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COGNITION

Explore the realm of cognition, reasoning, algorithms, heuristics, and the errors that impact our decision-making processes. Delve into formal and intuitive problem-solving approaches and discover the intricate workings of our thought processes.

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COGNITION

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  1. COGNITION VIEWS ON HOW WE THINK AND ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE

  2. What is cognition? • How we think, acquire knowledge, imagine, plan and solve problems. • All functions of the cerebral cortex. • An important aspect deals with our reasoning abilities.

  3. Reasoning • Drawing conclusions or inferences from observations, facts, or assumptions • Crucial to make wise decisions

  4. Formal reasoning • Factors are well known and clearly established • 2+2=4 • The capitol of Illinois is Springfield. • Snakes lack legs.

  5. algorithms • To solve problems through formal reasoning, we often use an algorithm A step-by-step, routine or mechanical procedure for solving a problem Exhausting all the possibilities Connecting the TV to the VCR A recipe

  6. heuristics • But sometimes problems are too hard to pin down or there are too many competing alternatives • In these cases, we use heuristics – intuitive, “rule of thumb” strategies to simplify a problem or guide an investigation

  7. heuristics • What restaurant do we choose? • What’s my next school? • What career is best for me? • Go Fish! • We use past experiences, advice from those we respect, “word of mouth”, to eliminate most possibilities quickly

  8. The Limits of Heuristics • In many situations heuristics are the only way to tackle a complex problem • But they have their shortcomings • Since they rely on assumptions, occasionally they lead to bad decisions and mistakes

  9. Errors in cognition • Although essential, heuristics sometimes lead us astray

  10. Errors • Confirmation Bias We make quick or emotional decisions and then focus only on evidence which confirms our hunch, ignoring evidence to the contrary A defendant’s greatest fear

  11. More errors • The Availability heuristic • Strategy of assuming that the number of memories of an event that are available indicates how common the event really is • Leads to illusory correlations • Must look to systematic data • One compelling memory jumps to mind

  12. Availability examples • Million dollar lawsuits • Treacherous Arab-Americans • Lotto winners • Full moon/bizarre behavior connection • Abductions

  13. Hindsight Bias • Years later, we claim that we “knew it all along”. • We didn’t. • Bulls 1992 championship • The White Sox’ magical season • Can prevent us from carefully investigating what happened.

  14. Finally …. • The Sunk Cost Effect • We will often do stupid, illogical things because of money or effort already expended • Throwing good money after bad • Animals and kids just walk away • 150,000 soldiers waiting in Kuwait

  15. Why do we gamble? • After all, we know that the odds (Lotto!) are stacked against us • Let us “count the ways” (reasons) • Over-estimation of control • we think we can influence the odds if we have some, or any, control • But not if they are purely random events

  16. Gambling – why? • Big numbers – Little risks • We flock to long-shot bets with small risk • Even if the odds are much worse • We don’t appreciate the difference between 1 in 70,000 and 1 in 7, 000,000 if enough money is dangled in front of us

  17. More on gambling • The Gambler’s Fallacy • The sad fact that we’ve always lost does not mean that someday we’ll win • The law of averages has little effect on truly random events

  18. Old favorites (?) • Intermittent reinforcement – hard to resist, but no certainty of eventual win • Vicarious reinforcement – we see big winners all the time – Why not us? • Sunk cost – we’ll make up all those losses

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