Thinking
Module 23
1
Thinking Overview
Thinking
 Concepts
 Solving Problems
 Making Decisions and
Forming Judgments
2
Thinking
 Cognition
 mental activities associated with thinking,
knowing, remembering, and communicating
 Cognitive Psychologists
 study these mental activities
 concept formation
 problem solving
 decision making
 judgment formation
3
Thinking
 Concept
 mental grouping of similar objects, events,
ideas, or people
 Prototype
 mental image or best example of a category
 matching new items to the prototype provides a
quick and easy method for including items in a
category (as when comparing feathered creatures
to a prototypical bird, such as a robin)
4
In Class Exercise on Prototypes
5
J. Messerschmidt/ The Picture Cube
Daniel J. Cox/ Getty Images
Bird (mental image)
Triangle (definition)
6
Category Hierarchies
We organize concepts into category hierarchies.
Courtesy of Christine Brune
7
Categories
Once we place an item in a category, our
memory shifts toward the category prototype.
Courtesy of Oliver Corneille
A computer generated face that was 70 percent
Caucasian led people to classify it as Caucasian.
8
Problem Solving
Problem solving strategies include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Trial and Error
Algorithms
Heuristics
Insight
9
Thinking
 Algorithm
 methodical, logical
rule or procedure that
guarantees solving a
particular problem
 contrasts with the
usually speedier–but
also more error-prone-use of heuristics
10
Algorithms
Algorithms, which are very time consuming,
exhaust all possibilities before arriving at a
solution. Computers use algorithms.
SPLOYOCHYG
If we were to unscramble these letters to form a word
using an algorithmic approach, we would face
907,200 possibilities.
11
Heuristics
Heuristics with the psych files 15:12
B2M Productions/Digital Version/Getty Images
Heuristics are mental
shortcuts that allow us
to make judgments
and solve problems
efficiently. Heuristics
are less time
consuming, but more
error-prone than
algorithms.
12
Heuristics
Heuristics make it easier for us to use simple
principles to arrive at solutions to problems.
SPLOYOCHYG
S
PP
SL
YO
CH
YO
OC
LH
OGY
Put a Y at the end, and see if the word
begins to make sense.
13
Insight
Insight involves a sudden novel
realization of a solution to a
problem.
Humans and animals have
insight.
Chimp Problem solving:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
ySMh1mBi3cI&NR=1&safety_mo
de=true&persist_safety_mode=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
xOrgOW9LnT4&feature=related&
safety_mode=true&persist_safety
_mode=1
Grande using boxes to
obtain food
14
Try to connect these dots with three
lines, without lifting your pencil from the
paper or retracing any of the lines you
draw. You must also end the drawing
where you began it. You can take up to
three minutes.
15
16
Insight (it can be seen in the brain
before you are conscious of it)
From Mark Jung-Beekman, Northwestern
University and John Kounios, Drexel University
Brain imaging and EEG
studies suggest that
when an insight strikes
(the “Aha” experience), it
activates the right
temporal cortex (JungBeeman & others, 2004).
The time between not
knowing the solution
and responding is about
0.3 seconds.
18
Thought Puzzle #1
• Predict the next number in this sequence.
• In your notes, write down your thought
process. Include any “dead ends.”
• Don’t talk about your process or your
answer so that everyone can work on the
puzzle.
Sequence
8
5
9
1
7
2
____
19
Thought Puzzle #1
8
5
Sequence
9
1
7
2
____
Now think about the words rather than the
numbers
Eight Five Nine One Seven Two _____
20
Thought Puzzle #1
What got in the way of solving this problem?
Mental Set - Old pattern of problem
solving is applied to a new problem.
Functional Fixedness – A tendency to
think about familiar objects in familiar ways
which may prevent more creative use of
those objects to solve the problem.
21
Functional Fixedness
A tendency to think only of the familiar functions
of an object.
?
Problem: Tie the two ropes together.
Use a screw driver, cotton balls and a matchbox.
22
Thought Puzzle #2 – Connect the dots
with no more than 4 straight lines without
lifting your pen.
