Psych 1001 Chapter 8 Cognitive Note Cards

What is the representativeness heuristic? What is the availability heuristic?

-A heuristic that involves judging the probability of an event by its superficial similarity to a prototype. -Heuristic that involves estimating the likelihood of an occurrence based on the ease with which it comes to our minds.

Describe the research done with the Tarahumara and what was its finding? Why has so much research been done with colors?

-Colors A, B and C of differing wavelengths were shown to English and Tarahumara speakers. They were asked which color was not like the other. English speakers chose A while Tarahumara speakers chose C. English speakers chose A because it matched with a "green" label. Our language has taught us that A is in a "different category" than the other two. Tarahumara speakers chose C because the wavelength is the most different from the other two. -Because of different languages

What is the difference between expert and novices in problem solving? What is the paradox of expertise?

-Experts have domain knowledge while novices don't. Experts have solved a problem so many times that they know where the eventual solution path is. It becomes perceptual rather than cognitive. - The better you get at solving a problem, the more unconscious your problem solving becomes and the more perceptual it becomes. It is more difficult for experts to explain how they do something.

What are heuristics? What are algorithms?

-Heuristics are a mental shortcut or rule of thumb that helps us to streamline our thinking and make sense of our world. Doesn't require computational resources and not guaranteed to produce the correct solution. It's easy to apply but error-prone. - Algorithms are a step-by-step learned procedure or recipe used to solve a problem which involves discrete steps. They always produce the correct solution if steps are followed appropriately.

What are base rates? Confirmation bias? What is framing?

-How common a characteristic or behavior is in the general population. -Influences us while we seek evidence to support our position. Once we have an idea in our head, we only look for evidence that confirms this idea. -The way a question is formulated that can influence the decisions people make.

In problem solving, what is the initial state, the goal state and the current state? What is a weak method of problem solving? What is forward chaining? What is backwards chaining?

-Initial state is where we start off; goal state is where we're trying to get to (may be more than one); current state is state we're in right now. - A problem-solving technique you can apply to any problem. People do this in the absence of expertise and when they don't have a lot of prior knowledge of the domain. -Forward chaining: Move current state closer to goal state. -Backwards chaining: Move goal state toward current state by creating a sub goal.

What is linguistic determinism? Linguistic relativity?

-Language determines thought -The language you speak determines how you perceive, think about, and remember the world around you.

What is inductive reasoning? What is deductive reasoning? What is a syllogism?

-Reasoning from specific examples to a more general conclusion. -Going from a general rule to specific example (e.g. mathematical proofs). -Syllogism: All chefs are violinists...John is a chef, ergo John is a violinist.

What are the following obstacles to problem solving: The salience of surface similarities? Mental sets? Functional fixedness? What is Duncker's candle problem?

-Salience of surface similarities: -Mental sets: Phenomenon of becoming stuck in a specific problem-solving strategy, inhibiting our ability to generate alternatives. -Functional fixedness: Difficulty conceptualizing that an object typically used for one purpose can be used for another. -Duncker's candle problem: Subjects asked to come up with a solution on how to mount a candle on a wall with only a box and tacks/box of tacks, matches and a candle. In one group, the box and tacks were labeled separately. This group was able to figure out the solution in 30 seconds. The other group had the label "box of tacks" and it took them 9 minutes to figure out the solution.

What were the findings of research on the question of whether labels help or hurt memory for pictures?

-They both help and hurt our memory for pictures. When the picture and verbal label are consistent, the picture can help you make sense of the verbal label and encode it into long term memory. BUT, when the picture and verbal labels don't match, the verbal label distorts people's memory of the picture.

What is a normative approach? What is a descriptive approach?

-Think about what we ought to do. Popular in economics. People are rational and make decisions on their own economic interests and build models off that. -Psychologists use this approach. Shows how our own reasoning deviates from what's optimal.

Explain the Linguistic relativity hypothesis (also known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis or linguistic determinism?).

Speakers of a particular language interpret the world through the unique vocabulary and grammar of their own language.