1. Cognition- (aka thinking)
What things make up cognition? Our brain receives, perceives, stores, and retrieves information. How then does our cognitive system use this information---logically and illogically—as we form concepts that organize our world, solve problems, and make efficient decisions and judgments? That is what this unit is all about!

2. Cognition We are here Unit 6: Algorithms Heuristics Biological Factors
Representativeness Heuristic
Compensatory Models
We are here
Problem Solving Techniques
Decision Making Techniques
Availability Heuristic
Unit 6:
Cognition
Obstacles to Problem Solving
Obstacles to Decision Making
Biological Factors
Acquisition and use of Language
Memory
Information Processing Model
Encoding
Storage
Retrieval
Cognitive Factors
Cultural Factors

3. Subfield Plug:
Cognition involves a number of mental activities, which are listed below. Cognitive psychologists study these in great detail.
Concepts
Problem solving
Decision making
Judgment formation

4. Concepts In order to think about the world, we form……..
A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas or people.
Concepts are similar to Piaget’s idea of….
Schemas
These animals all look different, but they fall under our concept of “dogs”.

5. OBJECTIVE 2| Describe the roles of categories, hierarchies, definitions, and prototypes in concept formation.

6. We organize concepts into category hierarchies.
Courtesy of Christine Brune

7. Categories get fuzzy Is a whale a mammal?
Are penguins and kiwis birds?
Are 17 year old people children or adults
Heart attack symptoms

8. Can I read your mind? State a color. Name or draw a triangle.
List the first type of motor vehicle that comes to mind.
Write a sentence
Give me a hero.
Describe a heroic act
Game
Philosopher
Writer
Pop Star

9. I gave schemata and tried to predict prototypes.
red or blue
a picture of an equilateral triangle
a car
a short declarative statement, e.g., “The boy an home.”
Superman, Batman, or possibly a fireman
a single act by a male, e.g. a rescue by a fireman
monopoly or some other board game
Socrates or Aristotle
John Green, JK Rowling, or some other white author
Spears or Tay Swift

10. Prototypes We base our concepts on ….
Our concept of men may include all of the following guys….
Prototypes
A mental image or best example of a category.
If a new object is similar to our prototype, we are better able to recognize it.
But they are based on our prototype (ideal) male…..

12. Problem Solving

13. Trial and Error
Ex: Randomly guessing which spot to hit in Battleship.

14. Algorithms
A methodical, logical rule or procedure for problem solving.
Ex: Solving Hangman by guessing “A”, then “B”, then “C”, etc.
Usually by using a formula.
They work but are sometimes impractical.
Computers use algorithms

15. S P L O Y O C H Y G Algorithms
If we were to unscramble these letters to form a word
using an algorithmic approach, we would face
907,208 possibilities.

16. Heuristics
A rule-of-thumb strategy that uses short cuts and prior knowledge to solve problems.
Ex: Solving Hangman by guessing vowels first, then common letters.
Who would you trust to baby-sit your child?
+ : Often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently. Faster.
- : Can be prone to error. Won’t always allow you to find the solution.
Your answer is based on your heuristic of their appearances.

17. Put a Y at the end, and see if the word
Heuristics
Heuristics make it easier for us to use simple principles to arrive at solutions to problems.
S P L O Y O C H Y G
S P L O Y O C H G Y
P S L O Y O C H G Y
P S Y C H O L O G Y
Put a Y at the end, and see if the word
begins to make sense.

18. Insight
A sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem. “A ha!” moments.
No real strategy involved

19. Humans and animals have insight.
Using boxes to
obtain food

20. Insight
Brain imaging and EEG studies suggest that when an insight strikes (the “Aha” experience), it activates the right temporal cortex (Jung-Beeman, 2004). The time between not knowing the solution and realizing it is 0.3 seconds.
From Mark Jung-Beekman, Northwestern
University and John Kounios, Drexel University

21. Do Now Please turn in your RM Review to the bin
Answer the following Qs:
What is your concept of “college”? How was it formed?
What is your prototype of “college”?

22. Hurdles/Obstacles to Problem Solving

23. Confirmation Bias
We look for evidence to confirm our beliefs and ignore evidence that contradicts them.
Example: Administration analysts in 2003 had a tendency to accept info which supported their presumptions about WMDs more readily than info which contradicted them.