* * *
* * *
* * *
23
Thought Puzzle #2 – Connect the
dots with no more than 4 straight lines
without lifting your pen.
* * *
* * *
* * *
24
Thought Puzzle #2 – Connect the
dots with no more than 4 straight lines
without lifting your pen.
Many people suffer from the Mental Set which states that they
must stay within the square defined by the dots.
Functional Fixedness keeps most people in a “connect the
dots” mode.
25
Figure 8.7: Applying a Mental
Model
What path will
the marble follow
when it leaves
the curved tube?
26
Manipulating Images
Are these pairs of
objects the same
or different?
Return
27
Obstacles in Solving Problems
Confirmation Bias: A tendency to search for
information that confirms a personal bias.
2–4–6
Discover the rule
28
Fixation
Fixation: An inability to see a problem from a
fresh perspective. This impedes problem
solving. An example of fixation is functional
fixedness.
From “Problem Solving” by M. Scheerer. Copyright © 1963 by
Scientific American, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The Matchstick
Problem: How would
you arrange six
matches to form four
equilateral triangles?
29
Candle-Mounting Problem
Using these materials, how would you mount the
candle on a bulletin board?
From “Problem Solving” by M. Scheerer. Copyright © 1963 by
Scientific American, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
30
The Three-Jugs Problem
 Using jugs A,
B, and C,
with the
capacities
shown, how
would you
measure out
the volumes
indicated?
31
32
Fig. 8-6, p. 311
33
Fig. 8-7, p. 312
The Matchstick Problem: Solution
From “Problem Solving” by M. Scheerer. Copyright © 1963 by
Scientific American, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
34
Candle-Mounting Problem: Solution
35
The Three-Jugs Problem
 Solution:
a)
All seven problems
can be solved by the
equation shown in (a):
B - A - 2C = desired
volume.
 b) But simpler
solutions exist for
problems 6 and 7,
such as A - C for
problem 6.
36
Making Decision & Forming
Judgments
Each day we make hundreds of judgments and
decisions based on our intuition, seldom using
systematic reasoning.
Link How to make better decisions
37
Using and Misusing Heuristics
Two kinds of heuristics, representative
heuristics and availability heuristics, have been
identified by cognitive psychologists.
Courtesy of Greymeyer Award, University
of Louisville and Daniel Kahneman
Courtesy of Greymeyer Award, University
of Louisville and the Tversky family
Amos Tversky
Daniel Kahneman
38
Representativeness Heuristic
Judging the likelihood of things or objects in
terms of how well they seem to represent, or
match, a particular prototype.
If you meet a slim, short, man who wears glasses
Probability
that what
that person
a truck
is far
and
likes poetry,
do youisthink
hisdriver
profession
greater
than an ivy league professor just because
would
be?
there are more truck drivers than such professors.
More likely an ivy league professor or a truck
driver?
39
All (except one) of these animals fit the
concept of “penguin”
40
Heuristics
 Availability Heuristic
 estimating the likelihood of events
based on their availability in memory
 if instances come readily to mind
(perhaps because of their vividness),
we presume such events are common
 Example: airplane crash
41
Overconfidence
Overconfidence: tendency to overestimate the
accuracy of our beliefs and judgments.
In the stock
market, both the
seller and the
buyer may be
confident about
their decisions on
a stock.
42
Mind over Money at NOVA 52:52
• …overconfidence increases
with action. As we actively
engage, we become more
confident in what we are
doing.
43
You might steal more when asked
NOT to…
• Sign posted that condemned the fact that
many visitors steal the wood from Petrified
Forest National Park.
• In the absence of the sign 3% stole wood
• In the presence of the sign 8% stole wood
• Messages that condemn yet highlight
undesired social norms are common, and
that they invite counterproductive results
44
Exaggerated Fear
Exaggerated fear: about
what may happen. Such
fears may be unfounded.
This is opposite of
having overconfidence.
AP/ Wide World Photos
The 9/11 attacks led to a
decline in air travel due
to fear.
