Cognition mental activities associated with thinking reasoning knowing

Cognition § mental activities associated with thinking, reasoning, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Thinking Occurs on three levels: n conscious processes w thinking we are consciously aware of n sub-conscious processes w thinking which lies just outside of our consciousness w helps prevent overload n non-conscious processes w thinking which occurs outside and is not available to our conscious awareness w why things “pop into our head”

Elements of Thinking § Concept § mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people (category) § Prototype § mental image or best example of a concept (category)

Types of Thinking § Reasoning § Purposeful mental activity that involves operating on information in order to reach conclusions or problem-solve.

Types of Reasoning Formal Reasoning n based on specific knowledge and information with one single best answer w algorithm: step by step procedures that guarantee a solution Informal Reasoning n possible solutions based on personal experience and things familiar with w heuristic: a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgements n I before e except after C w dialectical reasoning: pros and cons of a situation

Types of Reasoning Insight (Intuition) n sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem Critical Thinking

Barriers to Reasoning § Confirmation Bias tendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions § Fixation § inability to see a problem from a new perspective § Functional Fixedness § tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions §

Barriers to Reasoning Exaggerating the Improbable n inclination to exaggerate the probability of very rare events Hindsight Bias n “I knew it all the time”

Barriers to Reasoning § Representativeness Heuristic § judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes

Barriers to Reasoning § Availability Heuristic § estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory

Barriers to Reasoning § Overconfidence § tendency to overestimate the accuracy of one’s beliefs and judgments § Framing § how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments

Barriers to Reasoning § Belief Perseverance § clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited