Language & Thought Cognition at Work

1950s “Cognitive Revolution” Cognition: Refers broadly to mental processes/thinking. 1950s “Cognitive Revolution” Renegade theorists, such as Herbert Simon, began to argue that behaviorists’ exclusive focus on overt responses was doomed to yield an incomplete understanding of human functioning. Language: Symbols that convey meaning, plus rules for combining those symbols, that can be used to generate an infinite variety of messages.

LINGUISTIC UNIVERSALS Arbitrariness: words are not inherently imbued with meaning. They are selected and stand for objects in the world in an random manner. Dog in English is chien in French. Displacement: language allows us to talk about events that have already happened, events that will happen, and events that may not happen at all. No other form of communication allows for this. Vocal-Auditory Channel: All languages in all cultures rely on this as the primary form of communication using language.

YouTube: The Secrets of Body Language

4 STRATEGIES TO PROBLEM SOLVING 1. ALGORITHMS step-by-step approach. 2. HEURISTICS a procedure that has worked in the past and is seen as likely to work in the future. 3. MEANS-END ANALYSIS keeps in mind the final goal when setting sub-goals. 4. WORKING BACKWARD start with the goal state and work backward until you reach the present state.

Facebook Uses Algorithms To Determine What You See EdgeRank determines what content shows up in the News Feed. Value is based on three things: affinity, weight and time. Affinity: Measured by the engagements and interactions a user has with other posted content. Weight: Measured by the type of content shared– each piece of content varies in Weight. Time: Measured by the recency of a piece of content. Based on the above, Facebook is able to assign a value to every piece of content that ends up in the News Feed. EdgeRank is also responsible for the content users don’t see in their feed. The less users interact with the Pages they have Liked, the less likely they are to see that Page’s content in their feed.

4 STRATEGIES TO PROBLEM SOLVING ALGORITHMS: Step-by-step approach Some algorithms involve simple trial & error. If X is a possible solution to a problem, the algorithm for a solution might be stated: "Try X; if X works, then X = solution; if X doesn't work, then try next X." Clearly, this could go on as many times as there is another possible X. Algorithms guarantee a solution but can be very time consuming.

4 STRATEGIES TO PROBLEM SOLVING HEURISTICS a procedure that has worked in the past and is seen as likely to work in the future. Heuristics are "rules of thumb" based on past experiences. If the light in your room goes out, you could check the fuse box, change the lightbulb, check the wires in the wall or lamp, check the socket, and so on. Because experience suggests that the probability of the light bulb burning out is higher than the other choices, you try that first. Heuristics take less time than algorithms, but they may not result in a solution.

4 STRATEGIES TO PROBLEM SOLVING MEANS-END ANALYSIS final goal is in mind when setting sub-goals In planning your study for finals, you might start with math but will set a time limit because you have exams in three other subjects. Will you need to spend the same amount of time on each? What exactly do you need to focus on?

4 STRATEGIES TO PROBLEM SOLVING WORKING BACKWARD start with the goal state & work backward until you reach the present state. When a company wants to know how its competitor's product works, it will "reverse engineer" that product. This means beginning with the product and analyzing its construction to see what each part does. The company can then begin with its own parts and reconstruct a similar product.

Thinking Mental Set tendency to approach a problem in a particular way especially a way that has been successful in the past but may or may not be helpful in solving a new problem

Thinking Functional Fixedness tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions impediment to problem solving

Macgyver – Functional Fixedness!

The Bridge Riddle

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

The Matchstick Problem Solution to the matchstick problem

The Three-Jugs Problem Using jugs A, B, and C, with the capacities shown, how would you measure out the volumes indicated?

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.

The Candle-Mounting Problem Using these materials, how would you mount the candle on a bulletin board?

The Candle-Mounting Problem Solving this problem requires recognizing that a box need not always serve as a container