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Flashcards

Cognitive Psych - Module 5: Thinking

Kate Nanovic Psychology English 200 cards

Cards in this deck (200)

  1. 1judgementthe process through which people draw conclusions from the evidence they encounter
  2. 2attribute substitutionrely on easily assessed information as a proxy for the information you really need; heuristics
  3. 3Frequency estimateassessment of how often various events have occured in the past
  4. 4How do we make frequency estimates when we don;t have the quantitative information?use the information that we have readily available to use, heuristics
  5. 5Heuristican efficient strategy that usually leads to the right answer
  6. 6availability heuristicform of attribute substitution where you rely on the information you have available to you
  7. 7How is memory involved in the availability heuristic? Provide an example.organization of memory causes certain things to be more available than other, causing bias
    Ex: easier to come up with words that start with r rather than words with r in the 3rd position
  8. 8What explains why people buy lottery tickets even though winning is so rare?availability heuristic - people see when there are winners more often because it is reported, do not see how many people are losing or consider those numbers
  9. 9Representativeness heuristicattribute substitution where judgements are made based on resemblance to known cases
  10. 10Gambler's fallacybelief that you know the next outcome based on observation of past outcomes, even with independent events
  11. 11covariationtwo variables tend to be seen or not seen together; can be strong or weak, postiive or negative
  12. 12Why do we experience illusion of covariation?people consider a subset of facts that is skewed by their prior expectations, causing mistaken judgements - selection of evidence based on confirmation bias, base-rate neglect
  13. 13confirmation biasbeing more alert to evidence that confirms your beliefs rather than evidence that challenges them
  14. 14base-rate neglectignoring how often something occurs in general when making assessments
  15. 15Kahneman and Tverskybase-rate neglect: lawyer vs. engineer experiment - descriptions caused guesses that ignored whether the proportion was 70/30 lawyers or 70/30 engineers
    framing effect/prospect theory
  16. 16Dual-process modelsthere are two ways of thinking: fast and slow
  17. 17Type I way of thinkingfast, easy, use of heuristics, error-prone
  18. 18Type II way of thinkingslower and effortful, analytic, more accurate
  19. 19When do we use the Type I way of thinking? When do we use Type II?Type II is used in presence of triggers:
  20. 20How can we mitigate base-rate neglect?cast in terms of frequencies (12 out of every 100) instead of proportions (3/25) or percentages (12%)
  21. 21How does random chance factor into our judgements?fast, accurate judgements are more likely if the role of random chance is clear - people will more likely consider it a fluke and rely on higher quantities of evidence
  22. 22cognitive reflection testthree questions in which the obvious answer is wrong - our type I thinking fails us
  23. 23inductionprocess through which you make forecasts about new cases based on cases you've observed so far
  24. 24deductionprocess in which you start with claims or assertions that you count as given and ask what follows from these premises
  25. 25Subtypes of confirmation biasonly pulling supportive evidence from memory, scrutinizing new evidence that is inconsistent with your beliefs, reinterpreting information to make it match your beliefs or make it negligible
  26. 26Belief preserverancewhen disconfirming evidence is undeniable but remains neglected
  27. 27categorical syllogismstype of logical argument that begins with two assertions (premises), each containing a statement about a category, and a conclusion that may or may not follow the premises stated
  28. 28valid syllogismsthe conclusion follows the premises stated
  29. 29invalid syllogismsthe conclusion does not follow the premises stated
  30. 30Why did we conclude that invalid syllogisms are accurate?errors in logical reasoning
  31. 31belief biasif a syllogism's conclusion is something that someone believes to be true, they're likely to judge the conclusion as valid; same for a false circumstance with rejection
  32. 32Four-card taskfour cards and a conditional statement given, people usually flip the wrong cards to check the condition completely
  33. 33conditional statementif X, then Y (gauranteed)
  34. 34What does the four card task show us?people are inconsistent at checking conditions, but accuracy in reasoning varies with content showing that quality of thinking is uneven
  35. 35utility maximizationmaking decision that will bring the most value for the lowest cost
