• COGNITION - study of the higher mental processes - thinking, memory, problem solving, language.
• Thinking - mental manipulation of concepts and images as in concept formation, problem solving, and decision making

Concepts - building blocks of thinking

Categories of objects, events, people, organizations, events, situations, etc. that have common feaures, characteristics, or attributes

While can have formal concepts (clearly defined by a set of rules, a formal definition, or classification system), most are natural concepts (not from a definition but everyday perceptions and experiences, usually fuzzy) - schemas

Organized in brain based on our experience

Trees - landscaper, biologist, groundskeeper

• Define problem
• Develop strategy
• Carry out strategy
• Check results

• Algorithm - Step-by-step formula for solving problem, guarantees correct solution.
• C=5/9(F-32)

• Used by computers
• Math problems, recipes, instructions,
• deductive reasoning - go from general to specific - conclusion follows from certain premises - if done right and premises correct, always correct

• Heuristic - Strategy for faster problem solving that may lead to a correct solution. Rules of thumb based on past experience

• Inductive reasoning - general conclusions are drawn from particular facts or individual cases, premises provide support but it is possible to be wrong

• Used by humans

• Overconfidence/Confirmation Bias
• Tend to be more confident than we should be (100% confident, 85% accurate)
• Look for data that supports our hypothesis
• 2,4,6; 1st aerial bombardment in 1937 or 1849?; potato from Peru or Ireland?
• Mental Set/Functional Fixedness
• Tendency to view objects in terms of their usual and ordinary uses. Or put unwritten rules onto problem solving.
• Prevents the development of new and novel uses for objects.
• Jug problem, 9 dot problem, matchsticks, 2 sting problem

• Representative heuristic - New situation or object is judged based on similarity to stereotypical or prototypical model.
• Small, slim, likes poetry, wears glasses? Truck Driver or Professor of Classics at an Ivy league University?
• Availability Heuristic - Overestimate probability of an event because instances are easily called to mind.
• Because of your vivid memory of a plane crash, you decide not to travel by air, even though the probability of an airline disaster is much lower than an automobile accident
• K more likely to be 1st letter of word or 3rd? What about R?
• Which is a more likely cause of death - being killed by shark or falling airplane pieces or coconut?
• Often because don't know base rate - don't know all of the facts

• Framing Effects - An event or issue is presented in a way that influences or biases decision-making. The way the question is asked. Tend to respond in a riskier way if focus on loss
• Meat rated more favorably when described as "75% Lean" vs. "25% fat".
• Estimates of the speed of a vehicle in a crash can vary depending upon question witnesses are asked.
• Focus on death or life

• Anchoring - The original number can influence how you respond. When making judgments in magnitude, the initial value biases your judgment. Higher original number, higher final number
• Auctions

• Creative Problem Solving
• Generating novel and useful solutions to problems.
• Characteristics of creative people
• Tend to have above-average intelligence
• Not necessary to be a genius.Not a very strong positive correlation
• Ability to use analogies (knowledge in a variety of different areas) - expertise
• Personality - risk takers, intrinsic motivation, flexible beliefs (open to experience), perseverance, bipolar(?)
• Break functional fixedness and mental set (be divergent thinking)

• Tests emphasize novel or original approaches for solution, open-ended problems, fit together seemingly unrelated items

How many diff things can you use a brick for?
For each item, find a word that fits with all of the words listed for that item. (worker, boiled, core)