You hear people say: “Let me think about that” “What do you think?” “I don’t think so” “I think I like it”

What does it mean to “Think?”

Textbook Definition Academic term Think (cognition): is the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating (processing = organizing & attempting to understand information and then communicating that information to others)

One of the basic elements of thought is the idea of a CONCEPT Concepts One of the basic elements of thought is the idea of a CONCEPT a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas or people

Concept activity In a group with 1 – 2 other people write down as many uses of the following item as possible. Chair All the uses you came up with represent thinking and coming up with multiple concepts.

Concepts simplify our thinking Chair High Chair Dentist Chair Rocking Chair Recliner Desk Chair Throne Without concepts, we would need a different name for every person, idea, object, event, etc.

Hierarchical Organization of Conceptual Categories Superordinate Level - the most general form of concept (animal, vehicle, fruit, utensil) Basic Level Categories - an example of a type of concept around which other similar concepts are organized (dog, car, pear, knife, table) Subordinate Level - the most specific category of a concept such as a very specific example (German Shepard, Honda, Bradford pear, steak, card table)

Hierarchical Organization of Conceptual Categories

We often form concepts by developing prototypes. a mental image or best example of a category Bird – more people quickly agree that “a robin is a bird” than “a penguin is a bird” because a robin more closely resembles our bird prototype

activity In your group, identify a prototype of some sort, then come up with a close example of the prototype and a not-so-close example.

Problem Solving

Problem Solving A process of cognition that occurs when a goal must be reached by thinking and behaving certain ways.

Different ways to Problem Solve Trial & Error – use trial solutions until one works Algorithms – step-by-step procedures for solving certain types of problems. Math problems Library organization Rubik’s Cube® Heuristics – an educated guess, a “rule of thumb” that helps narrow down possibilities

Heuristics Representative Heuristic: Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match particular prototypes; may lead to ignoring relevant information. A heuristic is similar to using intuition, which is an effortless, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with conscious reasoning.

Representative Heuristic A stranger tells you about a person who is short, slim, and likes to read poetry, and then asks you to guess whether this person is more likely to be a professor of classics at an Ivy League university or a truck driver. Which would be the better guess?

First, figure out how many professors fit the description First, figure out how many professors fit the description. Q = How many Ivy League universities do you suppose there are? A = about 10 Q = How many classics professors are there at each one? A = maybe 4 4 X 10 = 40 Q = What fraction are short & slim? A = perhaps half 40 / 2 = 20 Q = Of these, how many like to read poetry? A = a guess of half 20 / 2 = 10 Ok – 10 professors fit the description

Now, figure out how many truck drivers fit the description Now, figure out how many truck drivers fit the description. Q = How many truck drivers are there? A = perhaps 400,000 Q = What fraction are short & slim? A = Not many, maybe 1 in 8 50,000 Q = Of these 50,000, how many like to read poetry? A = Truck drivers reading poetry? Maybe 1 in 100 So that means there are probably about 500 short, slim, poetry-reading truck drivers. What odds do you think favor the person being a truck driver?

Availability Heuristic Estimating the likelihood of events based on the availability in memory. If instances come to mind, we presume such events are common. Risk of death from various causes?

Different ways to Problem Solve Insight – a sudden realization of a problem’s solution. This contrasts with strategy-based solutions. Think of a word that will form a compound word with each of these: Pine Crab Sauce APPLE: Pineapple, Crabapple, Applesauce

Obstacles to Problem Solving Confirmation Bias – the tendency to search for information that supports our presuppositions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence.

Connect all 9 dots using 4 straight lines, and do not lift your pencil in the process Think Outside the Box

Think Outside the Box

Chicken, Fox & Grain Problem You have a boat and need to take a fox, a chicken and some corn across a river. The boat will only hold you and one other thing. If you leave the chicken alone with the corn, the chicken will eat the corn. If you leave the fox alone with the chicken, the chicken's in big trouble. How can you get them all across in the least amount of trips possible?

Take chicken over Go back, and bring fox over Take chicken back, pick up corn Take corn over & leave with fox Go back and get chicken

Mental Set A Mental Set is a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past. Given the sequence O-T-T-F-?-?-?, what are the 3 final three letters? Now, finish this sequence: J-F-M-A-?-?-? 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 - 7

Overconfidence Overconfidence is the tendency to be more confident than correct – to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments.

Overconfidence History is full of leaders who were more confident than correct. Classrooms are full of overconfident students Time deadlines Study habits for tests

Belief Perseverance Belief Perseverance is holding on to a belief in the face of contradictory evidence. Classic study on capital punishment: Both sides shown two supposedly new research findings, one supporting and the other refuting. Each side impressed with study that supported their own beliefs and disputed the other.

Belief Perseverance Flat earth theory Moon landing in movie soundstage The more we come to think our beliefs are true, the more we hang on to them. Remember, belief perseverance is holding on to a belief in the face of contradictory evidence. Flat earth theory Moon landing in movie soundstage Full moon affects behavior Sugar makes children hyperactive Hair & fingernails continue to grow after death

Other Common Cognitive Obstacles The myth of the “Hot Streak” Being on a “winning streak” or “losing streak” The Gambler’s Fallacy Chance of something occurring depends on whether or not it has happened recently Loss Aversion People avoid taking losses, so losses stand out to us more. This is one reason why people using cash spend less than with credit cards.

Framing Framing refers to the way an issue is presented. How an issue is framed can affect decisions and judgments. Imagine 2 surgeons explaining surgery risk: 10% of people die –vs– 90% of people survive Organ donor “opt in” –vs– “opt out Those who understand the power of framing can use it to influence our decisions.