Cognitive Process

1. Cognitive Process • Higher mental process, such as perception memory, language, problem solving and abstract thinking • Cognition • Process of knowing • Attending, remembering and reasoning • Content of the process, such as concepts and memories

2. Cognitive Process • Cognitive psychology • Study of higher mental processes • Including attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving and thinking

3. Cognitive Process • Cognitive science • Interdisciplinary field study of the approach systems and processes that manipulate info

4. Studying Cognition • FC Donders (1868) • Extra mental steps will often result in more time to perform a task • Serial process- two or more mental processes that are carried out in order, one after the other

5. Studying Cognition • Parallel process • Two or more mental processes that are carried out simultaneously • Doing two things at once

6. Studying Cognition • Controlled processes • Require attention • Difficult to do two at one time • Automatic processes • Does not require attention • Can be performed along with other task with out interferences

7. Language Use • Language production • What people say sign and write as well as the process they go through to produce the messages • Audience design • Process of shaping a message depending on the audience for which it is intended

8. Language Use • Cooperative principle • Paul Grice (1975) • Speak utterances appropriate to setting and meaning of ongoing conversation • Common ground • Herbbert Clark (1981) • Common knowledge • Community membership – in community • Linguistic copresence-earlier talk • Physical copresence-objects around

9. Language Use • Spoonerism • Error in language • An exchange of the initial sounds of two or more words in a phrase or sentence • Ex. Messing up a tongue twister

10. Language Use • Lexical • Lexicon or synonym for dictionary • Lexical ambiguity • Two meanings of word or sentence • I.e. ball – play with – go to

11. Language Use • Understanding • Prepositions (begins with) on, under etc. • Inferences • Missing in or filled in on the basis of a sample of evidence or on the basis of prior beliefs and theories

12. Language Use • Language / Culture • Whorf, Sapir (1976) • Language habits of community influence meaning of language • Linguistic relativity-differences in language structures will lead to cognitive differences

13. Language Use • Linguistic determinism • Structure of language influences or determines the way native speakers perceive and reason about the world

14. Visual Cognition • Studies show we use visual imagery due to time/length of answers to questions

15. Problem Solving • Thinking that is directed toward solving specific problems and that move from an initial state to a goal by means of a set of mental operations

16. Problem Solving • Reasoning • The process of thinking in which conclusions are drawn from a set of facts • Thinking directed toward a given goal or objective • Problem space • Thinking that is directed toward solving specific problems and that move from an initial state to a goal by means of a set of mental operations

17. Problem Solving • Algorithm • Step-by-step procedure that always provides the right answer for a particular type of problem • Heuristics • Strategies, often used shortcuts • “rules of thumb”

18. Problem Solving • Think-aloud protocols • Verbal reports by people solving mental processes • Functional fixedness • Inability to perceive a new use for an object previously associated with some other purpose • Adversely effects problems solving and creativity

19. Problem Solving • Deductive Reasoning • Form of thinking in which one draws a conclusion that is intended to follow logically two or more statement or premises • Belief-bias effect • Person’s prior knowledge, attitudes or valves distort the reasoning process by influencing the person to accept invalid arguments • Believable conclusion

20. Problem Solving • Inductive reasoning • A conclusion is made about the probability of some state of affairs based on the available evidence and past experience • Mental set • Tendency to respond to a new problem in the manner used in response to a previous problem

21. Judging and Deciding • Hubert Simon • Founding figure is cognitive Psychology • Human thinking powers are modes vs. the complexities of the environment • Judgment • Process by which people form decision reaching conclusions, and make critical evaluations of events and people based on available materials • Product of that mental activity • Decision making • Process of choosing between alternatives • Selecting or rejecting available options

22. Judging and Deciding • Heuristics and Judgment • Amos Tversky and DanileKahneman (1990’s) • Availability heuristics • Judgment based on the information readily available in memory • Moods affect available memory recall • Biased in memory recall

23. Judging and Deciding • Representative heuristics • Assigns an object to a category on the basis of a few characteristics regarded as representative of that category • Anchoring heuristics • Insufficient adjustment up or down from an original starting valve when judging the probable valve of some event or outcome • Ex.salesman price $1-2k sell to you $500

24. Visual Cognition • Frame • Particular description of a choice • Perceptive from which a choice is described or framed affects how a decision is made and which options is ultimately exercised ex. $1000 raise is good unless you thought you were getting $10k raise

25. Decision aversion • Tendency to avoid decision making • The tougher the decision, the greater the likelihood of decision aversion