1. Do Now
When given an object we don’t know, how do we go about forming an idea about what it might be?

2. Unit 7B Cognition – Thinking, Problem Solving, Creativity, & Language

3. Cognition
Cognition: The mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
Cognitive Psychologists
Study these activities
How we create concepts
How we solve problems
How we make decisions
How we form judgements

4. Concepts
Concepts: mental groupings of objects, events or people that are similar
Allow us to classify newly encountered objects on the basis of our past experience
We create categories/hierarchies so we can use the info in there efficiently
Prototypes: typical, highly representative example of a concept… usually a mental image or best example of the concept
EX: Bird = small, feathery, flying creature
Concepts speed up and guide our thinking

5. Solving Problems
What strategies do we use when we are trying to solve a problem?
Trial and Error
Algorithms: step by step procedure
A rule
Usually guarantees success
EX: Shoe untied= make a tree, chase bunny around tree, into the whole, pull tight
Heuristic: a cognitive shortcut that MIGHT lead to a solution
More error prone
Faster
EX: mental math rather than writing it out
Insight: sudden awareness of how items are related and seeing the solution to the problem
You often need some prior experience and initial trial-and-error to gain insight

6. Solving Problems - Creativity
Creativity: Ability to produce novel and valuable ideas
If you are creativity you may be able to arrive at a conclusion in a different manner
Intelligence requires convergent thinking, creativity requires divergent thinking
5 Components
Expertise
having a well developed knowledge base helps build ideas , images and phrases that we would normally block out, in essence the more we have to build the better we can put it all together
Imaginative thinking skills
the ability to see things in novel ways, this helps you make connects and see unnoticed patterns
A vertursome personality
having the desire to seek new experiences, being able to tolerate the unknown, overcome obstacles
Intrinsic motivation
Self driven/ driven by your own interests
A creative environment
A place that supports curiosity and exploration

7. Obstacles to Problem Solving
Confirmation Bias: the want to confirm rather than refute the ideas that we already have
Fixation: inability to see a problem from a new perspective
Mental Set: tendency for old patterns of problem solving to persist, and make it impossible for us to see new ways to solve the problem
EX: the only way to start a fire is with a match
Functional Fixedness: tendency to think of an object only in terms of its typical use
EX: a shoe can only be used to protect the feet while walking as opposed to using it as a hammer

9. Today
Discussion/Questions?
Quiz
Begin HW
HW= Qs # 5-7