Transcript General Psycholog: Cognition & Language (II)

Cognition & Language
Chapter 7
Part I
William G. Huitt
Last revised: May 2005
Summary
• A human being is inherently
– biological
– conditioned by the environment
– able to gather data about the world through the
senses and organize that data
– emotional
– intelligent
• critical thinker (convergent thinking)
• creative thinker (divergent thinking
– able to create and use knowledge
Organization of Knowledge
• Declarative
– Semantic
– Episodic
• Procedural (non-declarative)
• Images
Imagery
• The representation in the mind of a sensory
experience
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–
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Visual
Auditory
Gustatory
Motor
Olfactory
Tactile
Imagery
• Visual images can be manipulated mentally
much as we would if we were actually holding
and looking at the object
• Parts of an image are retrieved; then mental
processes used to arrange or assemble those
parts into the proper whole
• Both the left and right hemispheres participate
in the processes of forming visual images
Imagery
• Sports psychologists have found that athletes
skilled in visualization can actually improve
their performance by practicing mentally
• Brain-imaging studies show that
– generally the same brain areas are activated
whether a person is performing a given task or
mentally rehearsing the task using imagery
– the same regions in the motor cortex and related
areas that are involved in the physical movements
required for rotation of objects are also very active
during mental imaging
Concepts
• A mental category used to represent a class or
group of objects, people, organizations, events,
situations, or relations that share common
characteristics or attributes
– Formal concept
• A concept that is clearly defined by a set of rules, a formal
definition, or a classification system; an artificial concept
– Natural concept
• A concept acquired not from a definition but through
everyday perceptions and experiences; a fuzzy concept
• We acquire many natural concepts through experiences
with examples or positive instances of the concept
Concepts
• Prototype
– A category member that embodies the most
common and typical features of a concept
• Exemplars
– The individual instances of a concept that are stored
in memory from personal experiences
– To decide whether an unfamiliar item belongs to a
concept, we compare it with exemplars
– Experts have better, more detailed conception of
exemplars
Reasoning
• Deductive reasoning
– A form of thinking in which conclusions are drawn
from a set of facts
– Reasoning from the general to the specific, or
drawing particular conclusions from general
principles
Reasoning
• Syllogism
– A scheme for logical reasoning in which two
statements known as premises are followed
by a valid conclusion
• Example
– Major premise: All of Prof. Bob’s pencils are yellow
– Minor premise: Daniel has borrowed a pencil from
Prof. Bob
– Conclusion: The pencil Daniel borrowed from Prof.
Bob is yellow
Reasoning
• Inductive reasoning
– A form of reasoning in which general conclusions
are drawn from particular facts or individual cases
– Resulting in conclusions which might be true
– Premises can be judged to be false on the basis of
conclusions, but they cannot be judged to be true
Reasoning
• Many people, especially those who don’t listen
carefully to instructions or follow them well,
have difficulty with formal reasoning problems
• Research suggests that people can improve
their reasoning skills when exposed to step-bystep instruction and practice in formal
reasoning
Reasoning
• Deduction, induction, and the scientific method
– Inductive reasoning is used to formulate a
hypothesis based on observations
– Deductive reasoning is used in the design of a study
– Once formulated, the hypothesis becomes a major
premise, and the method used to test it, a minor
premise
– The outcome of the study is the conclusion
Problem Solving
• Thoughts and actions required to achieve a
desired goal that is not readily attainable
Approaches to Problem Solving
• Trial and error
– An approach to problem solving in which one solution
after another is tried in no particular order until an
answer is found
– When you possess relevant background knowledge,
using the knowledge to find a solution to a problem is
more efficient than using trial and error
• Algorithm
– A systematic, step-by-step procedure, such as a
mathematical formula, that guarantees a solution to a
problem of a certain type if the algorithm is
appropriate and is executed properly
Approaches to Problem Solving
• Heuristics
– Person discovers the steps needed to solve a problem by
defining the desired goal and working backwards to the current
condition
– Derived from experience; no guarantee of its accuracy or
usefulness
– Means-end analysis
• A heuristic strategy in which the current position is
compared with the desired goal, and a series of steps are
formulated and taken to close the gap between them
– Analogy heuristic
• A rule of thumb that applies a solution that solved a
problem in the past to a current problem that shares many
similar features
Impediments to Problem
Solving
• Functional fixedness
– The failure to use familiar objects in novel ways to
solve problems because of a tendency to view
objects only in terms of their customary functions
– Suppose you injured your leg and knew that you
should apply ice to prevent swelling, but you had no
ice cubes
• If you suffered from functional fixedness, you might believe
there was nothing you could do
• Rather than thinking about the object that you don’t have,
think about the function that it performs
• What you need is something very cold – not necessarily an
ice bag, but a cold can of soda could be a solution
Impediments to Problem
Solving
• Mental set
– The tendency to apply a familiar strategy to the
solution of a problem without carefully considering
the special requirements of that problem
– Recent research indicates that our problem-solving
abilities may remain relatively undiminished over our
lifetimes, even though our pace may slow down a
little with age
Decision Making
• Selection of alternative from among several
available
• Framing
– The way information is presented so as to
emphasize either a potential gain or a potential loss
as the outcome
Decision Making
• Additive strategy
– A decision-making approach in which each
alternative is rated on each important factor
affecting the decision and the alternative rated
highest overall is chosen
• Elimination by aspects
– The factors on which the alternatives are to be
evaluated are ordered from most important to least
important
– Any alternative that does not satisfy the most
important factor is automatically eliminated
– The process of elimination continues as each factor
is considered in order
– The alternative that survives is the one chosen
High-Tech Applications
• Artificial intelligence
– Computer systems that simulate human thinking in
solving problems and in making judgments and
decisions
– Expert systems
• Computer programs designed to carry out highly specific
functions within a limited domain
• MYCIN: medical expert system
• Outside its area of expertise, an expert system cannot
function
High-Tech Applications
• Artificial neural networks
– Computer systems that are intended to mimic the
human brain
– Using neural networks, psychologists can also learn
more about how the brain works
• Robotics
– The science of automating human and animal
functions