  36. 36How does framing affect decision making?If the frame is in terms of losses, decision makers are risk seeing (to avoid the loss); if the frame is in terms of gains, decision makers are risk averse (holding tight to what they already have)
  37. 37endowment effecttendency to put higher value on your current status and possessions
  38. 38What phenomenom explains why there are less organ donors in the US compared to other countries?In US, we must opt-in to being donors. In other countries, it is the default. People are more likely to maintain their current status - endowment effect
  39. 39reason-based choicefocus on justifications for each decision, shift in framing causes a change in the factors relevant to justification
  40. 40How can framing change our deicisons when it does not change the utility for the outcomes?people are get distracted by framing and are bad at making utility decisions; people use reason-based choices and justifications for choices can change based on the framing
  41. 41How does emotion play a role in decision making?we assess risk in emotional terms- how much dread experienced when thinking about the outcome as an indicator of risk; somatic markers
  42. 42somatic markersbodily reactions in response to memories and anticipated events
  43. 43orbitofrontal cortexcrucial for somatic marker use because it enables you to interpret your emotions; damage causes impaired deicison making
  44. 44affective forecastingyour predictions for your own emotions
  45. 45Why is affective forecasting often inaccurate?overetsimate how long feelings last, underestimate ability to adjust to changes
  46. 46problem spacethe set of all states that can be reaached in solving the problem
  47. 47Two types of problem-solving heuristicshill-climbing strategy and means-end analysis
  48. 48hill-climbing strategyproblem-solving heuristic where at each step you choose the option that moves you in the direction of your goal
  49. 49Limitations of the hill-climbing strategymany problems require you to take a step back to move forward and people often fail to do this
  50. 50means-end analysisproblem-solving heuristic where you compare your current state to the goal state and ask "What means do I have to make these more alike?"
  51. 51How are pictures and diagrams helpful in problem solving?makes problems concrete, relying on mental images or pictures
  52. 52Why are analogies useful in problem-solving? What is the problem with analogies?often problems are similar to past ones so you can rely on experience, but people rarely use them unless instructed because our memory is not organized that way (we rely on superficial features, not broad principles)
  53. 53Mappingmap the problem out mentally to better able yourself to solve it
  54. 54How do analogies improve problem solving?rely on past experience, pay attention to the underlying dynamic of the problem
  55. 55What do experts do differently when solving problems?use analogies (define the underlying dynamic), create subproblems (organize knowledge)
  56. 56ill-defined problemsno clear statement at the outset of how the goal should be characterized or what operations might serve to reach that goal
  57. 57What is the best way to approach an ill-defined problem?create subgoals to move forward, add structure with constraints or assumptions (narrowing set of options in how you might approach it and creating a goal)
  58. 58well-defined problemsclear goal and options - still more than one way to understand the problem
  59. 59functional fixednesstendency to be rigid in how one thinks about an object's function - barrier to problem solving
  60. 60problem-solving setcollection of beliefs and assumptions a person makes about a problem
  61. 61Uses and limitations of problem-solving setsUseful in showing you which ideas are foolish - which options are plausible, physically possible, and so one
    Limiting because of in the box thinking - barrier to problem solving
  62. 62nine-dot problemtask to draw a line through grid of nine dots - people fail because they rely on their problem-solving set
    "lines cannot go outside the grid" "try to cancel out as many dots with each stroke"
  63. 63Creative individuals generally...have great knowledge or skill in their domain; certain personality traits; intrinsically motivated; in the right place at the right time; can discern which randomly produced products have value
  64. 64personality traits of a creative individualwilling to take risks, ignore criticism, ability to tolerate ambiguous findings or situations, inclination not to follow the crowd
  65. 65What does it mean to say that creative individuals are in the right place at the right time?they were in environments that allowed them freedom but also appropriate supports
  66. 66Wallas's 4 stages of creative thoughtpreparation, incubation, illumination, verification
  67. 671. preparationthe problem solver gathers information and does some work on the problem but with little progress
  68. 68incubationproblem solver sets the problem aside and seems not to be working on it but continues to work on it unconsciously
