1. WHS AP Psychology Unit 6: Cognition Essential Task 6-1: Define cognition and identify how the following interact to form our cognitive life: schemata/concepts, prototypes, assimilation, accommodation, effortful processing, and unconscious processing.

2. We are here Unit 6: Cognition Unit 6: Cognition Problem Solving Techniques Decision Making Techniques Acquisition and use of Language HeuristicsAlgorithms Compensatory Models Biological Factors Cognitive Factors Representativeness Heuristic Availability Heuristic Cultural Factors Memory Obstacles to Decision Making Obstacles to Problem Solving Information Processing Model StorageEncodingRetrieval

3. Essential Task 6-1: Cognition definition Identify how the following interact to form our cognitive life: –schemata/concepts –prototypes –Assimilation & Accommodation –effortful processing & unconscious processing Outline

4. Cognition Definition Cognition, or thinking, refers to a process that involves knowing, understanding, remembering, problem solving and communicating. Purposeful!

5. Cognitive Psychology Cognition involves a number of mental activities, which are listed below. 1.Concepts 2.Problem solving 3.Decision making 4.Judgment formation 5.Language 6.Memory

6. Schema or Concept The mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people. There are a variety of chairs but their common features make up your CHAIR schema

7. Chair Schema Characteristics? Furniture Seat Four Legs Back Arms Sits one person Cushioned Made of wood

8. Category Hierarchies We organize concepts into category hierarchies. Courtesy of Christine Brune

9. Schemata can get fuzzy Is a whale a mammal? Are penguins and kiwis birds? Are 17 year old people children or adults People more easily detect male prejudice against females than female against males or female against female

10. Can I read your mind? 1.State a color. 2.Name or draw a triangle. 3.List the first type of motor vehicle that comes to mind. 4.Write a sentence 5.Give me a hero. 6.Describe a heroic act 7.Game 8.Philosopher 9.Writer 10.Pop Star

11. I gave schemata and tried to predict prototypes. 1.red or blue 2.a picture of an equilateral triangle 3.a car 4.a short declarative statement, e.g., “The boy an home.” 5.Superman, Batman, or possibly a fireman 6.a single act by a male, e.g. a rescue by a fireman 7.monopoly or some other board game 8.Socrates or Aristotle 9.Stephen King, or some other white male author 10.Spears or Tay Swift

12. Prototypes A prototype is the BEST example or cognitive representation of something within a certain schema or concept. Schema List characteristics that make a place a college or university. Prototype Now list a specific college that BEST represents or embodies those characteristics.

13. Categories Once we place an item in a category, our memory shifts toward the category prototype. A computer generated face that was 70 percent Caucasian led people to classify it as Caucasian. Courtesy of Oliver Corneille

14. Schema Developmental Psychologist Jean Piaget believed that children develop and modify schema by two processes: Assimilation Accommodation

15. Assimilation incorporates new experiences into existing mental structures and behaviors Example: a toddler who has a chocolate lab at home would also incorporate Dalmatians into her schema of dog. Assimilation

16. Accommodation Accommodation occurs when a child’s theories are modified based on an experience Example- The baby with a theory of dogs is surprised the first time she sees a cat- it resembles a dog, but meows instead of barks and rubs up against her rather thank licking The baby must REVISE her previous theory to include this new kind of animal

17. Why is this process important? As adaptation continues, the child organizes his/her schemata into more complex mental representations, linking one schema with another.