Exam 4
Convergent thinking
the ability to give the correct answer
Wason's Selection Task
If a card has a vowel on one side, then it has an even number on the other side. If given cards A, D , 4, 7 you should choose A and 7
Class inclusion
If an animal is a dog, then it's a mammal
Causality
If there's a drought, then the crops will die
Threat
If you come another step closer, I'll shoot
Permission
If you do your homework, then you can go out and play
Another example of Wason't Selection Task
If you drink alcohol, then you must be 21. Cards: beer, diet coke, 21, and 19. Choose beer and 19.
Exchange
If you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours
Cognitive Map
Mental representation of the environment that surrounds us -Neighborhoods, cities, countries, real-world settings, ecological validity
"Early" researchers of imagery (beginning with Aristotle until just prior to the dominance of behaviorism) proposed all of the following ideas EXCEPT:
imagery requires a special mechanism.
Information-Processing Approach
-Tower of Hanoi -Operators
Using analogies to solve a problem
Using a solution to a similar problem guides solution to new problem
Candle Problem
Using materials to mount candle; realizing matchbox can be mount rather than a container
Kosslyn's island experiment used the ________ procedure.
Mental scanning
Maximizers
Tend to examine as many options as possible
Bias
A tendency to perform in a certain way regardless of the information provided
Operators
Actions that take the problem from one state to another
If I stay up too late, I will be very tired. I stayed up too late. Therefore, I am very tired.
Affirming the antecedent; Valid
If I eat a whole pizza for lunch, I will ruin my appetite for dinner. I ate the whole pizza. Therefore, I have ruined my appetite for dinner.
Affirming the antecedent; valid
If I save $1500 or more, I can go to Europe for spring break. I'm going to Europe for spring break. Therefore, I have saved at least $1500.
Affirming the consequent; invalid
Finke and Pinker (1982)
-Task: Ps judge whether arrow points to dots previously seen -Result: Longer rxn time when greater distance between arrow and dot (as if they were "mentally travelling"); not instructed to use visual imagery; no time to memorize, no tacit knowledge
If I walk in this heat, I will sweat. I'm sweating. Therefore, I walked in this heat.
Affirming the consequent; invalid
Example of categorical syllogism
All poodles are dogs. All dogs are animals. Therefore, all poodles are animals.
Hindsight Bias
An after-the-fact judgment that some event was very likely to happen or was very predictable, even though it was not predicted to happen beforehand ("I knew it all along")
Modus Ponens: Affirming the antecedent
If P, then Q. P. Therefore, Q. Valid
Fallacy of affirming the consequent
If P, then Q. Q. P. Invalid
Tversky (1981)
-Task: Ps presented with pairs of cities and asked which city is north (or east) of the other? -Result: Many students showed a consistent tendency to use the alignment heuristic especially for northern cities in N.A. compared to southern cities in Europe ---Rome is more north than Philadelphia
Visual Imagery
"seeing" in the absence of a visual stimulus
Different people were tested with different numbers of gift box options. According to standard economic theory, which group should be the happiest with their selected option?
-10 options
Duncker's Radiation Problem
-Analogies aid problem-solving -Often hints must be given to notice connection
Pedgword Technique
-Associate items to be remembered with concrete words -Pair each of these things with a pegword -Create a vivid image of things to be remembered with the object represented by the word
Mutilated-checkerboard problem
-Conditions differed in how much information provided about the squares -Easier to solve when information is provided that points toward the correct representation of the problem -If we eliminate two corners of the board, can you still fit 31 dominoes?
Imagery and Cognitive Revolution
-Developed ways to measure behavior that could be used to infer cognitive processes -Paired-associate learning
Multiplication Study
-If the first # was large, the estimates were higher than if the first number was small -Single-digit numbers anchored the estimates far too low -Anchor may restrict the search for relevant information in memory (ex: 243 x 59)
Early ideas about imagery
-Imageless-thought debate -Is thinking possible without images?