  69. 69illuminationkey insight or new idea emerges
  70. 70verificationperson confirms that the new idea really does lead to a solution and works out the details
  71. 71evidence that Aha!moments aren't real. What might they be instead?some people thought they were close and got the answer soon after, others slammed into a dead end
    might mean you discovered a new appraoch to the problem that you had not yet considered
  72. 72Proposals for why there is inconsistency in determining whether incubation is realincubation is disrupted under pressure, depends on what you do during incubation (are you allowing your mind to wander), fatigue and frustration fade, forget earlier approach that wasn't working
  73. 73Why do some claim that your mind must wander during incubation?activation can flow wherever your memory connections take it, possibly leading to new ideas being activated
  74. 74What do experts and creative people do when solving problems?heuristics, analogies, hard work, hints, discern what answers/products actually have value, luck
  75. 75convergent thinkingability to spot ways in which seemingly distinct ideas might be interconnected
  76. 76divergent thinkingability to move one's thoughts in novel, unanticipated ways; come up with large numbers of new ideas that can be evaluated for value
  77. 77Remote association testgiven three words and must come up with one more thing that fits with the trio - demonstrates convergent thinking
  78. 78Binetintelligence is a capacity that matters for many aspects of cogntiive functioning - test includes range of tasks
  79. 79Binet test scoreratio between someone's mental age (development reflected in the test) and his or her chronological age *100 = IQ
  80. 80intelligence quotientIQ score derived from binet test that now applies to any IQ test
  81. 81Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) and Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)assess general knowledge, vocab, and comprehension, and a perceptual-reasoning scale with puzzles; separate tests for working memory and speed of intellectual processing
  82. 82Raven's progressive matrices testmeasure's a person's ability to analyze figures and detect patterns - series of grids and he or she must select option to complete grid; designed to minimize influence of verbal skills or background knowledge
  83. 83Reliabilityhow consistent a measure is from one occasion to another
  84. 84Is test-retest reliability high or low for IQ tests?high - we can usually predict IQs later in life
  85. 85When might an IQ test not have test-retest reliability?the person experienced a substantial change in environment
  86. 86validitywhether a test measures what it is supposed to - how well resutls transfer to real life
  87. 87predictive validity of IQ testsimpressive correlation between IQ and measure of academic performance, job performance (some more than others), higher-prestige careers, avoidance of life problems (jail, teen pregnancy)
  88. 88General intelligenceg, cognitive capacity that shapes how well someone does no matter what the specific task might be
  89. 89Factor analysislooks for common elements that contribute to multiple subtests and therefore link those subtests
  90. 90Spearmangeneral intelligence (g), factor analysis
  91. 91hierarchial model of intelligencesome tasks depend more on g than others and can be grouped by this, there are other forms of categorizations below that
  92. 92Fluid intelligenceability to deal with novel problems
  93. 93When does fluid intelligence peak? crystalized?fluid - early adulthood
    crystalized increases with age
  94. 94What can deteriorate fluid intelligence earlier?alcohol consumption, depression, fatigue
  95. 95crystalized intelligenceinvolves your acquired knowledge, verbal and skills, useful for dealing with problems similar to ones you have already encountered
  96. 96Correlation between fluid and crystalized intelligencehigh and positive correlation
  97. 97—
  98. 98inspection timetime a person needs to decide which of two lines is longer or which of two tones is higher - measure of neural processing speed
  99. 99Working-memory capacity (WMC)measure of executive control - how well people can monitor and direct their own thought processes
  100. 100practical intelligencesophisticated reasoning in day to day settings - street smart
  101. 101intelligence vs rationalitypeople who are smart can also be those who ignore facts, are overconfident in their judgements, insensitive to inconsistencies in their views, and more - we need different measures for them
  102. 102rationalitythe capacity for critically assessing information as it is gathered in the natural environment
  103. 103emotional intelligenceability to understand one’s own emotions and others’, as well as the ability to control one’s emotions when appropriate
