Introduction to Cognition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-sVnmmw6WY Cognitive Psychology = Study of mental processes…how humans receive info from their environment & then Modify it Make it meaningful Store the info Retrieve the info Use the info Communicate info to others

What is Cognition? Literally = “thinking” The brain’s representations of information in the world around us

Concepts = Categories Categories: mental groupings of similar objects, events, and people. .

Concepts Enables us to chunk large amounts of information don’t need to treat every new piece of information as unique Chairs Holidays Fast Food Restaurant Reptiles

Category Hierarchies – We organize concepts into category hierarchies Prototypes – Ask students to think of a bird. Most will think of regular WI songbirds. For example a Robin is a prototypical bird, a penguin is not. Another example – think of a vehicle. Most will think of a car or truck, not a dune buggy or airplane.

What’s the category? Infant Photo albums Jewelry Dog Insurance documents Laptop Expensive Artwork “Things to take from a burning house”

Prototypes = objects or events that represent concepts =Mental image or best example of a category Definitions Triangle or Rectangle Not vary common – mostly we use prototypes You COULD define a bird as a “feathered biped,” but it is likely you used Prototypical: Bird? (Robin) Chair (wooden table chair) Dog (larger) Door

Solving Problems Algorithm Heuristic A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem Heuristic A “mental short cut” strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently (speedier but error-prone)

Examples of obstacles to problem solving… In the Thompson family there are 5 brothers, and each brother has one sister. If you count Mrs. Thompson, how many females are there in the Thompson family? Fifteen percent of people in Topeka have unlisted phone numbers. You select 200 names at random from the Topeka phone book. How many of these people can be expected to have unlisted phone numbers?

Without lifting your pencil from the paper, draw 4 straight lines that will connect all 9 dots. Lines may cross each other, but must be straight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq3ta6SvlTo

Obstacles to problem solving Irrelevant Information Unnecessary constraints (self-imposed limitations)

Obstacles to Problem Solving Confirmation Bias A tendency to search for information that confirms one’s perceptions Seinfeld Example Fixation The inability to see a problem from a new perspective Mental Set = tendency to approach situations in a certain way because that method worked in the past Functional Fixedness = form of cognitive bias in which a person is unable to think of other, more creative uses for an object aside from its traditional use Learned Confirmation Bias Inverse 20 questions – they guess specific instances, and I have in mind a general category Example I used in class with the “guess my sequence” Where we go for news confirms what we already think Seinfeld where the guy thinks George and Jerry are gay Secret Santa, if you guess, you will see “signs” that it is true

Representativeness Heuristic A rule of thumb for judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes people determine the probability of something based on assumptions or past experience used quite often when making decisions based on the likelihood of what we expect Representativeness –Which is more likely: 1. HHHHHH or 2. HTTHTH if a penny is flipped 6 times? Representativeness compares the example to a prototype. We have a prototype (expectation) that a penny will not land on heads 6 times in a row. If I flip a coin 10 times and it lands on heads every single time, what are the odds it will land on heads again? 50/50 Linda is a bank teller example. Die with 4 green sides and 2 red sides will be rolled. You will be paid if RGRRR or GRGRRR. Which do you choose?

Heuristics Example Pick a number between 1 – 9 Subtract 5 Multiply by 3 Square the number (ex 6 x 6 = 36) Add the digits together separately (ex 3 + 6 = 9) if your number is zero add 0+0 If your number is less than 5, add 5 HOWEVER if you number is 5 or above, subtract 4 Multiply by 2 Subtract 6 Find the corresponding letter in the alphabet Think of a country that begins with that letter Find the 2nd letter of the country & think of a mammal that begins with that letter

Heuristics example continued This demonstration of cognitive heuristics works best for people who are most familiar with European countries, for the work required by doing the math pops the name Denmark into their heads most rapidly (instead of the Dominican Republic or Djbouti). And while people can, if they give it some time, think of an animal whose name starts with an E besides an Elephant (how about an Elk), Elephants are cognitively easier for most people.

Using and Misusing Heuristics Availability Heuristic Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory If instances come to mind = we presume such events are common Availability: We overestimate our chances of winning the lottery because we see people winning on the news. Columbine – are you afraid in schools? 9/11 – are you more afraid to fly? Welfare abuse An example comes to mind very quickly is “More available” – my grandpa smoked 3 packs a day for life and was fine. I had bacon for breakfast, blt for lunch, and bacon for dinner – Grumpy Old Men. 1 (or few) cases that are more available does not make it a rule. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_wkv1Gx2vM

Using and Misusing Heuristics Anchoring Heuristic Basing judgements on existing information human tendency to accept and rely on, the first piece of information received Once the anchor is set, it usually wont change. Examples: Everyone in my family wakes up before 8 am even on weekends and my family is very active. Only lazy people sleep past 8. Relying heavily on the model year and odometer when purchasing a used car rather than other aspects that might also be important. Everyone in my family wakes up before 8 am even on weekends, only lazy people sleep past 8. Relying heavily on the model year and odometer when purchasing a used car. Once the anchor is set, it usually wont change. The anchoring and adjustment heuristic was first theorized by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman. In one of their first studies, the two showed that when asked to guess the percentage of African nations which are members of the United Nations, people who were first asked "Was it more or less than 45%?" guessed lower values than those who had been asked if it was more or less than 65%. The pattern has held in other experiments for a wide variety of different subjects of estimation. Others have suggested that anchoring and adjustment affects other kinds of estimates, like perceptions of fair prices and good deals. Cheaper or more expensive here or there makes it a “good deal.” Mississippi River estimates in class

Cognition…did you learn anything? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahg6qcgoay4