Transcript Learning - Dimensions Family Therapy

Thought
&
Language
Thinking
• Thinking involves manipulating mental
representations for a purpose. Thinking
incorporates the use of:
• Words
• Mental Images
– Visual representations
• Mental Models
– Representations that describe, explain, or predict the
way things work
Categories & Concepts
• We classify an object as to what it is and what it is
not using categories and concepts
• Categories
– Groupings based on common properties
– External, and independent of, a given person
• Concepts
– A mental representation of a category
– Internal to a given individual
Categorization
• Categorization is the mental process of
identifying an object as a member of a
category
• Categorization involves the use of:
– Defining features
– Prototypes (abstraction across many instances
of a category
One More Time
• Category
– A grouping based on common prosperities (car)
• Categorization
– The mental process of creating concepts (verb)
• Concept
– One’s mental representation of a category
(noun)
Hierarchies of Concepts
• Basic Level of categorization
– The level people naturally tend to use
– Cars
• Subordinate
– More specific attributes than the basic level
– Convertibles
• Superordinate
– More abstract than the basic level
– Motor vehicles (cars, motorcycles, trucks)
Reasoning
• Reasoning
– The process by which we generate and evaluate
arguments and beliefs
• Inductive Reasoning
– Specific observations to more general propositions
• Shamus is Irish and likes to eat fish
• All Irish like to eat fish
• Deductive Reasoning
– General observations to more specific instances
• All Irish like to eat fish
• Shamus is Irish so I guess he must like to eat fish
Analogy
• Analogical reasoning involves comparing a novel
situation to a familiar one
– Compare a ride in Ferrari to a ride on a roller coaster
• Analogies & Metaphors
– Analogy
• One thing is like another thing
• Iraq is like Vietnam
– Metaphor
• More assertive than analogies. “All the world is a stage”
Problem Solving
• Problem solving refers to the process of
transforming one situation into another to meet a
goal
• Three components
– Initial state
• What is
– Goal state
• What we want it to be
– Operators
• Mental and behavioral processes used to change things
Well and Ill defined Problems
• Well-defined problems
– Initial state, goal, operators are easily
determined
• I need to lose 15 pounds
• Ill-defined problems
– Information needed to solve and the criteria for
determining when the goal has been met are
vague
• What do I need to do to fix my relationship with my
partner?
Problem Solving Model
• Compare initial state with goal state
– I weight 210 and want to get to 195
• Identify possible operators
– Exercise and diet
• Apply operators
– Exercise and diet
• Continue using operators until the differences
between the initial and goal states are achieved
– Keep exercising and dieting until you reach 195
Problem Solving Strategies
• Algorithms
– Systematic procedures that inevitably produce a
solution to a problem
– Often involve the use of computers
– Guaranteed to find a solution so long as one
exists
• Mental Simulation
– Imagining the steps involved in solving a
problem before actually taking action
Problems in Problem Solving
• Functional Fixedness
– Fixating on one approach rather than looking at
a problem with an open mind
• Confirmation Bias
– Jumping to a conclusion regarding the nature of
a problem
Decision Making
• Explicit Cognition
– Decision making that is conscious and involves
weighing the pros and cons of different alternatives to
solving a problem
• Weighted Utility Value
– Combines the importance of an attribute & how well an
option satisfies it
• Expected Utility
– Combines importance of an approach & the probability
of obtaining the outcome
Problem Solving Shortcuts
• Heuristics
– Cognitive shortcuts that allow rapid, efficient, but sometimes
irrational judgments
• Representativeness Heuristic
– Match a new situation to a prototype
– Ignore the dissimilarities
• Availability Heuristic
– We infer something will happen based on how easily it comes to
mind
– The quicker it comes to mind the more we assume it will happen
this time
Bounded Rationality
• Bounded reality involves making good
decisions based on the information that is
actually available to us
– Does not seek all possible information nor a
perfect solution
• Limitations include
– Realistic goals
– Cognitive resources
– Environmental demands
Implicit Cognition
• Implicit cognition
– Cognition outside one’s awareness
• Implicit learning
– We learn through observation but do not consciously
analyze the learning
– No explicit directions
• Implicit problem solving
– Solution to a problem suddenly comes to us without
conscious effort
– We suddenly just see the solution
Accessing Risk
• Many of our everyday decisions involve
emotional expectations and expected
emotional responses
• Prospect Theory
– Suggests that potential future losses have a
greater impact than potential gains
Parallel Distributed Processing
• Parallel distributed processing (connectionist)
model suggests
– A perceived problem activates parallel cognitive
processes within the brain
– The connections between these parallel mental
processes is the source of knowledge
– We select a solution that satisfies as many constraints as
possible
Neurobiology of Problem
Solving
• Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is involved with:
–
–
–
–
Associating complex ideas
Allocating attention
Making plans
Forming and executing intentions
• Ventromedial prefrontal cortex
– Emotional control over decision making
– Many aspects of social functioning
Language
• Language is the system of
– symbols
– sounds
– meaning
– rules that constitutes the primary mode
of communications among humans
• Linguistic Relativity
– Suggests language shapes thought
Elements of Language
• Phonemes
• A
– Smallest unit of sound
• Morphemes
– Smallest unit of meaning
• Phrases
– Groups of words that act as
a unit
• Sentences
– Organized sequences of
words that express a
thought or intention
• Are
• are next to
• The bananas are next
to the peaches
Syntax & Semantics
• Syntax involves
– The rules for organizing words and phrases
– As aspect of grammar
• Semantics
– Involves understanding what people say
• Pragmatics
– The study of the way language is used and understood in everyday
life
• Discourse
– The way people ordinarily speak, hear, red and write
Nonverbal Communications
• Ways we communicate without the use of
words
•
•
•
•
•
•
Body language
Touch
Gestures
Facial expressions
Physical distance
Dress