Psychology 7.1

1. Cognitive Psychology

   Annotations:

   • The branch of psychology that focuses of mental processes such as thinking, problem solving, decision making, and use of language.
2. Thinking

   Annotations:

   • The process of mentally representing and manipulating information.
   1. Mental Image

      Annotations:

      • {A mental picture or representation of an object or event.} ...See page 244.  *Representation of object/event *This ability helps helps us perform most cognitive tasks(eg. remembering directions through mental image).  *Can lead to creative solutions and imagination *Investigatiors have found mental image to recall past experiences is stronger in women.  *Men report using imagery to solve problems *Women tend to out perform men in remembering spatial location of objects *Not always only visual, but it can be applied to other senses like hearing (recalling a symphony, a feeling, etc. out of mental images).
   2. Concepts

      Annotations:

      • {Mental categories for classifying events, objects, and ideas on a basis their common features or properties} ...see pg. 245 *Forming concepts help us make sense of the world *Concepts help us respond more quickly to events by reducing the need for new learning each time we encounter a new object or event. Eg: Is a penguin a bird? It would be classified as one, however, a penguin cannot fly. Some would disclassify it as a bird because it is not like most birds (a robin, for example). 
      1. Logical Concepts

         Annotations:

         • {Concepts with clearly defined rules for membership} *"If a figure has three sides, it must be a triangle." * A Botanist would say, "A pumpkin is a fruit, because it has been proven through study." 
      2. Natural Concepts

         Annotations:

         • {Concepts with poorly defined or fuzzy rules for membership} *"An avocado must not be a fruit because it doesn't taste like a fruit."  *Abstract concepts such as justice, honor, and freedom are classified as natural concepts because people generally use them without employing a strict set of rules to determine how the concepts should be applied. 
   3. Problem Solving

      Annotations:

      • {A form of thinking focused of finding a solution to a particular problem} *Reffering back to Chapter 5, (Edward Thordike's puzzle box), the animals put inside the puzzle used trial and error to solve the problem of escaping from the compartment.  *Some people use trial and error, whereas, sometimes people can have "eureka!" moments *Restructuring occurs when a person sees a problem from a different perspective and they retry solving it. They notice problems which were previously overlooked and act on what they know now
      1. Algorithm

         Annotations:

         • {A step-by-step set of rules that will always lead to a correct solution to a problem} Eg. arithmatic *As long as the rules are precisely excecuted, the answer will always come out with the right answer. 
      2. Heuristic

         Annotations:

         • {A rule of thumb for solving problems or making judgments or decisions} ...pg. 247*Heuristics do not guarantee a solution, however, they can help you arrive at one more quickly. *Means-end:Evaluating the current situation and comparing it with what we wish to achieve in our end result and developing a plan from that.  *Backward-working: Starting with a possible solution and then working backward to see if the data supports the solution.
      3. Mental Set

         Annotations:

         • {The tendency to rely on strategies that worked in similar situations in the past, but may not be the appropriate situation} *A mental set may help you reach an appropriate solution more quickly, however, things don't always happen the same way twice.
      4. Functional Fixedness

         Annotations:

         • {The tendency to perceive objects as limited to the customary functions they serve} *It is the inability to how familiar objects could be used in different ways.  *It is an impediment to problem solving 

Annotations:

• {A form of problem solving in which we must select a course of action from among the available alternatives} *We may think we approach decision making logically, but researchers find that most people often rely on biased ways of thinking (cognitive biases), which hamper their ability to make rational or sound choices. 

1. Confirmation Bias

   Annotations:

   • {The tendency to maintain allegiance to an initial hypothesis despite strong evidence to the contrary} * "I know the truth, but I am gonna try this anyway.."
2. Representativeness Heuristic

   Annotations:

   • {A rule of thumb for making judgments that assume a given sample is representative of a larger population from which it is drawn} *This may lead to bad decisions if you assume a given sample to a general population (eg. Two students disliked a certain college, therefore, you do too). *Underlines the characteristic of judging by first impressions
3. Availability Heuristic

   Annotations:

   • {The tendency to judge events as more likely to occur when information pertaining to them comes readily to mind} *The over generalized notion that perhaps because we see a danger on TV or hear about it, that the same thing could happen to us (eg. faulty airplane), leading to an overestimated risk.

Annotations:

• {Originality of thought associated with the development of new, workable products or solutions to problems} ...See Pg. 251*Analogies*Conceptual Combination*Conseptual Expansion

1. Divergent Thinking

   Annotations:

   • {The ability to conceive new ways of viewing situations and new uses for familiar objects} pg. 250
2. Brainstorming

   Annotations:

   • {A method of promoting divergent thinking by encouraging people to propose as many possible solutions to a problem as possible without fear of being judged negatively by others; no matter how far-fetched their proposals may be} *Concept introduced by Alex Osbourne (1963)

Annotations:

• {The attempt to narrow down a range of alternatives to converge on the one correct answer to a problem} *(In contrast to divergent thinking)

Annotations:

• {Combinations of two or more concepts into one concept, resulting in the creation of a novel idea or application} *Eg. Veggie burgers, cell phones, etc.

1. Conceptual Expansion

   Annotations:

   • {Expanding familiar concepts by applying them to new uses} *eg. A chef's variation of a traditional dish, creating a stage script from a book, etc.