Thinking and Language Concepts and Problem Solving

Thinking zCognition ymental activity associated with processing, understanding, and communicating information

Thinking zCognitive Psychology ythe study of these mental activities xconcept formation xproblem solving xdecision making xjudgment formation ystudy of both logical and illogical thinking

Concept Formation zConcept ymental grouping of similar objects, events, or people xIsles in a grocery store xAddresses xAnimals xethnicity

Concept Formation zPrototype ythe best example of a category xmatching new items to the prototype provides a quick and easy method for including items in a category

Problem Solving zAlgorithm ymethodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem yExample: You have lost your cell phone somewhere in your house, how will you find it?

Problem Solving zHeuristic yrule-of-thumb strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently yusually speedier than algorithms ymore error-prone than algorithms ysometimes we’re unaware of using heuristics zExample: you need to find mustard at the grocery store

Problem Solving Unscramble R N A B E U S L M C zAlgorithm yall 907,208 combinations zHeuristic ythrow out all odd combinations yother heuristics?

Problem Solving zInsight ysudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem ycontrasts with strategy-based solutions

Problem Solving zWolfgang Kohler’s experiment on insight by a chimpanzee

Examples to insight zWord problems zBrain teasers...

Obstacles to Problem Solving zMental Set zFixation zConfirmation Bias

Obstacles to Problem Solving zMental Set ytendency to approach a problem in a particular way yespecially a way that has been successful in the past but may or may not be helpful in solving a new problem

Fixation zS,M,T,W,... zJ,F,M,A,... zO,T,T,F,... zD,H,L,P,...

Obstacles to Problem Solving zFixation yinability to see a problem from a new perspective

Obstacles to Problem Solving zFixation yinability to see a problem from a new perspective yimpediment to problem solving zFunctional Fixedness ytendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions

The Matchstick Problem zHow would you arrange six matches to form four equilateral triangles?

The Matchstick Problem zSolution to the matchstick problem

The Candle-Mounting Problem zUsing these materials, how would you mount the candle on a bulletin board?

The Candle-Mounting Problem zSolving this problem requires recognizing that a box need not always serve as a container

Obstacles to Problem Solving zConfirmation Bias ytendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions

zA father and son were coming home late one night when they were in a horrible car accident. The father died instantly. The son survived but was hurt badly and was rushed to the hospital for surgery. Upon entering the operating room the chief surgeon gasped and said “I cannot operate on this boy, he is my son!” zHow can this be?