2.2 - Thinking, Problem-Solving, Judgments, and Decision-Making

Thinking and Problem-Solving

• Cognition (Thinking): Mental processes involved in knowing, understanding, remembering, and communicating.

• Concepts: Mental groupings of similar objects, events, ideas, or people.

  • Prototypes: A mental image or best example of a category, used to help us quickly identify new things.

  • Schemas: Mental frameworks or generalizations about concepts that help us organize and interpret information.

Problem-Solving Strategies

• Algorithms: Step-by-step procedures that guarantee a solution. Example: Using a formula to solve a math problem.

• Heuristics: Mental shortcuts or rules of thumb that help us solve problems quickly, but may not always be accurate. Example: Looking for a lost item in the last place you remember seeing it.

• Insight: A sudden realization of a solution. Example: The "aha!" moment when you finally understand a concept.

Obstacles to Problem-Solving

• Fixation: Getting stuck in one way of thinking about a problem.

  • Mental Set: The tendency to approach a problem in a way that has worked in the past, even if it's not the best approach for the current problem.

  • Functional Fixedness: The tendency to see an object only in terms of its typical use. Example: Not realizing you can use a dime as a screwdriver.

• Confirmation Bias: The tendency to search for information that confirms our preconceptions and ignore information that contradicts them.

Thinking, Decision Making, and Intelligence

Heuristics and Biases

• Availability Heuristic: Estimating the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples come to mind. Example: We might overestimate the danger of shark attacks because they're highly publicized.

• Representativeness Heuristic: Judging the likelihood of something based on how well it matches our prototype, often leading to stereotypes and ignoring other relevant information.

• Overconfidence: Tending to be more confident than correct.

• Exaggerated Fear: The opposite of overconfidence, having an unrealistic fear of something.

• Framing: How an issue is presented can significantly affect decisions and judgments.

• Belief Bias: Pre-existing beliefs distort logical reasoning, sometimes leading to faulty conclusions.

• Belief Perseverance: Clinging to beliefs even when faced with evidence that contradicts them.

• Hindsight Bias: The tendency to believe, after an event occurs, that we knew it would happen all along. Example: "I knew they'd win the game!" (said after the game ends)

Creativity

Definition: The ability to produce novel and valuable ideas.

• Components of Creativity:

  • Expertise

  • Imaginative thinking

  • Adventuresome personality

  • Intrinsic motivation

  • A creative environment

Thinking and Reasoning

• Analogical Reasoning: Comparing two similar situations to infer that what's true for one is also true for the other.

• Convergent Thinking: Narrowing down possibilities to find the single best solution.

• Divergent Thinking: Generating many possible solutions and ideas, often associated with creativity.

• Deductive Reasoning: Starting with general principles and applying them to specific cases. Example: All humans are mortal. Socrates is human. Therefore, Socrates is mortal.

• Inductive Reasoning: Observing specific examples and forming a general conclusion. Example: Every quiz has been easy. Therefore, the test will be easy.

• Trial and Error: Trying different solutions until you find one that works.

• Syllogism: A form of deductive reasoning with two premises and a conclusion.