Examples of availability heuristic
-Is the letter "r" more likely to appear in the first letter or third letter of word? You would think first, but the answer is third. -Overestimation of plane crashes, violent crimes, and tornadoes -Both spouses tend to claim greater responsibility for a majority of chore attributes
Paivio (1963, 1965)
-Memory for words that evoke mental images is better than those that do not -Conceptual-peg hypothesis
Shepard and Meltzer (1971)
-Mental chronometry (mental measure of time) -Participants mentally rotated one object to see if it matched another object
Acrobat and reverse acrobat problem
-One small change in wording of problem -Not just analyzing structure of problem space -Implication:
LeBihan et al (1993)
-Overlap in brain activation -Visual cortex
Differences in imagery and perception
-Perception is automatic and stable -Imagery takes effort and is fragile
Method of Loci
-Placing images at locations -Visualizing items to be remembered in different locations in a mental image of a spatial layout
Analogical Coding
-Process by which two problems are compared and similarities between them are determined. -Effective way to get participants to pay attention to structure features that aide problem-solving
Percentage solving radiation problem
-Radiation problem alone: 10% -After reading fortress story: 30% -When told to think about the fortress story: 70%
Imagery and Perception
-Spatial correspondence between imagery and perception: mental scanning = looking for car in parking lot -We act as if our mental images are physical entities
Chalmers & Reisberg (1985)
-Task: Had Ps create mental images of ambiguous figures -Result: Difficult to flip from one perception to another while holding a mental image of it
Hirtle and Mascolo (1986)
-Task: Learn hypothetical map of a town; estimate distance between pairs of locations -Result: People tended to shift each location closer to other sites that belonged to the same semantic cluster
Thorndyke (1981) Number of Intervening Cities
-Task: Ps studied map of hypothetical region until they could reproduce it; then estimated distance between specified pairs of cities -IV: 0, 1, 2, or 3 cities along the route between the 2 cities -Results: The # of intervening cities had a clean-cut influence on estimates; "cluttered" routes seem longer; roads with complex turns seem longer than straight roads
Kosslyn (1978)
-Task: Study figure of island with 7 locations, 21 trips -Results: It took longer to scan between greater distances -Implication: Visual imagery is spatial
Kosslyn (1973)
-Task: memorize picture, create an image of it; in image, move from one part of the picture to another -Result: it took longer for participants to mentally move long distances than shorter distances -Implication: like perception, imagery is spatial
Maximizers tended to experience:
-more regret following a choice -more depressive symptoms -more choices don't necessarily make a person happier
Reasons for overconfidence
1. People are unaware of their knowledge 2. Confirming our hypotheses are readily available 3. People have difficulty recalling other possible hypotheses 4. Even if they can recall, they do not treat them seriously 5. Groupthink
Gick & Holyoak (1980, 1983)
1. noticing relationship 2. mapping correspondence between source and target 3. applying mapping
A circular plate rests at the center of a small square table. Around the table are a total of four chairs, one along each side of the square table. A person with unilateral neglect sits down in one of the chairs and eats from the plate. After he is "finished," he moves to the next chair on his right and continues to eat from the plate. Assuming he never moves the plate and he continues with this procedure (moving one chair to the right and eating) how many chairs will he have to sit in to eat all the food on the plate?
3
Situationally Produced mental set
A pre-conceived notion about how to approach a problem, which is determined by person's past experiences
Algorithm
A procedure or rule that is guaranteed to yield the correct number
Heuristic
A procedure that often yields the correct answer, but is not guaranteed to
Evaluation
Ask people if conclusion follows logically from premises
Production
Ask people to indicate what logically follows from premises.
Decision-Making
Assessing and choosing among several alternatives
Which of the following statements does NOT apply to the results of research on differences between how experts and novices solve problems?
Being an expert in one field can transfer to better problem solving in another field.
Think-aloud protocol
Can produce shift in how one perceives elements of a problem
If you are given the information that in order to vote in a presidential election, you must be at least 18 to vote, and that Will voted in the last presidential election, you can logically conclude that Will is at least 18. This is an example of ______ reasoning
Deductive
If you are given the information that in order to vote in a presidential election, you must be at least 18 years of age, and that Will voted in the last presidential election, you can logically conclude that Will is at least 18 years old. This is an example of using ________ reasoning.
Deductive
Consider the following conditional syllogism:
Denying the antecdent
If the dog is barking, then he is hungry. The dog is not barking. Therefore, the dog is not hungry.
Denying the antecedent; invalid
If it is raining, then the ground is wet. The ground is not wet. Therefore, it is not raining.
Denying the consequent; Valid
Categorical Syllogism
Describe the relation between two categories using all, no, or some
Ill-Defined Problem
Does not have clear goals, solution path, or expected solution
Stevens and Coupe (1978)
East/west and north/south judgment of cities
Availability Heuristic
Estimate frequency or probability in terms of how easy it is to think of relevant examples -True frequency "contaminated" by recency and familiarity -Estimates are influenced by the ease with which relevant examples can be remembered
Mental Imagery
Experiencing a sensory impression in the absence of sensory input
Water-jug problem
Figure out on paper how to obtain the required volume of water, given 3 empty jar's measurements. B-A-2C
Landmark Effect
General tendency to provide shorter estimates when traveling to a landmark, rather than a non-landmark ---Distance from Detroit to Toledo feels longer than the distance from Toledo to Detroit
Deduction
Goes from general premises to specific conclusion -All college students like chimps in sweaters. Terry is a college student. Therefore, Terry likes chimps in sweaters.