25. Example: Confirmation Bias
Imagine that you are the judge in an only-child sole-custody case following a relatively messy divorce. The facts of the case are complicated by ambiguous economic, social, and emotional considerations, and you decide to base your decision entirely on the following facts.
Question: To whom would you award sole-custody of the child?
Parent A: who has an average income, average health, average working hours, a reasonable rapport with the child, and a relatively stable social life;
Parent B: who has an above-average income, minor health problems, lots of work-related travel, a very close relationship with the child, and an extremely active social life.

26. Confirmation Bias Example
For example, if you believe that during a full moon there is an increase in admissions to the emergency room where you work, you will take notice of admissions during a full moon, but be inattentive to the moon when admissions occur during other nights of the month.

27. Fixation
Fixation: An inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective. This impedes problem solving. Two examples of fixation are mental set and functional fixedness.

28. Match Problem
Can you arrange these six matches into four equilateral triangles?

29. Match Problem Fixation
The inability to see a problem from a new perspective.

30. Functional Fixedness The inability to see a new use for an object.
Think of as many uses as you can for a ……

31. Mental Set
A tendency to approach a problem in a particular way, especially if it has worked in the past.
May or may not be a good thing.
Rows/hop example

32. The Jug Problem

33. B – A – 2C = desired amount of water
The Jug Problem
B – A – 2C = desired amount of water

34. The Jug Problem
For problems 6 and 7 (20 and 18), there are easier ways than using your formula from your mental set.
“We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”  Albert Einstein

35. Motivation
If you don’t attempt to solve a problem you won’t.

37. Making Decisions & Forming Judgements

38. Representativeness Heuristic
Who went to Harvard?
Dan is a smart dude, but did not go to Harvard (but he looks like he did).
Judging a situation based on how similar the aspects are to the prototypes the person holds in their mind.
Like thinking everyone from Pattonville is preppy, or someone with glasses is nerdy, or a blonde is not smart.
If I tell you that Sonia Dara is a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, you would make certain quick judgments (heuristics) about her…like about her interests or intelligence.
She is an economics major at Harvard University.

39. In reality, all 3 options are equally likely.
Which answer sequence do you think is most likely to appear on a True/False Quiz:
T T T T T T
F F F T T T
T F F T F T
Chances are, you picked “C” because it best fits with your idea of what a random sequence looks like.
In reality, all 3 options are equally likely.

40. Chances are, she is a beautician!!!
Below is Linda. She loves books and hates loud noises. Is Linda a librarian or a beautician?
Chances are, she is a beautician!!!

41. Availability Heuristic
Which place would you be more scared of getting mugged or even murdered?
Judging a situation based on examples of similar situations that initially come to mind.
Vivid examples in the news often cause an availability heuristic.
The Bronx, NY
The crime rate of Gary, Indiana is MUCH higher than the Bronx. But when you think of crime, which town comes to mind?
Gary, Indiana

43. If it comes to mind easily (maybe a vivid event) we assume it is common.
Although diseases kill many more people than accidents, it has been shown that people will judge accidents and diseases to be equally fatal. This is because accidents are more dramatic and are often written up in the paper or seen on the news on t.v., and are more available in memory than diseases.

44. Heuristics can lead to Overconfidence…
The tendency to be more confident than correct.

45. Belief Perseverance
Clinging to your initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited.

46. Framing
90% of the population will be saved with this medication…..or
10% of the population will die despite this medication.
You should not drink more than two drinks per day….or
You should not drink more than 730 drinks a year.
Look at the following question and think about how the question is worded may effect the way it is answered.
How can businesses become more socially responsible?
The way a problem is presented can drastically effect the way we view it.

47. Belief Bias
Democrats support free speech
The tendency for one’s preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning.
Sometimes making invalid conclusions valid or vice versa.
2. Dictators are not Democrats.
Conclusion: Dictators do not support free speech.

49. See if you can figure out what these seven words all have in common. 1
See if you can figure out what these seven words all have in common? 1. Banana 2. Dresser 3. Grammar 4. Potato 5. Revive 6. Uneven 7. Assess

50. CREATIVITY
Almost impossible to define.