Lecture 10 - Thinking, Reasoning, Decision Making & Creativity/ Introspection

Question 1

What are the key cognitive processes included in the psychological definition of “thinking”?

Answer 1

Inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, problem-solving, judgement and decision-making, creative thinking.

Question 2

What has research on thinking typically focused on?

Answer 2

Situations with a correct answer, ways to evaluate rationality or efficiency, and understanding human thinking processes.

Question 3

What are common limitations in human thinking studied in psychology?

Answer 3

Irrationality, inefficiency, limited working memory, biases, and attention to irrelevant information.

Question 4

What is System 1 in dual-process theory?

Answer 4

An intuitive, automatic, fast, and unconscious process using heuristics and domain-specific rules.

Question 5

What is System 2 in dual-process theory?

Answer 5

A slow, deliberate, effortful, and logical reasoning system that requires working memory and attention.

Question 6

How do System 1 and System 2 interact under cognitive load?

Answer 6

When System 2 is depleted, System 1 dominates, increasing impulsivity and reliance on heuristics.

Question 7

What is inductive reasoning?

Answer 7

Making generalizations or predictions based on specific observations or past data.

Question 8

What is deductive reasoning?

Answer 8

Drawing specific, logically certain conclusions from general principles or premises.

Question 9

What test illustrates deductive reasoning limitations and domain-specific heuristics?

Answer 9

Wason’s 4-card selection task.

Question 10

In the crime mystery, which reasoning method led to the correct conclusion?

Answer 10

Deductive reasoning (James had means, motive, and opportunity).

Question 11

Why was inductive reasoning misleading in the mystery?

Answer 11

It focused on patterns and suspicious behavior without direct evidence.

Question 12

What is the availability heuristic?

Answer 12

Judging frequency or probability based on how easily examples come to mind.

Question 13

What factors affect the availability of information in memory?

Answer 13

Recency, salience, and similarity to current situations.

Question 14

What is illusory correlation?

Answer 14

Perceiving a relationship between unrelated events, often due to memorable coincidences.

Question 15

What is the gambler’s fallacy?

Answer 15

Believing future probabilities are affected by past random events.

Question 16

What is the base rate neglect bias?

Answer 16

Ignoring statistical base rates in favor of case-specific details.

Question 17

What is representativeness bias?

Answer 17

Assuming something belongs to a category because it looks like a typical example, ignoring base rates.

Question 18

What is functional fixedness?

Answer 18

The inability to see objects as having functions other than their usual ones, hindering problem-solving.

Question 19

What is the candle problem an example of?

Answer 19

Functional fixedness.

Question 20

What does the missionaries and cannibals problem illustrate?

Answer 20

lanning, constraint satisfaction, and problem representation.

Question 21

What cognitive strategy involves identifying sub-goals to reach an overall goal?

Answer 21

Means-end analysis.

Question 22

What are some “design” limitations of human cognition?

Answer 22

Limited working memory, biased memory retrieval, difficulty shifting cognitive set, and reliance on heuristics.

Question 23

What does Mental Model Theory suggest about reasoning?

Answer 23

People reason by constructing mental models of situations described by premises rather than using formal logic.

Question 24

What limits mental model reasoning?

Answer 24

Working memory constraints that prevent maintaining multiple possible models simultaneously.

Question 25

Why might Artist A being a beekeeper and Beekeeper B being a violinist not imply Artist A is a violinist?

Answer 25

Because they could be different people—no necessary logical connection.

Question 26

What rule does the Wason task typically test?

Answer 26

If a card has a vowel on one side, it must have an odd number on the other.

Question 27

Which cards should be turned over to test the rule: A, B, 1, 2?

Answer 27

A (vowel) and 2 (even number).

Question 28

Why is "2" relevant and "1" irrelevant in Wason’s task?

Answer 28

"2" could violate the rule if it hides a vowel (P but not Q). "1" doesn’t test the rule because the rule doesn’t state that all odd numbers must have vowels.

Question 29

How does context affect reasoning in the Wason task?

Answer 29

Performance improves dramatically when the task is presented in familiar or meaningful contexts (e.g. police checking drinkers).

Question 30

What is the Overconfidence Bias?

Answer 30

When people’s confidence in their judgements exceeds their actual accuracy.

Question 31

What are three forms of overconfidence?

Answer 31

Overestimating one’s actual performance Believing one’s performance is better than others’ Overestimating the accuracy of one’s beliefs

Question 32

Name three key reasons why human thinking is error-prone.

Answer 32

Cognitive design limitations (e.g., limited working memory) Use of mental models that don’t account for all possibilities Reliance on domain-specific heuristics that may be inappropriate

Question 33

What are the primary components of the cognitive model of creativity?

Answer 33

Problem finding, ideation (divergent thinking), and evaluation.

Question 34

What are the secondary components of creativity?

Answer 34

Knowledge and motivation.

Question 35

What is divergent thinking?

Answer 35

The ability to generate many and varied ideas; includes fluency, originality, and flexibility.

Question 36

What is the Alternative Uses Task?

Answer 36

A test of creativity where participants generate as many uses as possible for a common object (e.g. a brick).

Question 37

How do highly creative individuals navigate semantic space?

Answer 37

They make larger associative leaps and switch between semantic subcategories more flexibly.

Question 38

What is introspection useful for reporting?

Answer 38

Intentions, emotions, decisions, and causal reasoning (to some degree).

Question 39

What is the problem with introspection in cognitive psychology?

Answer 39

It is often unverifiable and may not reflect actual cognitive processes.

Question 40

What is blindsight and what does it show?

Answer 40

A condition where individuals can respond to visual stimuli without conscious awareness, showing cognition can occur without awareness.

Question 41

What is the illusion of introspection?

Answer 41

People often confabulate reasons for their decisions, unaware of the true underlying cognitive processes.

Question 42

Give an example of a cognitive process that typically happens outside of awareness.

Answer 42

Face recognition, object recognition, or reading.