Induction
Goes from specific premises to general conclusion. -Brian is a college student. Brian rocks out to Justin Bieber. Therefore, all college students rock out to Justin Bieber.
Well-Defined Problem
Has specific goals and clearly defined solution path
Cognitive maps and relative position
Heuristics make sense, but can cause us to miss important details and fail to pay attention to bottom-up information
Base Rate
How often an item occurs in the population
Induction is used to make scientific discoveries
Hypotheses and general conclusions
Means-end
If I go to Philly, then I'll fly
Fallacy of Denying the Antecedent
If P, then Q. Not P. Not Q. Invalid
Modus Tollens: Denying the consequent
If P, then Q. Not Q. Therefore, not P. Valid
Better Than Average Effect (BTAE)
In many cases, people believe themselves to be "better than average," and so feel justified in ignoring base rates.
General Hospital delivers 45 births per day, while the infant clinic delivers 15 births per day. Is a day with 60% male births more likely to occur at General Hospital, the infant clinic, or is it equally likely?
Infant Clinic --> law of small numbers
Newell & Simon Problem Space
Initial state, goal states, and all possible intermediate states for a particular problem
Ira and his sister are playing "Name that Tune," the object of which is to name the title of the song when given the song's first line. Ira suggests the line "Sleigh bells ring, are you listening?" His sister can't come up with the answer at first, but realizing that the title is often embedded in the lyrics, she tries to sing them silently to herself. She then bursts out "Ah! It's 'Winter Wonderland'!" It is most likely that Ira's sister used ________ in playing the game.
Inner audition
Metcalfe and Wiebe (1987)
Insight: triangle problem, chain problem Noninsight: algebra Warmth judgments every 15 seconds
Subgoals
Intermediate states that are closer to the goal
Syllogistic Reasoning
Involves two or more (usually quantified) premises and a conlcusion that may or may not follow from the premises.
Orientation of Map
Judgments are easier when your mental map and the physical map have matching orientations
Baye's theorem
Judgments should be influenced by two factors: the base rate and the likelihood ratio
Pylyshyn (1973)
Kosslyn's results can be explained by using real-world knowledge unconsciously (i.e., tacit-knowledge explanation)
Lydia is 48 years old, single, outspoken, and very bright. She majored in philosophy as an undergraduate. As a student, she was deeply concerned with issues of discrimination and social justice, and she participated in anti-nuclear demonstrations. Which of the following alternatives is most probable?
Lydia is a U.S. Congresswoman.
Which problem provides an example of how functional fixedness can hinder solution of a problem?
Two-string problem
The Hot Hand Effect
Misperceiving random streaks as increased probabilities
Lea (1975)
More distractions when scanning longer distances may have increased reaction time
Paradox of Choice
More options --> Harder time making choices and less satisfaction with choices made
Frank is a meek and quiet person whose only hobby is playing chess. He was near the top of his college class and majored in philosophy. Is Frank more likely to be a librarian or a businessman?
Most people answer librarian, however it is very unlikely.
Conversion Effects
Not valid argument, conversion error --> but if 2nd premise reads "All animals are dogs" then it would be valid All poodles are animals. All dogs are animals. Therefore, all poodles are dogs.
Gick and Holyoak consider which of the following to be the most difficult step to achieve in the process of analogical problem solving?
Noticing that there is an analogous relationship between problems because most participants need prompting before they notice a connection.
What is a problem?
Obstacle between a present state and a goal and it is not immediately obvious how to get around the obstacle.
Groupthink
Occurs when a cohesive group is so concerned about reaching a unanimous decision that they ignore potential problems
Spatial Cognition
Our thoughts about spatial issues; cognitive maps, remembering the world we navigate; keeping track of objects in a spatial array
Utility
Outcomes that are desirable because they are in the person's best interest maximum monetary payoff
My-side Bias
Overconfidence that one's own view is correct in a confrontational situation
Example of mental logic
P or Q; not P; therefore Q. Either you fail the exam, or you pass. You don't fail. Therefore, you pass.