45
We often fear the wrong things…
• What is most likely to kill someone your
age…15-24.
– Murder?
– Criminal violence?
– Accidents, mostly car wrecks…
• As a group you are more likely to kill
yourself than to be murdered!
• Are you more likely to be burglarized or
steal from your work?
46
Thinking
 Framing
 the way an issue is posed
 how an issue is framed can
significantly affect decisions
and judgments
 Example: What is the best
way to market ground beef--as
25% fat or 75% lean?
47
Thinking
 Belief Bias
 the tendency for one’s preexisting beliefs to
distort logical reasoning
 sometimes by making invalid conclusions
seem valid or valid conclusions seem invalid
 Belief Perseverance
 clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the
basis on which they were formed has been
discredited
Magic and the Brain at PBS
48
Belief Bias example
God is love.
Love is blind
Ray Charles is blind.
Ray Charles is God.
Anonymous graffiti
51
Fluency Effect
• If the form of information is difficult to
assimilate, that affects our judgments
about the substance of that information.
52
Perils & Powers of Intuition
Intuition may be perilous if
unchecked, but may also be
extremely efficient and adaptive.
Myers on Intuition
Irrational
behavior link53
Predictably Irrational
•
•
•
•
•
•
The power of FREE!
Truffle at 15 cents Kiss at 1 cent,
73% chose truffle 27% chose kiss
Truffle at 14 cents Kiss at free
31% chose truffle 69% chose kiss
The price difference in both cases is the
same… 14 cents
• So…free can make you miss something…
54
EXPLORING
PSYCHOLOGY
(7th Edition in Modules)
David Myers
PowerPoint Slides
Aneeq Ahmad
Henderson State University
Worth Publishers, © 2008
57
Impact of Belief Bias in a Syllogism
• Premise #1
– Some professors wear
ties.
• Premise #2
– Some men wear ties.
• Conclusion
– Some professors are
men.
– Does this follow
logically?
• Premise #1
– Some scarecrows
wear ties.
• Premise #2
– Some professors wear
ties.
• Conclusion
– Therefore, some
scarecrows are
professors???
Return
58
Figure 8.9: Two Versions of the
Same Premise
59
Thinking Strategies: Informal
Reasoning
• Also known as inductive reasoning
– Role of heuristics
• Potentially problematic heuristics
– Anchoring heuristic
• Basing judgments on existing info – early info has more
impact
– Representativeness heuristic
• Judging whether something belongs to a class based on its
similarity to other members of the class
– Availability heuristic
• Basing judgments on information most easily brought to mind
60
Biases and Flaws in Decision
Making
• Loss Aversion
• Biases in Perceptions of Probability
– Overestimate probability of unlikely events
– Underestimate probability of likely events
– Gambler’s fallacy
• Unrealistic Confidence in Accuracy of
Predictions
61
Cognition, Language, and Intelligence
Types of Concepts
• Simple concepts have a
single common feature
apple
t-shirt
ball
Red
• Complex concepts
– Conjunctive: simultaneous
presence of 2 or more
common characteristics
aunt
female
mom’s
sister
Schizophrenic person
– Disjunctive: presence of
one common characteristic hears
voices
or another, or both
not there
having
distorted
beliefs
62
Cognition, Language, and Intelligence
Basic Concepts
Superordinate
concept
Basic concepts
Subordinate
concepts
Vehicles
Cars
Boats
Planes
Sports
car
Sailboat
Glider
Motorboat
Jet plane
Station
wagon
Kayak
Propeller
plane
Luxury
sedan
63
Cognition, Language, and Intelligence
Creative Problem Solving
• Creativity – ability to act or think in novel
and ways that are valued by others
• Convergent thinking
– Logical, factual, conventional, focused
thinking
• Divergent thinking
– Unconventional, loosely organized and
directed
– Breaks out of mental sets more easily
64
Cognition, Language, and Intelligence
Which two
belong
together?
American
thinking
(category)
Chinese
thinking
(relationship)
65