Thinking  Cognition  mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating  Cognitive Psychology  study of mental activities  concept formation  problem solving  decision making  judgment formation organizes perceptions processes information interprets experience

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

Try to solve problems by judging truth, making decisions on facts Determining shortcut between solutions General Problem Solver

Problem Solving Strategies Trial & error “Law of Effect” Algorithm –Systematic, step-by-step problem-solving strategy, guaranteed to provide a solution Heuristic –Rule of thumb that allows one to make judgments that are quick but often in error Means–end analysis - heuristic in which difference between starting situation and goal is determined then steps taken to reduce difference. Insight -sudden perception of a solution to a problem.

 Concept  mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people  Prototype  mental image or best example  matching new items to prototype provides quick method for including items in category (comparing feathered creatures to prototypical bird ; robin)  Algorithm methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving problem SPLOYOCHYG - 907,208 COMBINATIONS

 Heuristic "rule of thumb”rule of thumb  simple thinking strategy often allows us to make judgments  solve problems efficiently  usually speedier than algorithms  more error-prone than algorithms Contagion heuristic; people avoid contact with people or objects viewed as "contaminated" value of object is assigned based on amount of perceived effort that went into producing object. Effort heuristic;

Representativeness Heuristic –Tendency to estimate likelihood of event in terms of how typical it seems; does it represent the norm? may cause us to ignore other information Availability Heuristic –Tendency to estimate likelihood of event in terms of how easily instances of it can be recalled; Is the memory available? Plane crashes happen often because we have a vivid memory available of them. Illusion of Control –Tendency for people to believe they can control chance events that mimic skill situations “Blind Spots” in Problem Solving

Peak-end rule; judge past experiences on how they were at peak (pleasant or unpleasant) and how they ended. All other information discarded, including pleasantness or unpleasantness, and how long experience lasted. This heuristic was first suggested by Daniel Kahneman Social proof; aka: informational social influence, in ambiguous social situations when people are unable to determine appropriate behavior. Makes assumption that surrounding people possess more knowledge about situation, behavior of others considered as appropriate.

 Overconfidence tendency to be more confident than correct & to overestimate accuracy of one’s beliefs and judgments  Functional Fixedness think of things in terms of usual functions

Mental Set tendency to approach problem in particular way especially if successful in past but may not be help solving new problem Confirmation Bias Inclination to search only for evidence that will confirm one’s beliefs Belief Perseverance clinging to initial conceptions after basis on which they were formed has been discredited

Anchoring Effect ( focalism) cognitive bias - describes human tendency to rely heavily, or "anchor," on one trait or piece of information when making decisions. Framing Effect –biasing effects on decision making due to way in which a choice is worded Best way to market ground beef— as 25% fat or 75% lean?

All apples are fruit. All fruits grow on trees. Therefore all apples grow on trees. Deductive reasoning Inductive reasoning Top-Down reasoning Bottom-Up reasoning Spain & Portugal are near each other& they have similar languages. Therefore, countries that are near each other have similar languages Sweden & Denmark are near each other & have similar languages.

 Artificial Intelligence  designing/programming computer systems  to do intelligent things  simulate human thought processes  intuitive reasoning  learning  understanding language –True flexibility of human thought processes has yet to be developed in machine.

The Matchstick Problem Solution