not valid 4. The death sentence should be declared unconstitutional. It is the cruelest form of punishment that is possible, and it is also very unusual. The constitution specifically protects us against cruel and unusual punishment. Valid 5. Some coerced decisions are not free choices. Some desires are free choices. Some desires are coerced decisions. Not valid 6. Some Lifeissues.net readers are philosophers. Sean is a philosopher. Therefore, Sean is a Lifeissues.net reader. Not valid 7. Nothing easy is worthwhile. Nothing good is easy. Therefore, nothing good is worthwhile. Not valid What conclusion can you draw from each of the following pairs of premises? The possible conclusions are: · · · · · · · All A are C. All C are A. Some A are C. (or equivalently, some C are A.) No A are C (or no C are A.) Some C are not A. Some A are not C. No conclusion possible 8. All A are B. Some C are not B. Some C are not A 9. No man is perfect. Some men are presidents. Some presidents are not perfect 10. There's never been a car that could fly. Flying things are all made of aluminum. What conclusion can be drawn about the relationship between cars and things made of aluminum? Some things made out of aluminum are not cars.
