Cognitive Psychology: Reasoning and Problem Solving

Deductive reasoning involves deriving a logically necessary conclusion from given premises, whereas inductive reasoning involves generalizing from cases seen to cases unseen.

Inductive reasoning can only prove a hypothesis false, not true.

Abductive reasoning is the process of reasoning from an event to its possible cause. Its limitation is that it can lead to false explanations.

The Problem Space Theory suggests that problem solving involves generating states using legal operators within a problem space, and heuristics may be employed to select operators.

Productive problem solving draws on insight and restructuring of the problem, whereas reproductive problem solving involves recalling existing solutions.

Means-ends analysis is an example of a heuristic used in problem solving.

Deductive reasoning can produce a logically valid conclusion, but it does not necessarily guarantee the truth of the conclusion.

Wason's cards are used to demonstrate the difficulty of using negative evidence in inductive reasoning.

Iconic memory is responsible for storing visual stimuli, and an example of it is the 'sparkler' trail.

STM has rapid access (~ 70ms) and rapid decay (~ 200ms), while LTM has slow access (~ 1/10 second) and slow decay, if any.

The capacity of STM is limited to 7± 2 chunks, and an example of it is remembering a phone number like 0121 414 2626.

Episodic LTM involves the serial memory of events, while semantic LTM involves the structured memory of facts, concepts, and relationships.

Rehearsal allows information to move from STM to LTM, and the amount retained is proportional to the rehearsal time.

The two types of interference are retroactive interference, where new information replaces old, and proactive inhibition, where old information interferes with new.

Emotion can affect forgetting, as we may subconsciously choose to forget certain information, and emotional experiences can be more memorable.

Cues can assist in the retrieval of information from LTM, allowing us to recall information more effectively.

STM limits are largely applied to problem solving in well-defined areas, such as puzzles, rather than knowledge-intensive areas.

Analogical mapping is the process of using knowledge of a similar problem from a similar domain to solve a novel problem in a new domain.

Chunking is a characteristic of skilled activity, where a lot of information is organized to optimize STM, and information is structured more effectively through conceptual rather than superficial grouping of problems.

A slip occurs when there is right intention, but the action is not executed correctly, whereas a mistake occurs when there is a wrong intention, often due to an incorrect understanding of the problem.

Negative affect can make it harder to do even easy tasks, while positive affect can make it easier to do difficult tasks.

Affect influences how we respond to situations, with positive affect leading to creative problem solving and negative affect leading to narrow thinking.

Stress can increase the difficulty of problem solving, making it important to design interfaces that minimize stress and promote relaxation.

Designers should consider whether their design decisions will exclude a section of the user population, and take into account individual differences such as sex, physical and intellectual abilities, stress, fatigue, and age.