MODULE 23 COGNITION/THINKING

THINKING 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. The ultimate result of the above building blocks can be the higher processes that we call reasoning, imagining, judging, deciding, problem-solving, creativity---and—sometimes—genius.

COGNITION/THINKING  A concept is a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people.  Prototype is a mental image or best example of a category-formed on the basis of frequently experienced features. (natural concept for a bird)  Testing concepts can be hard since they are not observable. We must infer their influence on people’s thinking indirectly by studying their observable side effects.  Concept of the color red –need to observe whether person responds same way you do to stimuli that you both call ‘red’

TYPES OF CONCEPTS There are two types of concepts  Natural concepts: imprecise mental classifications that develop out of our everyday experiences.  Most of the concepts in our everyday life  Artificial concepts: concepts defined by a set of rules or characteristics, such as dictionary definition or mathematical equations.  Most of the concepts learned in school- example-definition of triangle that you learned in school.

CONCEPT HIERACHIES

COGNITIVE MAPS As we saw before, cognitive maps are mental representations of a given place or situation.  Just the mental image is not enough however. Along with the visual cortex, the frontal lobe of the brain provides us with information on the episode, the context and stimulus of a situation.  Ex. What shape are a German Shepherd’s ears?  --probably consulted a visual image of a German shepherd stored in your memory.

MAKING INFERENCES To help us figure out the episode, the context and stimulus of a situation we do have tools:  Schema: General frameworks that provide expectations about topics, events, objects, people and situations. -Assimilation (integrating new info with what you already know) v. Accommodation (if you find a discrepancy b/w new input and existing schemas-you overcome it by changing what you know.  Script: Schemas about sequences of events and actions expected to occur in particular settings. Ex. We have scripts for going to a restaurant, using the library, listening to a lecture, going on a first date, and even making love

PROBLEM SOLVING When we are faced with a problem, we have a few options for figuring out a solution.  Algorithms: Problem solving procedures or formulas that guarantee a correct outcome if correctly applied. Designed to solve particular kinds of problems for which you have all the necessary information  Heuristics: Simple, basic rules that serve as shortcuts to solve complex mental tasks.  They do not guarantee a correct solution.

SOME USEFUL HEURISTIC STRATEGIES Working Backward Searching For Analogies Breaking a Big Problem into Smaller Problems

ALGORITHMS VS. HEURISTICS Unscramble S P L O Y O C H Y G  Algorithm  all 907,208 combinations  Heuristic  throw out all YY combinations  other heuristics?

MATCHSTIC K PROBLEM How would you arrange six matches to form four equilateral triangles?

THE THREE JUGS PROBLEM Using jugs A, B, and C, with the capacities shown, how would you measure out the volumes indicated

THE CANDLE MOUNTING PROBLEM Using these materials, how would you mount the candle on a bulletin board?

PROBLEMS WITH HEURISTICS  One problem with heuristic are mental sets.  When faced with problems, we have a tendency to approach it in a familiar way.  Especially a way that has been successful in the past but may or may not be helpful in solving a new problem  Mental set: the tendency to respond to a new problem in the manner used for previous problems.

PROBLEMS WITH HEURISTICS Another problem with relying on heuristics is called functional fixedness, a sort of mental set issue.  Functional Fixedness: The inability to perceive a new use for an object associated with a different purpose.

INSIGHT Insight involves a sudden novel realization of a solution to a problem. Humans and animals have insight.

INSIGHT 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 realizing it is about 0.3 seconds.

THE MATCHSTICK PROBLEM SOLUTION TO THE MATCHSTICK PROBLEM

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 Solving this problem requires recognizing that a box need not always serve as a container

JUDGING AND DECISION-MAKING Along with mental sets, bias can make heuristics a faulty decision making tool.  Confirmation bias: makes us pay attention to events that confirm our beliefs and ignore evidence that contradicts them.  Hindsight bias: Tendency to second guess a decision after the event has happened.  Representative bias: Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to match particular prototype  Availability bias: Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory  if instances come readily to mind we presume such events are common