Module 27 - Thinking

The Aha! moment

A burst of right temporal lobe activity accompanied insight solutions to word problems (Jung-Beeman)

the availability heuristic

A few days before flying to San Francisco, Jim watched a documentary about the 1906 earthquake that devastated the city. Even though the chance of getting caught in an earthquake while in San Francisco was relatively minor, Jim decided to cancel his trip. This best illustrates:

overconfidence

the tendency to be more confident than correct—to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments

framing

the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments

planning fallacy

underestimating time and money

algorithm

Sally could not find the artichokes in the supermarket. As a result, she went up and down every row and examined every product in order to find them. This is an example of a problem-solving tool known as a(n) _____.

to pull in a longer stick, which he used to reach the banana.

Sultan, a chimpanzee studied by Wolfgang Kohler, displayed evidence for animal cognition. He was given a short stick that could not reach a banana, but then seemed to have an "Aha!" experience. He used the short stick:

availability heuristic

The easier it is for a person to remember a circumstance in which a car battery failed to function, the more he expects such an event to recur. This best illustrates the impact of the _____.

framing

Tiffany is a young sales representative who is just starting out. After her first few months on the job, she notices that potential clients respond better when she tells them that the product is successful 99 percent of the time, instead of saying that the error rate is 1 percent. This is an example of:

intrinsic motivation

creativity component - is being driven more by interest, satisfaction, and challenge than by external pressures

imaginative thinking skills

creativity component - provide the ability to see things in novel ways, to recognize patterns, and to make connections.

venturesome personality

creativity component - seeks new experiences, tolerates ambiguity and risk, and perseveres in overcoming obstacles.

creative environment

creativity component - sparks, supports, and refines creative ideas

expertise

creativity component - well-developed knowledge—furnishes the ideas, images, and phrases we use as mental building blocks.

availability heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common

divergent thinking

expanding the number of possible problem solutions; creative thinking that diverges in different directions Creativity tests

creativities 5 components

expertise, imaginative thinking skills, a venturesome personality, intrinsic motivation, creative environment

mental set

fixation - a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past

creativity

the ability to produce new and valuable ideas

confirmation bias

Because he mistakenly believes that older workers are not as motivated to work as hard as younger workers, a factory foreman is especially vigilant for signs of laziness among his senior employees. When he sees a younger employee slacking off, he usually assumes that he is taking a well-deserved break. His supervision strategy best illustrates:

d) a venturous personality

Christy moved from her home state so that she could attend graduate school in her desired field of study. She did not know anyone where she moved to and spent the money she had saved for the move very quickly. Things cost much more than she had expected. She received little support from her family to pursue her college education. Still, she progressed and quickly earned her degree. She graduated at the top of her class. Christy has _____. a) expertise b) imaginative thinking skills c) intrinsic motivation d) a venturous personality

intrinsic motivation

Isaac Newton stated that he was able to solve difficult scientific problems "by thinking about them all the time." This demonstrates?

intrinsic motivation

Makayla is taking a child development class and has been assigned a class project of her choice. She has chosen to analyze child drawings. She collected child drawings from a nearby elementary school from a total of 50 children in the third grade. Now she is in the process of analyzing the drawings and preparing her presentation. She has completely lost track of time. She meant to work on this for only an hour but when she looks at the clock three hours have passed. She is completely interested in the project and finds it challenging to analyze them. Makayla is demonstrating _____.

heuristic

Tyler is vacationing in a new city. He isn't quite sure where his hotel is. He knows it's near the beach. Tyler also realizes that the streets generally go from north to south, while avenues generally go east to west. Instead of driving around randomly, he is able to use this information to quickly find his hotel. This is an example of using a(n) _____.

concept

a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people Example: Chair includes many items—a baby's high chair, a reclining chair, a dentist's chair—all for sitting.

prototype

a mental image or best example of a category. Matching new items to a prototype provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin)

algorithm

a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Contrasts with the usually speedier—but also more error-prone—use of heuristics

heuristic

a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms

insight

a sudden realization of a problem's solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions Example: Bird stuck in concrete hole, using sand to get it out

confirmation bias

a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence (Peter Wason)

aptitude

ability to learn

cognition

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

intuition

an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning

fixation

an inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective

belief perseverance

clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

convergent thinking

narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution Intelligence tests