Mr. Leonoff WICHS Psychology Thinking Mr. Leonoff WICHS Psychology

Def: changing and reorganizing info stored in memory to create new or transformed info Areas of Thinking: Cognitive Problem-Solving Thinking

Thinking Units of Thought Processes that help direct the process of thought Image: visual, mental representation of a specific event of object Highlights the main idea – not always specific Symbol: sound, object, or design that represents an object or quality Can have multiple meanings… Ex: Words, Numerals, letters, icons Symbols lead to concept formation Concepts contain common attributes to classify Ex: Animals, Music, Vehicles These are then known as Prototypes (characteristics of the particular concept) Thinking

Thinking Units of Thought, cont. Rule: statement of relation between concepts Ex: A person cannot be in two places at the same time Ex: Mass remains constant despite changes in appearance These are the building blocks of mental activity Thinking

Thinking Concept Formation Categorize information (Apples and Oranges = Fruits) Concept – category used to group objects, events, and characteristics on the basis of common properties Without concepts, we cannot generalize information – everything would be unique Concepts allow us to relate experiences and objects Biology, Math, English = Subjects learned in school Allow our memory to be more efficient Remember characteristics of the concept rather each object or experience Thinking

Thinking Concept Formation, cont. Concepts keep us from constantly needing to relearn We understand what the concept means because of prior clues Need to form hypotheses in order to create a concept Educated guesses that are tested to determine the proper concept Thinking

Thinking Concept Formation, cont. Prototype Matching – decide if an item belongs to a concept based on matching to a concept’s best representative Ex. Is a short, stalky man a prototype of an NBA player? Thinking

Reasoning: combine results of two or more learning experiences to arrive at a desired goal Deductive Reasoning (Deduction): Thinking more generally to specific (“Top Down”) All Mammals have DNA. Sheep are mammals. Therefore, Sheep have DNA. Inductive Reasoning (Induction): Thinking more specifically to broad generalizations (“Bottom Up”) Sheep are mammals and they have DNA. Pigs are Mammals and they have DNA. Therefore, all mammals have DNA. Leads to a conclusion that is probable or likely to be true, but may need further investigation Thinking

Thinking Reasoning, cont. Directed Thinking: systematical and logical attempt to reach a specific goal or answer through reasoning Ex: Math Problem Depends on symbols, concepts, rules Deliberate and Purposeful Thinking

Thinking Reasoning, cont. Divergent Thinking: come up with a variety possible alternative solutions (Creative Thinking) Ex: Essay Convergent Thinking: narrow down many possibilities to find one good solution Ex: Multiple Choice Undirected Thinking: Free flow of thoughts Fantasies, Daydreams Thinking

Thinking Metacognition “Thinking about Thinking” Mental activities (Mind) How info enters, is stored and transformed, and retrieved Thinking of the accuracy and validity of your thoughts, decisions, and judgements Monitoring your understanding Measuring your progress toward completing a task Thinking

Thinking Decision Making Usually automatic Why did you do something? “Gut Decision” = Intuition: what feels right Strategies Setting a deadline to help procrastinators Making a list to help organization or see options Decision Tree – If I do this, I move here, and so on to an outcome Obstacles Procrastination, Avoidance, Fear of Failure, Misunderstanding Thinking

Thinking Problem Solving Bridge a gap between a situation and desired goal Need concepts to guide problem solving Def: attempt to find an appropriate way of attaining a goal when the goal is not readily available Why car won’t start, how to save money to buy a car, how to get into college… Thinking

Thinking Problem Solving Strategies Step 1: Define the Problem Step 2: Find possible solutions Step 3: Evaluate possibilities and select best one Step 4: Put the solution to action Thinking

Thinking Strategies, cont. Algorithms – procedures that guarantee an answer to a problem Specific set of steps (Ex: Equations) Can be time consuming Heuristics – strategies that suggest a solution to problem Shortcuts that allow a quick solve Could result in bad decision – miss pertinent info Ex: Subgoaling, Working Backwards, Estimating Probabilities, Past experience solving a problem Thinking

Thinking Heuristics, cont. Availability Heuristic – Rely on info that is more prominent or easily recalled and overlook info that is available but less prominent Ex: Overestimate chances of winning the lotto Representativeness Heuristic – Assume that if an item is similar to members of a particular category, it is probably a member of that category, too 10 flips of coin = tails 10x; odds are it will be heads on #11 (50-50 chance no matter what) Anchoring Heuristic – Make decisions based on certain ideas/standards important to us then verge to an acceptable result Negotiating a price that both parties agree to Thinking

Thinking Problem Solving, cont. Contemporary Model Defining Problems Define the problem as carefully as possible Ex. Why exactly does someone have high blood pressure? Need to be specific Divide problem into subgoals – achieve smaller goals in order to solve the larger goal Thinking

Thinking Problem Solving, cont. Exploring Alternative Approaches Analyze how you currently are reacting to the problem Consider other options/strategies that could be used Thinking

Thinking Problem Solving, cont. Exploring Alternative Approaches Learning Sets – Solving problems with the same strategy or tendency Nine Dot Problem – Draw 9 dots, 3x3 on a piece of paper Connect the dots using only 4 straight lines without removing pencil from paper Why is this difficult? Thinking

Thinking Problem Solving, cont. Exploring Alternative Approaches Functional Fixedness – the inability to solve a problem because it is viewed only in terms of its usual function More difficult if the problem needs to be solved in a new and different way Ex: WordBrain – see a word that doesn’t fit, but you continue to focus on that word Thinking

Thinking Problem Solving, cont. Mental Set A particular strategy becomes a habit Interfere with solving a problem = rigidity Thinking

Thinking Creative Thinking Ability to use info in such a way that the result is somehow new, original, and meaningful Step 1: Preparation – gather info Step 2: Incubation – define problem and process info Step 3: Illumination – pieces fall into place Step 4: Verification – evaluates result/make adjustments Thinking

Thinking Creative Thinking, cont. Flexibility – ability to overcome rigidity Able to find multiple solutions to a problem Recombination – rearranging a mental set of the elements to a problem Utilizing past knowledge to create new forms of that knowledge Insight – sudden emergence of a solution Usually comes after a long struggle or frustration “Aha” Moment Thinking

1. What is the difference between algorithms and heuristics? 2. Describe the characteristics of creative thinking. 3. What are the building blocks of mental activity? 4. How can problem solving strategies become obstacles? 5. How do flexibility and recombination lead to insight? 6. What is a situation affecting our school? Describe how you would solve this problem using problem solving techniques. Lesson 1 Review