Thinking

m29
 What are they?

How do you know?

 What is the most
dog-like dog that
you can imagine?
Concepts
Concept: a mental grouping of similar objects,
events, ideas, or people

Prototype: a best example of a concept

Analogous to
schemas and
hierarchies
Solving Problems
!?
Algorithm

Heuristic

Insight
Algorithm 0-0-0, 0-0-1, 0-0-2, etc

Heuristic

Insight
Algorithm 0-0-0, 0-0-1, 0-0-2, etc

Heuristic 21-0-0, 21-0-1, 21-0-2, etc

Insight
Algorithm 0-0-0, 0-0-1, 0-0-2, etc

Heuristic 21-0-0, 21-0-1, 21-0-2, etc

Insight I remember now!

 y i t . . .
l et ’s t r
So,
Find a partner for a bit of fun
Obstacles to Problem Solving
Confirmation bias

Fixation

Mental set

Functional fixedness
Confirmation Bias

After committing to a college, students will

seek others who have made the same
decision — rather than find others who
chose not to attend that college
Fixation
Fixation
 Mental set

Assume that you’re an engineer of a

passenger train, and you like to count
things...
1. How many stations were there?
1. How many stations were there?

2. How many passengers are left on the

train?
1. How many stations were there?

2. How many passengers are left on the

train?

3. How old is in the engineer?

 Mental set

There are six eggs in a basket. Six people

take one of the eggs each. How is it that one
egg can still be left in the basket?
Functional fixedness
Functional fixedness
Functional fixedness
Functional fixedness
Functional fixedness
Functional fixedness
Functional fixedness
Functional fixedness
Decisions &
Judgments
Heuristic: a rule of thumb, based on
experience, that enables quicker problem solving

List all the English words that start

with the letter Q
Three dangers of heuristics:
Representativeness heuristic
Availability heuristic
Overconfidence
Framed decisions
Representativeness
Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how
well they fit your prototype
 Representativeness
Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how
well they fit your prototype

Meeting people in your dorm, you might assume

that the laid-back, long-haired guy is from
California, whereas the fast-talking, clean-cut guy
is from New York
Representativeness
Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how
well they fit your prototype
 Representativeness
Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how
well they fit your prototype

You meet three players from the University’s

Quidditch team, and they are all really nice; you
might assume that all Quidditch players are that
way.
 Availability
Judging the likelihood of things based on how
easily they come to mind
 Availability
Judging the likelihood of things based on how
easily they come to mind

After hearing about several couples who have

recently broken up because of infidelity, you
might be more suspicious of your own partner
 Availability
Judging the likelihood of things based on how
easily they come to mind
 Availability
Judging the likelihood of things based on how
easily they come to mind

After news of a school shooting in Omaha, you

might think the possibility of a similar attack is
higher than it really is
Overconfidence: tendency to overestimate
the accuracy of our own knowledge and judgments

Vacation time vs assignments to do

 Overconfidence:
Why you shouldn’t show off
Framing: the way an issue is posed can
significantly affect decisions and judgments
Framing: the way an issue is posed can
significantly affect decisions and judgments

Condoms are 98% effective

vs
Condoms have a 2% failure rate
Framing: the way an issue is posed can
significantly affect decisions and judgments
Framing: the way an issue is posed can
significantly affect decisions and judgments

85% lean ground beef

vs
15% fat ground beef
Belief Bias
Belief bias: the tendency for our beliefs
to distort our ability to reason clearly

Beliefs are stronger than logic

Belief bias: the tendency for our beliefs
to distort our ability to reason clearly

Beliefs are stronger than logic

Belief perseverance: clinging to
one’s initial beliefs despite contrary
evidence