Cognition Unit 7 B Thinking Problem Solving Creativity

Cognition Unit 7 B – Thinking, Problem Solving, Creativity, & Language

Thinking • Cognition is thinking. • We like order and put things into order, hierarchies. • Concepts – simplified mental groupings of similar objects, events, ideas, and people. Big picture, not details. • Prototypes – the ideal example of a concept. • Ex. : think of a bird • …a bird is a feathery, flying creature • Experiment: ethnicity on a sliding scale (next slide)

Problem solving • 3 techniques (+ 1 bonus). Example: trying to crack a passcode. 1. Trial-and-error Randomly entered passcode. + MIGHT work - Very random, usually takes time 2. Algorithm – use step-by-step procedure Trying 0001, 0002, 0003, etc. + It WILL get the right answer - Often takes times 3. Heuristics – you “use your brain” Trying the person’s birthday, their birth year, 1234 + Usually gets answer quicker - Can fool you * Insight learning – you’re stuck, then it comes all-at-once

Creativity • Def. = ability to create novel and valuable ideas • Creativity and IQ are not the same • IQ tests convergent thinking – ability to focus on 1 correct answer • Creativity tests divergent thinking – seeking multiple answers • 5 parts of creativity… 1. Expertise – a starting point 2. Imagination 3. Venturesome personality – non-conformists 4. Intrinsic motivation – do things for their own value 5. Creative environment

Solutions

Obstacles to creativity • Confirmation bias – tend to seek info that confirms our beliefs • This leads us to think we’re right (overconfidence) • Fixation – being unable to see a problem from a new perspective; I’m stuck. • Mental set – tendency to solve a problem in a way that’s worked before • Can be helpful. Can also trick us. • Functional fixedness – we see only one function for something • Flathead screwdriver or… • …butter knife.

Decisions & judgments • Representativeness heuristic – probability of how well something fits a prototype. • The trick here is that it has to do with numbers. • Truck driver who likes poetry or Ivy League professor? • Availability heuristic – we judge based on how easy it is to get info. • Easy-to-get info means we lean that way. • Belief perseverance – holding onto one’s way of thinking despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. • To fight this, imagine the evidence was the opposite.

Cont. • Intuition – our gut feeling; a decision without hard evidence. • Can be terribly wrong. • Can be right. Often, there is something telling us to think a certain way. • Framing – the way that something is presented affects how we view it. • “Aid to the less-fortunate” versus “money for welfare” • 10% chance of death; 90% survival rate • To “down-play” this, use %, like 10%. . . To “up-play” this, get personal, like 1 people in 10…

Language • Spoken, written, signed words • We can transfer thoughts through the air, paper, electronics, signs via language • Language parts… • 1. Phonemes – basic sounds (no meaning) • English has 26 letters, but… • … 40 phonemes (sounds) • People struggle to make sounds in languages they didn’t grow up with • In English, consonants are more important than vowels • Snstn prtcptn tcky swtr tsdy

Cont. • 2. Morphemes – smallest language units that have meaning • Usually contains 2+ phonemes (“book” has “buh” and “kuh”; tree) • Might be only 1 phoneme (“I”; “oh” – one sound, but has meaning) • Grammar – system of rules for language • Semantics – rules that give us meaning from the morphemes • Syntax – rules used to assemble sentences. • Ex. : in English, the adjective comes before the noun (the white house).

Language & thinking • So close to thinking, it might actually be thinking • Language influences how we think. This is linguistic determinism. • Hopi Indians have no verbs in past tense – they struggle with history. • Brazilian tribe has no number above 2 – they struggle with pile of 7 nuts. • Words influence how we perceive color. Naming it affects seeing it.