  104. 104Gardner's theory of multiple intelligencesthere are 8 intelligences: 3 tested in IQ tests (linguistic, logical-mathematical, and spatial) and also musical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic
  105. 105Savant syndromelow IQ scores but other incredible talents, perhaps high in a different type of intelligence not measured in IQ tests
  106. 106evidence of genetics in intelligencerelatives have similar IQ scores even if raised in different environments
  107. 107evidence for environment in intelligenceliving in poverty impedes intellectual development (longer in poverty, greater harm and improving environment can increase IQ); Flynn Effect
  108. 108Flynn Effectintelligence scores have been increasing over the last few years and results are stronger in fluid intelligence (ravin's matrices for example) - environmental effect
  109. 109Why can we say that the Flynn Effect is due to environmental factors of intelligence and not genetic?the human genome is changing but not as a speed commensurate with the effect
  110. 110Reasons for different average intelligences between groupsdifferent treatments, different role models, different assumptions about available life paths open to them, stereotype threat, availability of nutrition, healthcare, education
  111. 111Stereotype threatnegative impact that social stereotypes can have on task performance - performing worse because you are expected to
  112. 112How can education be better suited to increase intelligence?focus on increasing executive control (fluid intelligence) as well as crystalized; address individual's attitudes and beliefs about their own intelligence
  113. 113cognitive unconsciousbroad set of mental activities that you are not aware of but that make possible your ordinary interactions with the world
  114. 114Difference between products and processesproducts are beliefs and conclusions that you consciously experience; processes are how you get your mental products and you are generally unaware of them
  115. 115unconscious reasoningfeedback/your understanding after the fact can distort your memory of an event
  116. 116mistaken introspectionsthinking you know why you acted someway but you're wrong; after-the-fact reconstruction
  117. 117after-the-fact reconstructionno direct infomration so you draw on broader knowledge and how people act in general to determine why you acted as you did - does not feel like an inference, feels like a memory
  118. 118What does it mean to say that consciousness is guided by unconscious frameworks?sometimes your decisions are based on clear inner dialouge with yourself or based on a visual image but you still need the unconscious to provide a support structure
  119. 119What is the framework that the unconscious provides when problem solving?problem-solving set
  120. 120Korsakoff's syndromeno conscious memory of events they’ve witness or things they’ve done, but normal in tests with implicit memory
  121. 121Blind sightbrain damage to the visual cortex; cannot see or navigate or respond to light, but can accurately answer questions about their visual surroundings
  122. 122subliminal perceptionCan perceive and be influenced by visual inputs but did not consciously perceive them
  123. 123Pros and cons of cognitive unconsciousfast, efficient, reasonable, unsupervisied, but relies on current situation or habits. You draw conclusions and make choices based on familiarity or by the setting automatically - no control
  124. 124action slipscases in which you do something different from what you intend; doing what is typical
  125. 125What processes are governed by the unconscious (go without executive control)?some due to biological sequences of events (structure of the nervous system); others out of practice
  126. 126What do we need to rise above habit and avoid responding to prominent cues in our surroundings?executive control
  127. 127What does executive control need to rise above habit?means of launching desired actions and overriding unwanted actions, way of representing its goals and subgoals to serve as guides to action, know what's going on in the mind (whats coming in and how it can be integrated), know how easily current processing are unfolding (is adjustment needed)
  128. 128metacognitionskills in monitoring and controlling own mental processes
  129. 129support for plants assessing riskWhen nutrients were low, plants laid more roots in the unpredictable pot
    But when nutrients were abundant, they chose the one that always had the same amount
    Plants knew the best time to take risks
  130. 130Metacognition vs. Executive controlboth need self-control, self-direction, guided by goals (on the spot or long-standing beliefs)
    but executive control is concerned with all sorts of self-monitoring and self-control, not just memory or thoughts
  131. 131mind wanderingStart thinking about something else - aware of what you are thinking about, but not aware that your mind is wandering…and then you realize your thoughts have moved away from your task
