I CAN Distinguish natural and artificial concepts Explain

I CAN • Distinguish natural and artificial concepts • Explain challenges to problem solving • Distinguish the types of bias

What Are the Components of Thought? Thinking is a cognitive process in which the brain uses information from the senses, emotions, and memory to create and manipulate mental representations, such as concepts, images, schemas, and scripts Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Concepts Mental representations of categories of items or ideas, based on experience…enable us to organize knowledge in a systematic way Example: Objects: chairs, birthday parties, birds Properties: red, tiny, large Abstractions: truth, love Relationships: ‘smarter than’ Procedures: tying a shoe Intentions: intention to break into a conversation • You can not be sure that anyone shares your concept of ‘red’ … but you can see if they respond the same way as Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 you do to the stimulus you both call ‘red’

Concepts Natural Concepts Mental representations of objects/events from our personal experiences Example: ’bird’ Prototype Ideal/best example of a concept category IE: best example of a bird is a crow, not a penguin Artificial Concepts Defined by rules As with a math formula or a dictionary definition… Represent precisely defined ideas or abstractions… NOT actual objects in the real world Example: A rectangle; Pythagorean theorem Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Concept Hierarchies • Organize levels of concepts from most general to most specific • Example Living beings ----animals----birds----canary • We organize much of our declarative memories into concept hierarchies Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Animal Has skin Eats Breathes Bird Fish Has wings Can fly Has feathers Has fins Can swim Has gills Canary Ostrich Shark Can sing Is yellow Can’t fly Is tall Can bite Is dangerous Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Salmon Is pink Is edible

Schemas and Scripts Help You Know What to Expect Schema A knowledge cluster or general framework that provides expectations about topics, events, objects, people, and situations in one’s life Terminal: 1. Airline passenger 2. Auto mechanic Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Schemas and Scripts Help You Know What to Expect Script A cluster of knowledge about sequences of events and actions expected to occur in particular settings Going to a restaurant Using a library A first date Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

What Abilities Do Good Thinkers Possess? Good thinkers not only have a repertoire of effective algorithms and heuristics, they know how to avoid the common impediments to problem solving and decision making Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Selecting a Strategy Algorithms Problem-solving procedures or formulas that guarantee a correct outcome if correctly applied Example: balancing a checkbook Heuristics Cognitive shortcuts used to solve complex mental tasks They do not guarantee a correct solution “Rule of Thumb” EX: more expensive means more quality Insight A sudden and novel realization of the solution to a problem Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Friendship Algorithm Big Bang Theory

Obstacles to Problem Solving Mental Set Tendency to respond to a new problem in the manner used for a previous problem Lacks creativity Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Example A child may enter a store by pushing a door open. Every time they come to a door after that, the child pushes the door expecting it to open even though many doors only open by pulling.

Obstacles to Problem Solving Functional Fixedness Inability to perceive a new use for an object associated with a different purpose • Lacks creativity Example If someone needs a paperweight, but they only have a hammer, they may not see how the hammer can be used as a paperweight. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

• Given this sequence, name the next 3 letters: –O T T F. . .

Two-String Problem • You must tie together 2 strings dangling from the ceiling without pulling them down. But when you grab the end of one string and pull it toward the other one, you find that you cannot quite reach the other string. The only objects available to you in the room are on the floor in the corner: a ping-pong ball, five screws, a screwdriver, a glass of water, and a paper bag. How can you reach both strings at once and tie them together?

Other Obstacles to Problem Solving – Self-imposed limitations – Lack of interest – Lack of knowledge – Low self-esteem – Stress – Fatigue – Drugs (legal and illegal) Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Obstacles… • In the Thompson family there are 5 brothers, and each brother has one sister. If you count Mrs. Thompson, how many females are there in the Thompson family?

• Fifteen percent of people in Topeka have unlisted phone numbers. You select 200 names at random from the Topeka phone book. How many of these people can be expected to have unlisted phone numbers? n Irrelevant information = obstacle to problem solving

The Nine-Dot Problem . . Without lifting your pen from the page, can you connect all nine dots with only four lines? Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Judging and Making Decisions Confirmation Bias Hindsight Bias Anchoring Bias Representativeness Bias Availability Bias Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Judging and Making • Ignoring. Decisions or finding fault with Confirmation Bias Hindsight Bias Anchoring Bias Representativeness Bias Availability Bias information that does not fit our opinions… …and seeking information with which we agree For example, if you believe that during a full moon there is an increase in negative student behavior at school where you work, you will take notice of it during a full moon… …but be inattentive to negative student behavior during other nights of the month. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Judging and Making Decisions Confirmation Bias Hindsight Bias • Tendency, after learning about an event, to believe that one could have predicted the event in advance Anchoring Bias Representativeness Bias • “I knew the Patriots were going to lose the Super Bowl” Availability Bias Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Judging and Making Decisions Confirmation Bias Hindsight Bias Anchoring Bias Representativeness Bias Availability Bias • Faulty heuristic caused by basing (anchoring) an estimate on a completely unrelated quantity • The common human tendency to rely too heavily, or "anchor, " on one trait or piece of information when making decisions. • Dumb football player • Happy cheerleader • Airhead blonde Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Judging and Making Decisions Confirmation Bias Hindsight Bias Anchoring Bias Representativeness Bias • Faulty heuristic strategy based on presumption that, once a person or event is categorized, it shares all features of other members in that category • A girl joins the high school hockey team…. Availability Bias Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Judging and Making Decisions Confirmation Bias Hindsight Bias Anchoring Bias Representativeness Bias Availability Bias • Faulty heuristic strategy that estimates probabilities based on information that can be recalled from personal experience • You hear of a Democratic governor being unethical, and you assume all Democrats are unethical Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Deaths per 100 million • All accidents vs. Strokes • (55, 000) vs. (102, 000) • Asthma vs. Electrocution • (920) vs. (500) • Homicide vs. Diabetes • (9, 200) vs. (19, 000) • Appendicitis vs. Lightning • (440) vs. (52) • Car accidents vs. Cancer of digestive system • (27, 000) vs. (46, 400) • Drowning vs. Leukemia • (3, 600) vs. (7, 100)

• The FBI classifies crime in the U. S. into 2 categories – violent crimes, such as murder, rape, robbery, and assault, and property crimes, such as burglary, larceny, or car theft. 1. 2. 3. 4. What percentage of crime would you estimate are violent rather than property crimes? What percentage of accused felons plead insanity? What percentage of these are acquitted? What percentage of convictions for felony crimes are obtained through trial instead of plea bargaining?

Creativity Process that produces novel responses that contribute to the solution of a problem A mental and social process involving the generation of new ideas or concepts Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Aptitudes Innate potentialities for creativity…including • Independence • Intense interest in a problem • Willingness to restructure a problem • Preference for complexity • Need for stimulating interaction • Willingness to take chances • Willingness to fail Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

CAN I? • Distinguish natural and artificial concepts • Explain challenges to problem solving • Distinguish the types of bias