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Problem-Solving Practice. With four straight lines, connect the dots below. You may cross over a line, but you may not trace a line. Thinking and Decision-Making. Creativity. Definition: the capacity to use information and/or abilities in original ways.
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Problem-Solving Practice • With four straight lines, connect the dots below. You may cross over a line, but you may not trace a line.
Creativity • Definition: the capacity to use information and/or abilities in original ways. • You can be creative in any field of study (math, science, history, etc.
Poor Decision-making Practices • Confirmationbias: we tend to seek out information that agree with our preconceptions. • Lazy man believes that the key to stop smoking is using a nicotine patch (and never considers behaviorist therapies) • How Americans get their political news today: we follow the liberal/ conservative news outlets that reflect our personal political ideologies
Problems with Heuristics • Recall what a heuristic is. • RepresentativeHeuristic: If an item is similar to members of a concept, we assume it is also a member of that concept • We flip a coin 5 times and it comes up heads every time. We assume it will come up heads again (its still a 50/50 chance each time)
Problems with Heuristics • AvailabilityHeuristic: relying on information that is either more accessible and overlook information that is less prominent • “Murder is on the rise!” (because you watch too much local news. Murder rates are dropping in most cities) • AnchoringHeuristic: we make our decisions/form judgments based on ideas/standards that are important to us • Having continuous access to the internet is important to you, therefore you make the poor economic decision to pay for your $30 a month data plan (that you don’t even use half of most months).
Overconfidence • Overconfidence: we overestimate the accuracy of what we know. • Confirms beliefs we already hold • Explaining away failure (someone else’s fault) • Overconfidence can make you happier, if more incorrect. • Overconfidence can explain why people accomplish less in their lives than they hope • “Picking up guitar will be easy!”
Framing • Framing: the way an issue/information is presented • Can enormously impact how people form their decisions • Would you rather buy 5 cans for $4 or each can for 79 cents? • Students who are presented with regular milk in front of chocolate milk tend to pick the healthier regular milk more than if the two options are presented side by side. • Fresh veggies and fruits displayed at eye level in a cafeteria line fly off the shelf. • The book Nudge does a fantastic job of applying this principle in a variety of settings, from picking health insurance to eating more vegetables to reforming Social Security and the tax code.