Chapter 9 Flashcards
What is thinking?
- A cognitive process that involves: manipulating information to form a new mental concept.
What is a mental representation?
A mental representation of categories of items or ideas.
What are the two main types of mental representations?
Artificial concepts: precise definitions, based on rules (skills, math equations, learned relationships)
Natural concepts: imperfect generalizations that represent objects or events that are most important. ( based on your experiences)
What do natural concepts relay on?
Prototypes: your mental image of something
like how you picture a cat
what do we do to the mental image of something that we may have in our minds?
- add complexity to thought (more layers)
- using sensory imagery ( visual or otherwise) can be useful in problem solving
What is a cognitive map?
A mental representation of a visual concept
What is the brains role in thinking?
Frontal lobe control is critical in thinking.
-The frontal lobe:
coordinates brain activity,
keeps track of current situations ( working memory)
provides context or meaning to the situation ( from LTM)
Responds to specific stimuli present in the situation
Which parts of the brain control intuition?
What is intuition
Frontal lobe
2.) process of making judgements and decisions without conscious reasoning
How does thought help us to know what to expect?
Schemas:
groups of mental representations
provides a framework for thinking about something
cognitive shorthand for thinking about something, and this helps make efficient decision making
What are scripts?
“event schemas”
- knowledge about sequences of related events/ actions that are expected to occur in a particular order.
( morning routine)
How do we observe thoughts?
- ERP’s (event-related potentials)
brain activity in response to external stimulation ( usually recorded with an EEG)
—————————————————–
fMRI: ( functional magnetic resonance imaging)
What constitutes “Good Thinking”
effective problem solving:
- identifying a particular problem
- Selecting a strategy to address the problem
- implementing the chosen strategy
( failure at any of these points can lead to failure)
What are two cognitive procedures for problem solving?
Algorithms: rigid procedures or formulas for solving problems
Guarantee’s the correct solutions if correctly applied. (used for math and computer sciences)
————————————————————————
Heuristics: cognitive strategies used as shortcuts to complete mental tasks
- helpful when a task involves lots of information
- can make quick judgements
( working backwards, searching for analogies)
What are the obstacles to problem solving?
- Mental set: trying to used a past method with a new or current problem, and this can lead to failure to adapt to new methods. ( like a freshman not trying new study methods in college)
- Functional fixedness: failure to think outside the box (word scramble thing)
- Self imposed limitation: restrictions that you impose on yourself that can be harmful (Dot connecting activity in video)
Bias in judgement?
Applying the wrong heuristic
