1. Cognition Concepts and Creativity

2. Cognition Mental activity o Thinking o Knowing o Remembering o Communicating “Thinking about thinking” Does the way we think really matter? Maybe studying the way we think will lead us to think better.

3. Concepts A mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas or people. Concepts are similar to Piaget’s idea of…. In order to think about the world, we form…….. Schemas These animals all look different, but they fall under our concept of “dogs”. Simplify and speed our thinking Give a lot of information with little effort

4. What is a schema? A schema is a set of ideas about something. Our stereotypes come from our schemas. What is your schema for an office?

5. People were asked what they remembered about this picture. 29 out of 30 recalled chair, desk, and walls Only 8 subjects recalled it had a skull 9 subjects recalled it had books which it did not

6. Concepts Some are formed with definitions Triangle has 3 sides Most are formed with mental images or typical examples The office

8. Bolt 10 - 6

9. Prototypes A mental image or best (typical) example of a category If a new object is similar to our prototype, we are better able to recognize it. Which bird is a prototypical bird?

10. Think-Pair-Share Write down three prototypes and their categories. (2 minutes) Share with partner – 2 min. Share 1 with class

11. Prototypes

12. Creativity The ability to produce novel and valuable ideas Positive correlation with IQ - 120 and up 2 different areas in the brain o Convergent Thinking – single correct answers – traditional IQ tests – Left Parietal Lobe o Divergent Thinking – out of the box/open ended – how many uses for a brick? – Frontal Lobe

13. Creativity No set Creativity Quotient (CQ) 5 components o Expertise – well developed base of knowledge – building blocks o Imagination – recognize patterns, make connections, new/novel, redefine, explore o Venturesome Personality – seek new experiences, tolerate risk and uncertainty, persevere through setbacks o Intrinsic Motivation – satisfaction in the challenge/puzzle, it’s the work itself, obsessive o Creative Environment – mentored, pushed, supported

14. Cognition Problem Solving

15. Tower of Hanoi Problem What are the 2 ways you could solve this?

16. Tower of Hanoi Problem

17. Trial and Error

18. Algorithms A rule that guarantees the right solution to a problem. Usually by using a formula. They work but are sometimes impractical.

19. Guess my phone number using an algorithm. 000-000-0000 000-000-0001 000-000-0002 000-000-0003 000-000-0004 Algorithms are slow, but eventually accurate. Computers use algorithms.

20. Heuristics A rule of thumb that generally, but not always, can be used to make a judgment to solve a problem. It’s a short cut. It is fast, but is… Prone to errors

21. Guess my phone number using a heuristic. Since I live in this area, you can guess my number begins with 502, 270, or 812. Then the fun will begin.

22. Unscramble this word using a heuristic euqne Since q and u always go together, you put them together as a shortcut. Then you figure out the rest.

23. Come up with some! With a partner, come up with two examples of algorithms and heuristics each. (2minutes)

24. Insight A sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem. No real strategy involved Creates a feeling of satisfaction and happiness o Jokes and riddles – Bolt 10

25. Dice Game: Petals Around a Rose Bolt pg. 7

26. What are some obstacles to problem solving?

27. Confirmation Bias A tendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions. For example, if you believe that during a full moon there is an increase in admissions to the emergency room where you work, you will take notice of admissions during a full moon, but be inattentive to the moon when admissions occur during other nights of the month.

28. Match Problem Can you arrange these six matches into four equilateral triangles? (3 minutes)

29. Match Problem Fixation The inability to see a problem from a new perspective.

30. The Nine-Dot Problem... Without lifting your pen from the page, can you connect all nine dots with only four lines?

31. Mental Set A tendency to approach a problem in a particular way, especially if it has worked in the past. May or may not be a good thing. WHY?

32. Functional Fixedness The tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions. What are some things I can do with this quarter (other than spend it)?

33. Barriers: Functional Fixedness Functional fixedness: unable to think of unusual or unique uses for objects

34. Divergent thinking, Convergent thinking Divergent thinking is thinking outside the box. It means you are creative in coming up with solutions nobody else came up with. (shocks to build muscle) Convergent thinking is more conforming but just as good. Sometimes the standard way is the best. (lifting weights to build muscle)

35. Cognition Decision Making and Judgements

36. Intuition Each day we have hundreds of decisions and evaluations to make. Most often we follow intuition o Fast, automatic, unreasoned thoughts and feelings o Use heuristics

37. Types of Heuristics (That often lead to errors)

38. Representativeness Heuristic A rule of thumb for judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they match our prototype. Can cause us to ignore important information. Below is Linda. She loves books and hates loud noises. Is Linda a librarian or a beautician?

39. Representativeness Heuristic Judging a situation based on how similar the aspects are to the prototypes the person holds in their mind. Like thinking everyone from North is preppy, or someone with glasses is nerdy, or a blonde is not smart. If I tell you that Sonia Dara is a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, you would make certain quick judgments (heuristics) about her…like about her interests or intelligence. She is an economics major at Harvard University. Who went to Harvard? Shane is a smart dude, but did not go to Harvard (but he looks like he did).

40. Who would you go to for math tutoring? Our heuristic thinking will tell us to go to the smoking nerd.

41. Availability Heuristic Availability Heuristic Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in our memory. If it comes to mind easily (maybe a vivid event) we presume it is common. Although diseases kill many more people than accidents, it has been shown that people will judge accidents and diseases to be equally fatal. This is because accidents are more dramatic and are often written up in the paper or seen on the news on TV., and are more available in memory than diseases.

42. People over-estimate the likelihood of getting killed by a tornado because of the availability heuristic. o Air plane crashes and shark attacks Begin to fear rare events

43. Overconfidence The tendency to be more confident than correct. To overestimate the accuracy of your beliefs and judgments. Considering “overconfidence” do you want to risk 1 million dollars on an audience poll?

44. Belief Perseverance Clinging to your initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited. All Titans fans who still believe that this is their year are suffering from belief perseverance.

45. Framing 90% of the population will be saved with this medication…..or 10% of the population will die despite this medication. You should not drink more than two drinks per day….or You should not drink more than 730 drinks a year. The way a problem is presented can drastically affect the way we view it.

46. Framing the abortion debate Do you support a woman’s right to choose her medical procedures. Her right to privacy? Do you support the murder of an unborn child? How the question or debate is framed affects how we think about an issue.

47. Belief Bias 1.Democrats support free speech The tendency for one’s preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning. Sometimes making invalid conclusions valid or vice versa. 2.Dictators are not Democrats. 3. Republicans are not Democrats. Conclusion: Republicans do not support free speech.

48. Intuition can lead you astray when you over feel and under think Use it wisely o Let a problem “incubate” or “marinate”  unconsciously process/sleep on it o Allows us to act quickly and avoid repeating mistakes in dangerous or harmful situations by calling on past situations o Become implicit knowledge  analysis becomes habit First responders who immediately spring into action

49. 1. The belief that the probability of heads is higher after a long string of tails: A. is rational and accurate B. is an example of “gambler’s fallacy” C. reflects the influence of the representatives heuristic. D. b and c

50. 2. A heuristic is: A. a flash of insight B. guiding principle or rule of thumb used in problem solving C. a methodical procedure for trying all possible solutions to a problem. D. a way of making a compensatory decision.

51. 3. The more confident you are about your predictions of upcoming events in your life: A. the more likely it is that your predictions are accurate B. the less likely it is that your predictions are overconfident C. the more likely it is that your predictions are overconfident D. a and b

52. D, B, C