I NTRODUCTION TO C OGNITION HTTPS :// WWW. YOUTUBE. COM / WATCH ? V =R- S V NMMW 6WY HTTPS :// WWW. YOUTUBE. COM / WATCH ? V =R- S V NMMW 6WY Cognitive Psychology = Study of mental processes…how humans receive info from their environment & then Modify it Make it meaningful Store the info Retrieve the info Use the info Communicate info to others

W HAT IS C OGNITION ? Literally “thinking” The brain’s representations of information in the world around us

Concepts = Categories Categories: mental groupings of similar objects, events, and people..

C ONCEPTS Enables us to chunk large amounts of information – don’t need to treat every new piece of information as unique. Chairs Holidays Fast Food Restaurant Reptiles

What’s the category? Human infant Photo albums Jewelry Dog Insurance documents Data discs Tapestries “Things to take from a burning house”

Category Hierarchies – We organize concepts into category hierarchies

Prototypes = objects or events that represent c Prototypes = objects or events that represent concepts =Mental image or best example of a category

S OLVING P ROBLEMS Algorithm A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem Heuristic A short cut strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently (speedier but error-prone)

E XAMPLES OF OBSTACLES TO PROBLEM SOLVING … In the Thompson family there are 5 brothers, and each brother has one sister. If you count Mrs. Thompson, how many females are there in the Thompson family? Fifteen percent of people in Topeka have unlisted phone numbers. You select 200 names at random from the Topeka phone book. How many of these people can be expected to have unlisted phone numbers?

Without lifting your pencil from the paper, draw 4 straight lines that will connect all 9 dots. Lines may cross each other, but must be straight. w.youtube.c om/watch?v =Rq3ta6Svl To

O BSTACLES TO PROBLEM SOLVING Irrelevant Information Unnecessary constraints (self-imposed limitations)

O BSTACLES TO P ROBLEM S OLVING Confirmation Bias A tendency to search for information that confirms one’s perceptions Seinfeld Example Fixation The inability to see a problem from a new perspective Mental Set = tendency to approach situations in a certain way because that method worked in the past Functional Fixedness = form of cognitive bias in which a person is unable to think of other, more creative uses for an object aside from its traditional use Learned

R EPRESENTATIVENESS H EURISTIC A rule of thumb for judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes people determine the probability of something based on assumptions or past experience used quite often when making decisions ….we make our decisions based on the likeliness of a sample to occur in the population.

H EURISTICS E XAMPLE Pick a number between 1 – 9 Subtract 5 Multiply by 3 Square the number (ex 6 x 6 = 36) Add the 2 digits together (ex = 9) If your number is less than 5, add 5 HOWEVER if you number is 5 or above, subtract 4 Multiply by 2 Subtract 6 Find the corresponding letter in the alphabet Think of a country that begins with that letter Find the 2 nd letter of the country & think of a mammal that begins with that letter

H EURISTICS EXAMPLE CONTINUED This demonstration of cognitive heuristics works best for people who are most familiar with European countries, for the work required by doing the math pops the name Denmark into their heads most rapidly (instead of the Dominican Republic). And while people can, if they give it some time, think of an animal whose name starts with an E besides an Elephant (how about an Elk), Elephants are cognitively easier for most people.

U SING AND M ISUSING H EURISTICS Availability Heuristic Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory If instances come to mind = we presume such events are common watch?v=2_wkv1Gx2vM

U SING AND M ISUSING H EURISTICS Anchoring Heuristic Starting with an implicitly suggested reference point (the "anchor") and make adjustments to it to reach their estimate Once the anchor is set, it usually wont change. Examples: Everyone in my family wakes up before 8 am even on weekends = only lazy people sleep past 8. Relying heavily on the model year and odometer when purchasing a used car rather than other aspects that might also be important.