  132. 132How can we mitigate mind wandering?active engagement and training in mindfulness
  133. 133neural correlates of consciousnesswhat changes when we consciously experience something
  134. 134Two different types of neural networks responsible for consciousnessthose dealing with level of alertness and those dealing with the content
  135. 135What brain areas are associated with level of alertness in consciousness?thalamus, reticular activating system in the brain stem
  136. 136reticular activating systemin the brain stem, controls the overall arousal level of the forebrain and also helps control the cycling between sleep and wakefulness
  137. 137What brain areas are associated with you being consciously aware of sights in front of you (or of an visual image you've created)?cortical structures in the visual system
  138. 138What brain areas are associated with you being consciously aware of stimuli that are no longer present in your environment?cortical structures in the forebrain
  139. 139neuronal workspace hypothesisintegrated activity, made possible by workspace neurons, provides the biological basis for consciousness
  140. 140binding problemtask of linking together the different aspects of experience in order to create a coherent whole
  141. 141How does attention help solve the binding problem?attention allows systems to fire in synchrony, allowing the brain to register the activity as a linkage among different processing areas and perceiving the stimulus as a unified whole
  142. 142workspace neuronsneurons that connect one area of the brain to another; create a unified experience and promote exchange of information
  143. 143What does it mean that workspace neurons are selective?not every bit of neural activity gets linked to every other bit; various mechanisms create a competition among different brain area processes and the winner (most active process) is communicated to other brain areas, while other information is not
  144. 144What determines which elements win when the brain is integrating information?Attention - activity of the prefrontal cortex can sustain and amplify the activity in other neural systems
  145. 145How can we link the neuronal workspace hypothesis to executive function?Neuronal workspace enables you to integrate neural processes, allowing you to reflect on relationships among various inputs or ideas and allows you to produce new combinations of ideas and new combinations of operations - enabling escape from habit/unconscious processing
  146. 146anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)detects conflicts between processes trying to be integrated; pivotal roles in emotion, motivation, and feelings of reward
  147. 147access consciousnesssomeone's senstivity to certain types of information (access to that information)
  148. 148Phenomenal consciousnesswhat it actually feels like to have certain subjective expereinces
  149. 149Two types of consciousnessaccess and phenomenal
  150. 150Qualiathe subjective expereinces we have with phenomenal consciousness
  151. 151processing fluencyhow fast and easy is it to process, how much effort must we put in
  152. 152How can we perceive processing fluency?not directly but we can perceive when things are familiar - but this can be misleading
  153. 153Why are there memories that we are very confident in that are very inaccurate?we can retreived them before, making practice for us and increasing the processing fluency of retreiving them - the easier to retrieve a memory, the more confident we are in it
  154. 154mind-body problemthe mind (and the ideas, thoughts, and feelings it contains) is an entirely different sort of entity from the physical body, and yet the two, somehow, can influence each other
  155. 155Phineas Gageinjury to frontal lobe caused lack of social restraint
  156. 156Hebb & Penfieldpatients with frontal lobe damage have normal IQ but have lost ability to control or organize their intellect ; Frontal lobe syndrome
  157. 157Frontal lobe syndrome (FLS)patient has inability to appreciate the nature of their deficit which suggests a breakdown of self-monitoring; loss of ability to sequence actions to achieve goals; can be caused by trauma or disease
  158. 158Evidence for frontal lobe developing lastkids do not have object permanence
  159. 159What is happening evolutionarily to our frontal lobes?they are growing
  160. 160Rhesus vs. galago monkeysRhesus have more developed frontal lobes and have object permanence
  161. 161object permanenceunderstanding that an object still exists even when you cannot see it
  162. 162Stroop task and executive controlWe automatically read words, we need executive control to focus our attention to read the color of the ink
  163. 163Wisconsin card sorting tasksort cards into categories by shape, color, or number of shapes; then sorting criteria changes and we must adjust - damage to PFC causes inability to switch attention once criteria changes