Unilateral Neglect
Patient ignores objects in one half of visual field in perception and imagery
Illusory Correlation
People believe that two variables are statistically related, even though there is no real evidence for this relationship. -Hair twisting hypothesis -There is no relationship between being stressed and twisting one's hair
Law of Small Numbers (Gambler's Fallacy)
People expect small samples to resemble the populations from which they are drawn. This is a fallacy.
Conjunction Fallacy
People judge the probability of the conjunction of two events to be greater than the probability of a constituent event; they judge representativeness instead of statistical probability -The conjunction cannot be greater than the probability of either of its individual components
Belief Perseverance
People persevere in their beliefs, even in the face of discomforting evidence. -Suicide notes -Those who told they have "above average" results behaved in the same manner
Pragmatic Reasoning Schemas
People reason with schemas for accomplishing specific practical goals.
Planning Fallacy
Underestimate amount of time (or money) required to complete a project; also estimate the task will be relatively easy to complete
Fixation
People's tendency to focus on a specific characteristic of the problem that keeps them from arriving at a solution
Examples of schemas
Permission Causality Class inclusion Threat Means-end Exchange
As described in your text, the pegword technique relies on all of the following EXCEPT:
Propositions
Visual imagery is useful
Provides a way of thinking that adds another dimension to purely verbal techniques
Endowment Effect
Ps were shown a coffee mug -Sellers: were given the mug, and asked how much they'd be willing to sell it for -Buyers: were not given the mug, but were asked how much they'd be willing to buy it for -Result: ----Sellers: $7.12 ----Buyers: $2.87 Simply owning the mug increased its value; losing the mug is more expensive than gaining the mug is appetitive (ex: garage sales)
Mental Logic
Reasoning is following a set of abstract mental rules to make inferences. Like in grammar, you may be unaware of your mental rules.
Means-end analysis
Reduce the difference between the initial and goal states -Achieved by creating subgoals
Comparing imagery and perception
Relationship between viewing distance and ability to perceive details -Imagine small animal next to large animal -Quicker to detect details on the larger animal -ex: walking up to a car that looks just like yours
Strength of argument is based on:
Representativeness of observations Number of observations Quality of observations
Gestalt Approach to problem solving
Representing a problem in the mind through restucturing
Semantic Categories
Semantic factors influence distance estimates for specific locations (campus and off-campus buildings)
Ill-defined problems are so named because it is difficult to specify ________ for the problems.
Single correct answer
Atmosphere Effects
Some businessmen are Republicans. Some Republicans are conservative. Therefore, some businessmen are conservative. --Represent 1st and 2nd premise but not conclusion. If the premises and its conclusion use the same wording, then that conclusion is more likely to be accepted as true.
The mental simulation approach for solving mechanical problems is analogous to the idea that visual imagery involves ________ representations.
Spatial
The Jam Experiment
Tasting 24 jams versus 6 jams. To sample the jam: 40% sampled the 6 and 60% sampled the 24. But when purchasing, 30% buy the 6 jams; 3% buy the 24 jams More shoppers purchased when variety was less
Satisficers
Tend to settle for something that is satisfactory
Prospect Theory
The evaluation of outcomes is defined on gains and losses rather than expected utility
Framing Effect
The outcome of a decision can be influenced by: 1. The background context of the choice (lost ticket/lost $20) 2. The way in which a question is worded (people prefer 75% lean vs. 25% fat
Conjunction Rule
The probability of the conjunction of two events cannot be larger than the probability of either of its constituent events
Strength
The probability that the conclusion is true, given that the premises are true
Restructuring
The process of changing the problem's representation
Survey Knowledge
The relationship among locations that you directly acquire by learning a map or by repeatedly exploring an environment
Insight
The sudden realization of a problem's solution
Which of the following has been used as an argument AGAINST the idea that imagery is spatial in nature?
The tacit-knowledge explanation
Base-rate neglect
The tendency to ignore the overall likelihood that an event will occur, or that a case will belong in a given category. Emphasize representativeness and underemphasizes important information about base rates
Two-String problem
Tie two strings together hanging from different parts of ceiling. Use pliers to create a pendulum.
