C OGNITION Thinking, Problem Solving, Creativity and Language

T HINKING Cognition All mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering an communicating.

C ONCEPTS The mental categories used to organize events and objects, are often arranged in hierarchical order from general to more specific Example - organism, animal, vertebrate, quadruped, dog, collie. Such categories help people to understand new information and to plan Example - by dividing available time into periods for study, class attendance, recreation, and so forth.

P ROTOTYPE A mental image or best example of a category that all members of the category need to be similar

S OLVING P ROBLEMS

S TRATEGIES Algorithms Step by step procedure that guarantee a solution Systematically thinking through every possible solution Heuristics A simple thinking strategy that allows for judgments “Rule of Thumb” that shortcuts solving complex problems Insight A sight and often novel realization of the solution to a problem AHA moment

C REATIVITY The ability to produce ideas that are both novel and valuable Great ideas are often the result of hundreds of mistakes that turned out well.

FIVE COMPONENTS OF CREATIVITY Expertise More knowledge allows for more ideas Imaginative Thinking Skills Looking at things in new ways A Venturesome Personality A person that is willing to try something new Intrinsic Motivation Interest and challenges more important than outcome A Creative Environment Being in a space that fosters thought permits risks

O BSTACLES TO P ROBLEM S OLVING

Confirmation Bias Seeking for information that supports our preconception and to ignore contradictory evidence Fixation The inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective Mental Set A tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, especially when this approach has been successful in the past Functional Fixedness The tendency to think of only the familiar functions for an objects, without imagining alternative uses

M AKING D ECISIONS AND F ORMING J UDGMENTS

R EPRESENTATIVENESS H EURISTIC People tend to judge the probability of an event by finding a ‘comparable known’ event and assuming that the probabilities will be similar. If something does not fit exactly into a known category, we will approximate with the nearest class available. This is a type of stereotyping. We tend to judge people according to the likelihood that they fit our representation of groups to which we feel they should belong

A VAILABILITY H EURISTIC We make a judgment based on what we can remember, rather than complete data. In particular, we use this for judging frequency or likelihood of events.

O VERCONFIDENCE The tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our knowledge and judgments. What percentage of accused felons plead insanity? Less than one percent What percentage are acquitted? Only of a quarter of those are ultimately acquitted

BELIEF PERSEVERANCE PHENOMENON Clinging to one’s own conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited. This could be why teacher’s expectations can influence how student’s perform in school. Teachers that do not believe their students are not capable may not change their minds if they see evidence to the contrary.

F RAMING The way an issue is presented. People can be persuaded by the way products are framed. Sales – 25% off may induce people to spend more than they intended. “Low-Fat” may cause people to over eat not realizing the serving size did not increase