Chapter 7: Thinking, Language, and Intelligence & Chapter 8: Motivation Flashcards
PROBLEM SOLVING definition
Necessary when we need to overcome obstacles in order to answer a question or achieve a goal
3 strategies of Problem Solving?
Algorithm, Analogy Approach, and Mental Simulation
Algorithm definition? Examples? Issue?
Def: a step-by-step procedure that guarantees a solution
Examples:
Spell check on document; internal dictionary; looking at every word
Summer barbecue; Algorithm: one person times 2 for hotdogs
Problem: NOT always practical or efficient
Examples:
Sq root of 16,129; you could keep square rooting
Summer barbecue; starting in aisle 1 to find hotdogs
Analogy Approach Definition? Example? Problem?
Def: using a solution to an earlier problem to help solve a new problem
Ex: trying reduce fat consumption, substitute whole milk to regular sour cream, skim milk to light sour cream
Problem: when getting new recipe, don’t know how to make it low fat because there’s no milk
Problem: Often people focus on superficial features rather than underlying similarities
Mental Simulation Definition? Examples?
imagining the steps involved in solving a problem mentally before tackling the problem
Examples:
Going over how to break up with someone
Submit late paper, practicing what to say to professor
Figure out best route for errands on the way home
Mental Simulation – Is “thinking positively” alone helpful?
No.
Study Ex: told psyc students 1st group to imagine the grade they want; 2nd group told to visualize the steps to get the grade they want (notes, tutoring)
PROBLEM SOLVING PROBLEMS
Confirmation Bias: Definition? Examples?
searching for information that confirms our ideas, that we’re right
Making little or no effort to search for information that might disprove the belief
Examples:
Subjects generated number sequence that follow the rule; search and gave examples to what they thought and already believed it was true
Social media “11 facts that support all your opinions”
PROBLEM SOLVING PROBLEMS Functional Fixedness: Definition? Examples? Non-Example?
our tendency to perceive the functions of objects as fixed and unchanging
Examples:
Toy needed new battery, couldn’t find the screwdriver, so gave up, and didn’t think about other methods to unscrew toy
Connect 9 dots by 4 lines
6 matchsticks make 3 triangles → 3D triangle
Non-Ex: criminals use coat hanger to break into car
PROBLEM SOLVING PROBLEMS Creativity Definition?
ability to produce valued outcomes in a novel way
PROBLEM SOLVING PROBLEMS: Creativity: How to measure?
divergent thinking
PROBLEM SOLVING PROBLEMS: Creativity: Divergent Thinking definition? example?
ability to generate a variety of unusual solutions to a problem
Ex: given a brick, name all the ways to use it
Personality traits linked to creativity
Intrinsic motivation, nonconformity, curiosity, persistence
Intrinsic motivation definition?
pursue task for internal reasons: enjoyment, satisfaction, NOT external reasons: fame, money
Nonconformity definition?
not overly concerned with other people’s opinion, risk ridicule
Curiosity definition?
open to new experiences; notice when reality contradicts their expectations
Persistence, most or least important attribute?
most important attribute
Decision Making definition
weighing the pros and cons in order to make choice
Heuristics definition
mental shortcuts people use to make judgements quickly and efficiently
Rule of Thumb – to save time
REPRESENTATIVENESS HEURISTIC definition? examples?
Mental shortcut where people classify something according to how similar it is to a typical case
Examples:
Bob likes opera, plays chess, goes to museums → sounds like he’d be a trumpet player over a farmer
Who graduated from Harvard? Sonia Dara or Bill Gates? Sonia Dara.
Steve shy, anti-social, need for order → sounds like librarian over salesman
Base Rate definition? example? issue?
information about the relative frequency of members of different categories
Ex: Percentage of librarians and salesmen in the US. there’s more salesman, so you should assume Steve’s more likely to be a salesman
Problem: People tend to ignore the base rate
AVAILABILITY HEURISTIC definition? examples?
People base a judgment on the ease with which they can bring something to mind
How easily you can retrieve from memory
Mental shortcut
Examples:
How many working moms? Can’t google, so you base judgment on people you know
Most doctor women? Child has only seen female doctors
People think homicides>suicides, but it’s actually suicide>homicide
More tornadoes in Oklahoma or Kansas? Kansas because of Wizard of Oz, but it’s actually Oklahoma
AVAILABILITY HEURISTIC: Mental Shortcut – Problems with bias example?
Ex: celebrities talking about mental illness, more in your mind
6 Properties of Language?
Communicative, Arbitrary, Meaningfully Structured, Multiplicity of Structure, Productive, Dynamic
property of lang – Communicative definition
Writing down what you’re thinking and feelings and have someone understand it