Falsification Principle
To test a rule, you must look for situations that falsify the rule; most participants fail to do this
Representativeness Heuristic
We judge that a sample is likely if it is similar to the population from which it was selected
Rotation Heuristic
We remember a tilted geographic structure as being either more vertical or more horizontal than it really is -Reno vs. San Diego -Seattle vs. Toronto -U.S./Canada Border
Alignment Heuristic
We remember geographic structures as being arranged in a straighter line than they really are
Tversky
We use heuristics when we represent relative positions in our mental maps
The Anchoring and Adjustment Heuristic
When making an estimate, we begin with a first approximation (anchor) and then we make adjustments to that number on the basis of additional information -People rely too heavily on the anchor and their adjustments are too small
Belief-Bias Effect
When people make judgments based on prior beliefs and general knowledge, rather than on the rules of logic.
Likelihood Ratio
Whether the description is more likely to apply to population A or population B
Functional Fixedness
Works against solving a problem, focusing on familiar functions or uses of an object.
Mental-walk task
a task used in imagery experiments in which participants are asked to form a mental image of an object and to imagine that they are walking toward this mental image Example: rabbit experiment, results provides futher evidence for the idea that images are spatial like perception
Dr. Curious is doing a follow-up study to the mutilated checkerboard problem experiment. In this new study, participants solve the following shoe problem before tackling the checkerboard problem. By doing this, Dr. Curious is studying the effect of ________ on problem solving. The shoe problem: A first-grade class is using a trampoline in gym class, so all the children have removed their shoes, which are all jumbled in a large pile. One of the students, Miguel, is leaving early, so the teacher tells him to grab his shoes and report to the lobby. In his hurry, Miguel grabs two identical left-footed, size 6 red sneakers and runs to his mother still sock-footed. Will the remaining students be able to shoe-up with the remaining shoes without getting a foot-ache?
analogies
Wally and Sharon are out on a date. When Sharon asks Wally where they should go for dinner, Wally says "My coworkers keep telling me about that new Japanese place downtown, so it must be a great place to eat." Wally's response illustrates the use of a(n):
availability heuristic
In explaining the paradox that imagery and perception exhibit a double dissociation, Behrmann and coworkers suggested that perception necessarily involves ________ processing and imagery starts as a ________ process.
bottom-up; top-down
The typical purpose of subgoals is to:
bring the problem solver closer and closer to the goal state
Of the following real-world phenomena, the confirmation bias best explains the observation that people:
can cite several reasons for their position on a controversial issue but none for the opposing side.
Metcalfe and Wiebe gave participants problems to solve and asked them to make "warmth" judgments every 15 seconds to indicate how close they felt they were to a solution. The purpose of this experiment was to:
demonstrate a difference between how people solve insight and non-insight problems.
The creative cognition approach that Finke used to get people to "invent" useful objects is an example of:
divergent thinking
Experts
extremely knowledgeable or skilled in a particular field -solve problems
PFC-damaged patients have trouble with reading comprehension tasks. They are unable to:
follow the order of events in the story.
Juanita is in a convenience store considering which soda to buy. She recalls a commercial for BigFizz she saw on TV last night. BigFizz is running a promotion where you look under the bottle cap, and one in five bottles has a voucher for a free soda. If Juanita decides to purchase a BigFizz based on this promotion, which is framed in terms of ________, she will use a ________ strategy.
gains; risk-aversion
Perky's experiment, in which participants were asked to "project" visual images of common objects onto a screen, showed that:
imagery and perception can interact with one another.
In vivo problem-solving research:
involves observing people to determine how they solve problems in real-world situations --advantage: captures thinking in naturalistc settings --disadvantage: time-consuming, difficult to isolate and control
The validity of a syllogism depends on:
its form
In Belilock and Carr's study of the relationship between working memory capacity and problem solving, individuals with high working memory capacity performed best in the ________ condition.
low-pressure
Which probability is greater? The p(heart attack) or p(heart attack over the age of 55)?
p(heart attack) is more likely
Expected Utility
p(outcome) x utility of outcome -A lottery ticket has a .01 chance of winning $200; EU: .01 x 200 = $2
The permission schema is an example of a(n):
pragmatic reasoning schema.
Shepard and Metzler's "image rotation" experiment was so influential and important to the study of cognition because it demonstrated:
that imagery and perception may share the same mechanisms.
Janet is alone in a room that contains a chair and a shelf with a book resting on top. She attempts to retrieve the book, but the shelf is a foot above her reach. How will Janet retrieve the book? Psychologists would NOT classify this scenario as a problem because:
the solution is immediately obvious.
When people are dealing with possible gains,
they tend to avoid risks
When people are dealing with possible losses,
they tend to seek risks
Divergent thinking
thinking that is open-ended, involving a large number of potential solutions
Analogical Paradox
using analogies in real-world settings
People tend to overestimate:
what negative feelings will occur following a decision more so than positive feelings.
