IB Psychology- Thinking and decision making

Which of the following statements is true about thinking, decision making and problem solving?

Decision making is a part of problem solving - and both decision making and problem solving are examples of thinking.

Which of the following is not a characteristic of System 1 thinking?

Is able to transfer information from one situation to another.

Which of the following is not a characteristic of System 2 thinking?

It is the basis for most of our day to day decision making.

Which of the following statements is true about the Wason selection task?

People make fewer errors when the task is put into a context which they understand, rather than an abstract task.

Mary believes that she is an excellent math student. In fact, her favourite unit is statistics. However, when she is asked to critically evaluate the data of a experiment in psychology class, she does not know how to do it. How does the Dual Process model explain this?

She is not able to transfer her understanding in mathematics to a new context (situation). So, her approach to solving the problem shows System 1 thinking.

According to Goel et al (2000), which part of the brain may be responsible for processing abstract problems?

The parietal lobe.

Which of the following is not a limitation of the Dual Process Model?

There is no biological support for a two systems approach.

When are we more likely to use System 1 thinking?

When we have too much information to process.

heuristics

a 'rule' used to make decisions or form judgements. Are mental short-cuts that involve focusing on one aspect of a complex problem and ignoring others (Lewis, 2008).

decision making

as the process of identifying and choosing alternatives based on the values and preferences of the decision-maker

If I meet two students from your school and they are brilliant psychology students, I may then conclude that your school must have an amazing psychology program. This conclusion follows a simple "rule of thumb" or a mental short-cut called a

heuristic

System 2

is a slower, conscious and rational mode of thinking. This mode of thinking is assumed to require more effort.

System 1

is an automatic, intuitive and effortless way of thinking. System 1 thinking often employs heuristics

Thinking

is the process of using knowledge and information to make plans, interpret the world, and make predictions about the world in general.

Problem-solving

is thinking that is directed toward solving specific problems by means of a set of mental strategies

The Dual Process Model

of thinking and decision making postulates that there are two basic modes of thinking - what Stanovich and West (2000) refer to as "System 1" and "System 2."

verbal protocol

researchers study how people make decisions is to have them think aloud.