1. Thinking & Language (Chapter 10)
Unit 5
Thinking & Language (Chapter 10)

2. Part 1: Thinking

3. Concepts
concepts: mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people.
Example: There are a variety of chairs but their common features define the concept of a chair.
w/o concepts we would need a different name for every object and idea. We could not ask the child to “throw the ball” because we would have no concept of “ball”. Without a concept for “angry” we would have to describe facial expressions, vocal intensities, gestures, and words.

4. Category Hierarchies We organize concepts into category hierarchies.
Once our categories exist, we use the efficiently. Shown a bird, card, or food, people need no more time to identify an item’s category than to perceive that something is there. “As soon as you know something is there, you know what it is.”
Courtesy of Christine Brune

5. Cognitive Complexity
Think of 1 person you like, and 1 person you dislike
Write descriptions of these people
Habits, beliefs, how they treat others, mannerisms, etc.
NOT physical characteristics
Count up the number of things you listed for both people
5-43, mean of 16
Cognitively complex people are better able to take the perspective of others, are more persuasive, and are better able to deal with ambiguity

6. Development of Concepts
We form some concepts with definitions
Example: a triangle has three sides
Mostly, we form concepts with prototypes: mental images or typical examples
Example: a robin is a prototype of a bird, but a penguin is not.
Bird (mental image)
Do Classroom Exercise: Introducing Prototypes BEFORE this slide
Triangle (definition)

7. Categories
Once we place an item in a category, our memory shifts toward the category prototype.
Shown a face that was 70% Caucasian & 30% Asian led people to classify it as Caucasian, and remember it as more prototypically Caucasian later
Move away from the prototype, the boundaries become fuzzy & we’re slower to identify the item
Courtesy of Oliver Corneille

8. Quick Exercise A bat & a ball cost $1.10 total.
The bat costs $1 more than the ball.
How much does the ball cost?
50% of Princeton students & 56% of UM students get it wrong
Answer: $0.05

9. Problem Solving There are a few ways to solve problems: Trial & Error
Algorithms
Heuristic
OBJECTIVE 3| Compare algorithms and heuristics as problem-solving strategies, and explain how insight differs from both of them.

10. Algorithms S P L O Y O C H Y G
Algorithms: methodical, logical rules or procedures that guarantee solving a particular problem
very time consuming b/c they exhaust all possibilities before arriving at a solution
Computers use algorithms
S P L O Y O C H Y G
If we were to unscramble these letters to form a word using an algorithmic approach, we would face 907,208 possibilities.

11. Heuristics
Heuristics: simple, thinking strategies that allow us to make judgments & solve problems efficiently; less time consuming, but more error-prone than algorithms.
To find guava juice you could search every supermarket aisle (an algorithm) or check the bottled beverage, natural foods, and produce sections (heuristic). Heuristic approach is faster, but the algorithmic search guarantees you will find it.
B2M Productions/Digital Version/Getty Images

12. Put a Y at the end, and see if the word
Heuristics
Heuristics make it easier for us to use simple principles to arrive at solutions to problems.
S P L O Y O C H Y G
S P L O Y O C H G Y
P S L O Y O C H G Y
P S Y C H O L O G Y
Put a Y at the end, and see if the word
begins to make sense.

13. Insight Insight: sudden, novel realization of a solution to a problem
Humans & animals have insight
Grande using boxes to
obtain food

14. Insight
Think of another word that could form a compound word or phrase with each of the following words: Pine Crab Sauce Answer: Apple

15. Insight
EEG studies show right temporal cortex activity when an insight strikes (the “Aha” experience)
From Mark Jung-Beekman, Northwestern
University and John Kounios, Drexel University

16. Obstacles in Solving Problems
Confirmation Bias: tendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions
2 – 4 – 6
Rule: Any ascending series of numbers
(1 – 2 – 3 would comply)
Students had difficulty figuring out the rule due to a confirmation bias (Wason, 1960)
British university students were given the 3-number sequence and asked to guess the rule he used to create the series. Before submitting their answers, the students generated their own sets of numbers, and each time Wason told them whether or not their sets conformed to the rule. Once they had done enough testing to feel certain they had the rule, they were to announce it. The result? Seldom right but never in doubt. Most of Wason’s students convinced themselves of a wrong rule. Typically, they formed a wrong idea (maybe counting by twos) and then searched only for confirming evidence (by testing , , etc.)

17. Obstacles in Solving Problems
Fixation: inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective; impedes problem solving
Examples: mental set & functional fixedness
The Matchstick Problem: How would you arrange six matches to form four equilateral triangles?

18. The Matchstick Problem: Solution
From “Problem Solving” by M. Scheerer. Copyright © 1963 by
Scientific American, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

19. Fixation
mental set: tendency to approach a problem in a particular way, especially if that way was successful in the past

20. Candle-Mounting Problem
Using these materials, how would you mount the candle on a bulletin board?
From “Problem Solving” by M. Scheerer. Copyright © 1963 by
Scientific American, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

21. Candle-Mounting Problem: Solution

22. Fixation
functional fixedness: tendency to think only of the familiar functions of an object

23. Jokes, Riddles, & Insight
Insight provides a sense of satisfaction. The solution to a riddle or the joy of a joke may come in our sudden comprehension of an unexpected ending or a double meaning.
Let’s look at some examples.
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