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Thinking

Module 23

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Thinking Overview

Thinking Concepts

Solving Problems

Making Decisions and Forming Judgments

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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

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In Class Exercise on Prototypes

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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)

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Triangle (definition) Bird (mental image)

Daniel J. C

ox/ Getty Im

ages

J. Messerschm

idt/ The Picture C

ube

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Category Hierarchies

We organize concepts into category hierarchies.

Courtesy of C

hristine Brune

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Categories

Once we place an item in a category, our memory shifts toward the category prototype.

A computer generated face that was 70 percentCaucasian led people to classify it as Caucasian.

Cou

rtesy o

f Olive

r Co

rne

ille

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Problem SolvingProblem solving strategies include:

1. Trial and Error2. Algorithms3. Heuristics4. Insight

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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

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AlgorithmsAlgorithms, which are very time consuming, exhaust all possibilities before arriving at a

solution. Computers use algorithms.

S P L O Y O C H Y G

If we were to unscramble these letters to form a word using an algorithmic approach, we would face

907,200 possibilities.

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HeuristicsMental shortcuts

that allow us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently. Heuristics are less

time consuming, but more error-prone than algorithms.

Heuristics with the psych files 15:12 B2M

Productions/D

igital Version/G

etty Images

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HeuristicsHeuristics make it easier for us to use simple principles to arrive at solutions to problems.

S P L O Y O C H Y GS P L O Y O C H G YP S L O Y O C H G YP S Y C H O L O G Y

Put a Y at the end, and see if the wordbegins to make sense.

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InsightInsight involves a sudden

novel realization of a solution to a problem.

Humans and animals have insight.

Chimp Problem solving: Link 1:03

Crow Problem solvingLink :48

Rook Prob solvingLink 1:40

Grande using boxes toobtain food

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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.

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Insight (it can be seen in the brain before you are

conscious of it)Brain imaging and

EEG studies suggest that when an insight

strikes (the “Aha” experience), it

activates the right temporal cortex (Jung-

Beeman & others, 2004). The time

between not knowing the solution and

responding is about 0.3 seconds.

From M

ark Jung-Beekm

an, Northw

estern U

niversity and John Kounios, D

rexel University

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Thought Puzzle

• 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 ____

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Thought Puzzle

Sequence

8 5 9 1 7 2 ____

Now think about the words rather than the numbers

Eight Five Nine One Seven Two _____

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Thought Puzzle

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.

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Where should we put the armor… where are the missing

bullet holes???

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Section of plane Bullet holes per square foot

Engine 1.11

Fuselage l.73

Fuel system 1.55

Rest of the plane 1.8

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Thought Puzzle #2 – Connect the dots with no more than 4 straight lines without

lifting your pen.

* * ** * ** * *

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Thought Puzzle #2 – Connect the dots with no more than 4 straight lines

without lifting your pen.

* * ** * ** * *

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Thought Puzzle #2

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.

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What path will the marble follow when it leaves the curved tube?

Figure: Applying a Mental Model

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Are these pairs of objects the same or different?

Manipulating Images

Return

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Obstacles in Solving Problems

Confirmation Bias: A tendency to search for information that confirms a personal bias.

2 – 4 – 6

Discover the rule

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Fixation

The Matchstick Problem: How would you arrange six matches to form four equilateral triangles?

From

“Problem

Solving” by M

. Scheerer. C

opyright © 1963 by

Scientific A

merican, Inc. A

ll Rights R

eserved.

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Using these materials, how would you mount the candle on a bulletin board?

Candle-Mounting Problem

From

“Problem

Solving” by M

. Scheerer. C

opyright © 1963 by

Scientific A

merican, Inc. A

ll Rights R

eserved.

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The Three-Jugs Problem

Using jugs A, B, and C, with the capacities shown, how would you measure out the volumes indicated?

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Fig. 8-6, p. 311

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Fig. 8-7, p. 312

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The Matchstick Problem: Solution

From

“Problem

Solving” by M

. Scheerer. C

opyright © 1963 by

Scientific A

merican, Inc. A

ll Rights R

eserved.

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Candle-Mounting Problem: Solution

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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.

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Using and Misusing Heuristics

Two kinds of heuristics, representative heuristics and availability heuristics, have been identified by cognitive psychologists.

Amos Tversky Daniel Kahneman

Courtesy of G

reymeyer A

ward, U

niversity of L

ouisville and the Tversky fam

ily

Courtesy of G

reymeyer A

ward, U

niversity of L

ouisville and Daniel K

ahneman

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Probability that that person is a truck driver is far greater than an ivy league professor just because there are more truck drivers than

such professors.

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 and likes poetry, what do you think his profession would be?

More likely an ivy league professor of ancient Greek history or a truck driver?

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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

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OverconfidenceOverconfidence: 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. Mind over Money at NOVA 52:52

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• …overconfidence increases with action. As we actively engage, we become more confident in what we are doing.

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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

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Exaggerated Fear

Exaggerated fear: about what may

happen. Such fears may be unfounded. This is opposite of

having overconfidence.

The 9/11 attacks led to a decline in air travel due to fear.

AP

/ Wide W

orld Photos

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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?

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• California State University Professor Mike Orkin points out that if a person drives ten miles to buy a lotto ticket, he or she is about sixteen times more likely to get killed in a car crash than to win the lotto.

• The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution by Sean B. Carroll

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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?

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Thinking

Belief Bias the tendency for one’s preexisting beliefs to

distort logical reasoning sometimes 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

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Belief Bias example

God is love.

Love is blind

Ray Charles is blind.

Ray Charles is God.Anonymous graffiti

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Fluency Effect

• If the form of information is difficult to assimilate, that affects our judgments about the substance of that information.

• Subjects rated the exercise as harder and said they were less likely to try it when the instructions were printed in a font that was hard to read.

Who will you vote for?

• Sangmeister and Pucinski

• Or

• Fairchild and Hart

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Perils & Powers of IntuitionIntuition may be perilous if unchecked, but

may also be extremely efficient and adaptive.

Irrational behavior linkMyers on Intuition

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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…

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End