Transcript Thinking and Problem Solving - Monona Grove School District

Introduction to
Cognition
Cognition

The mental activities associated with
thinking, knowing, and remembering

Thinking: process in which the brain
uses information from the senses,
emotions, and memory to create and
manipulate mental representations.

Often used interchangeably
Concepts

A mental grouping of similar objects,
events, ideas, or people.

Enables us to chunk large amounts of
information – don’t need to treat every
new piece of information as unique.
• Chairs
• Holidays
• Political ideologies
• Psychologists
Concepts

Category Hierarchies – We
organize concepts into category
hierarchies

Development of Concepts:
Definitions
 Prototypes
•Mental image or best example of a
category

Effects of Prototypes on
Memory

Once we place an item in a category,
our memory later shifts towards the
category prototype
Solving Problems

Algorithm


Heuristic


A methodical, logical rule or procedure that
guarantees solving a particular problem
A rule-of-thumb strategy that often allows us
to make judgments and solve problems
efficiently (speedier but error-prone)
Insight

A sudden and novel realization of the solution
to a problem
Algorithm or Heuristic?
SPLOYOCHYG
 Trial and Error
 Computers
 The quadratic formula
 Competing from home on the Wheel
of Fortune

Common Heuristic
Strategies

Getting through a maze
Should I wear a rain jacket?
 Math problems from textbook

Term papers, large exams
 Designing an airplane
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Obstacles…

In the Thompson family there are 5
brothers, and each brother has one
sister. If you count Mrs. Thompson,
how many females are there in the
Thompson family?

Fifteen percent of people in Topeka
have unlisted phone numbers. You
select 200 names at random from
the Topeka phone book. How many
of these people can be expected to
have unlisted phone numbers?

Irrelevant information = obstacle to
problem solving

Without lifting your pencil from the paper,
draw no more than 4 lines that will cross
through all 9 dots.

Unnecessary constraints (selfimposed limitations) = obstacle to
problem solving.

Real world examples?
Obstacles to Problem
Solving

Confirmation Bias

A tendency to search for information
that confirms one’s perceptions
• Seinfeld Example

Fixation

The inability to see a problem from a
new perspective
• Mental Set
• Functional Fixedness
Fixation

Mental Set

A tendency to approach a problem in a
particular way, especially a way that
has been successful in the past but
may not be helpful in solving a new
problem

Given this sequence, name the next
3 letters:

O T T F . . .
Two-String Problem

You must tie together 2 strings dangling
from the ceiling without pulling them
down. But when you grab the end of one
string and pull it toward the other one,
you find that you cannot quite reach the
other string. The only objects available
to you in the room are on the floor in the
corner: a ping-pong ball, five screws, a
screwdriver, a glass of water, and a paper
bag. How can you reach both strings at
once and tie them together?
Fixation

Functional Fixedness
The tendency to think of things only in
terms of their usual functions.
 (The function of an object becomes
fixed)


Learned – children show no signs
Using and Misusing
Heuristics

Heuristics: Cognitive Rules of Thumb

Representative Heuristic

A rule of thumb for judging the
likelihood of things in terms of how well
they seem to represent, or match,
particular prototypes
Deaths per 100 million

All accidents vs. Strokes

(55,000) vs. (102,000)

Asthma vs. Electrocution

(920) vs. (500)
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Homicide vs. Diabetes

(9,200) vs. (19,000)
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Appendicitis vs. Lightning

(440) vs. (52)
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Car accidents vs. Cancer of digestive system
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(27,000) vs. (46,400)

Drowning vs. Leukemia

(3,600) vs. (7,100)
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The FBI classifies crime in the U.S. into 2
categories – violent crimes, such as murder,
rape, robbery, and assault, and property
crimes, such as burglary, larceny, or car theft.
1.
2.
3.
4.
What percentage of crime would you estimate are
violent rather than property crimes?
What percentage of accused felons plead insanity?
What percentage of these are acquitted?
What percentage of convictions for felony crimes are
obtained through trial instead of plea bargaining?
Using and Misusing
Heuristics

Availability Heuristic
Estimating the likelihood of events
based on their availability in memory
 If instances come to mind, we presume
such events are common

Using and Misusing
Heuristics

Anchoring and Adjustment Heuristic
Starting with an implicitly suggested
reference point (the "anchor") and
make adjustments to it to reach their
estimate
 AKA framing
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