  164. 164Tower of Hanoimove disks to get larger ones on bottom; requires frontal lobe functions of goals/subgoals, planning, updating working memory, switching attnetion
  165. 165Marshmallow testone know or two later? can you delay gratification? those who could as kids were seen to do better (better grades, SAT scores correlated) when they were older
  166. 166A not B errorsomething attractive hidden under box A can be found, experiementer in critical trial moves it to box B and the subject fails to find it, even though they saw the researcher put it there
  167. 167What does the A not B error demonstrate?lack of object permanence
  168. 168When do children stop making the A not B error?around 1 year
  169. 169When do infant monkeys stop making the A not B error?around 4 months
  170. 170How do we know that executive functioning is a component of the frontal cortex?adult monkeys with lessioning to the dorsolateral prefrtonal cortex make A not B error, those with lesions to posterior parietal cortex or hippocampal formation do not, meaning it is not spatial or memory
  171. 171How can we improve executive functioning?creative play, especially when with others - have to be able to respond quickly, inhibit things that don't fit the scene, adjust quickly
    also active engagment - learning
  172. 172Use it or lose it principleneural networks are kept and thrive when used, wither away and die when not used
  173. 173Why are choices so critical during teenage years?that is when our brain is pruning our excess connections and choices at that time can shape the rest of our life
  174. 174When do gray matter connections peak and pruning begin?11 in girls, 12 in boys
  175. 175Gieddteenage brain
  176. 176DiamondA not B error and executive function
  177. 177Difference between boys and girls brainsBoys have more learning disabilities, autism, dyslexia, other things, while girls often have more anorexia nervosa
    Larger basal ganglia in girls, smaller basal ganglia associated with childhood illnesses
  178. 178Gottmanlove lab and the positivity proportion
  179. 179the positivity proportionsuccesful couples have five positives for every negative; unsucessful couples occur at a rate or .8 againt 1
  180. 180emotional coaching for a childNotice the child's emotions,
    Let the child feel understood,
    Help the child label their emotions,
    Help the child understand his/her feelings,
    Set limits on behavior: feelings are acceptable while behavior may not be
  181. 181implicit association biasTest to show if you have an implicit bias against a group - a bias that you do not realize you have
  182. 182DamasioIowa gambling task and somatic marker hypothesis
  183. 183Iowa Gambling tasktwo desk (one low risk, low reward; one high risk, high reward) body feels bad deck after 10 flips, but takes 80 flips for participant to consciously pick the better deck - somatic marker, use of frontal lobe
  184. 184How do people with frontal lobe damage do wth the Iowa gambling task?do not have physiological
  185. 185empathetic mirror neuronswe feel the paoin that other people feel based on the amount of pain we think they are feeling
  186. 186psychopaths and empathydo not feel empathy for others (empathetic mirror neurons), but brain areas involved in empathy are active when they imagine themselves (imagine self perspective) in the situation
  187. 187Peggy Masonacting on empathetic feelings is innate, even in rats but who to help is learned
  188. 188prescriptive theories of decision makinghow we should decide, good reasoning and executive control
  189. 189descriptive theories of decision makinghow we actually make decisions, departure from prescriptive, rational choice
  190. 190prospect theoryactions are determined by mental representations of situations, not by situations themselves
  191. 191Herb Simonhumans are driven by bounded rationality
  192. 192bounded rationalitychoice processes are as rational as they can be given cognitive limitations on the amount of information we can process
  193. 193consciousnessAn awareness of the self within the environment
  194. 194How do we measure consciousness?brain activity levels
  195. 195vigilancemeasure of awake behavior for consciousness, eyes open
  196. 196awarenesslevel/contents of consciousness
  197. 197Two axes of consciousnessvigilance and awareness
  198. 198Glasgow Coma Scaleassessing motor, visual, verbal skills to determine severity of an acute brain injury
  199. 199What does a score of 15 mean on the glasgow coma sclae?normal functioning
  200. 200How long before consciousness do we actually make a decision?can be as long as ten seconds before we are aware of our decisions

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Thinking, judgement, decision making, intelligence, reasoning, conscious and unconscious thought
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Kate Nanovic
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