Cognition

1. Cognition --conceptualizing, problem-solving, and judgment

2. A. Conceptual Selectivity • Recall perceptual selectivity • Our concepts similarly filter out certain characteristics in favor of others. • Consider the concept “chair.” What attributes have been selected in order to group all chairs under one category? • We not only think in terms of concepts; we create conceptual hierarchies (recliner, chair, furniture) to organize our perceptions.

3. Prototypes • Although some concepts are created by definition (a triangle is a 3-sided shape), most concepts are created through a prototype—a “best example” that incorporates the features we associate with a category. We use the prototype to judge whether other examples belong in the category.

4. Which is the Prototype? • For chair-ness? • For bird-ness?

5. Prototypes can influence memory • Is the 3rd face from the left more Caucasian or Asian? • Once people decide Caucasian and are then shown all of the faces, they tend to remember the 2nd (more Caucasian) face as being the one they were shown the first time around.

6. When information does not fit our prototypes . . . • We are more likely to fail to notice it. • For example, the common prototype for gender discrimination is male discrimination against a female. Female discrimination against males, or female discrimination against females is less likely to be perceived as discrimination.

7. B. Problem-Solving—a second major area of cognition • Methods of problem-solving include trial and error, use of algorithm, and heuristics • Trial and error involves random attempts to solve a problem. It is inefficient. For example, if you try to unscramble the following letters using trial and error, there are over 900,000 possibilities to choose from. SPLOYOCHYG

8. Algorithm • Algorithm is a step-by-step procedure that guarantees a solution to a problem. • An algorithm can be used to solve the Tower of Hanoi problem http://www.cut-the-knot.org/recurrence/hanoi.shtml

9. Heuristics • This method steers clear of some dead ends as unlikely solutions to problems, but incorporates some trial and error as well. • This is how words can be unscrambled without trying all possibilities. For example, I wouldn’t try beginning the word below with 2 Y’s, and I wouldn’t bunch all the consonants together because I know such letter combinations occur rarely. SPLOYOCHYG

10. The “aha” moment of insight in problem-solving produces pleasure • For example, a joke—2 guys hunting. • How do jokes create an “aha” experience?

11. Obstacles to Problem-Solving: 1. Confirmation Bias • We tend to seek information that confirms our previous beliefs rather than information that would disconfirm them. • Example: triangles and circles. Assuming that each card has a triangle on one side and a circle on the other, which card or cards need to be turned over to test this statement: “Every card that has a black triangle on one side has a red circle on the other?” • Everyday examples that matter: WMD in Iraq

12. Obstacles to Problem-Solving: 2. Mental Set • The tendency to solve new problems using the kinds of solutions that have worked in the past. • This usually works. For example, what letters complete this series? O-T-T-F-?-?-?

13. Mental Set • Now look at the following (1-2-3) and solve the problem. O-T-T-F-?-?-? • Now complete the following series. J-F-M-A-?-?-? • The previous problem established a mental set that made the second problem easier for you. • But sometimes mental sets can mislead us.

14. Mental Set • Arrange the six matches on the left below to form four equilateral triangles.

15. Mental Set • Chances are you were thinking in 2-dimensional terms. Now see if it is easier when you think in terms of a new, 3-dimensional mental set.

16. Obstacles to Problem-Solving: 3. Functional Fixedness • Now look at the picture below on the right. How would you use these items in order to mount the candle on a bulletin board?

17. Functional Fixedness • When we think of how objects can be used, we typically think of how they have been used in the past (functional fixedness). However, in solving some problems, we need to imagine alternative uses. For example, a matchbox does not have to be used to hold matches.

18. C. Mistakes in Judgment:1. The Representativeness Heuristic • The tendency to judge the likelihood of things in terms of how well they represent a particular prototype. • Example: 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?

19. The Representativeness Heuristic • What is your prototype of a truck driver? . . . A university professor? • Now consider: A. How many Ivy League schools there are B. How many classics professors at each C. How many of these read poetry D. How many of these fit the physical description

20. The Representativeness Heuristic • How many truck drivers in the world are there? • How many of these are short and slim? • What percentage of these read poetry?

21. Mistakes in Judgment:2. Judging According to Desire • The ice-cream-kale-spam study and judgments of similarity. --Group 1 told they would be given tasty, unhealthy ice-cream --Group 2 told they would be given bitter, healthy kale. Each judged the similarity among these foods. Why did the ice-cream group judge kale and spam to be more similar? Why did the kale group judge ice-cream and spam to be more similar?

22. Mistakes in Judgment:3. Framing decisions • Comparing to past (Which vacation price is best? Should I buy coffee because the price has been lowered?) • Comparing to extremes (The real estate deal) • Comparing meaningless factors (the camera with flash-output-compensation)

23. Mistakes in Judgment:4. Belief Bias Premise 1: Democrats support free speech. Premise 2: Dictators are not democrats. Conclusion: Dictators do not support free speech. Does the conclusion follow from the premises?

24. Belief Bias Premise 1: Robins have feathers. Premise 2: Chickens are not robins. Conclusion: Chickens do not have feathers. Why is it easier to tell in this case that the conclusion does not follow?