Psychology Chapter on Thinking and Decision-Making

Learning Outcomes

• This unit focuses on schema theory, rational and intuitive thinking, thinking and decision-making biases, and the effect of emotion.
• Students need to describe schema theory and research studies related to it.
• Both rational (deliberate) and intuitive (automatic) thinking processes need to be described.
• Students should discuss at least two biases in thinking and decision-making.
• The extent to which emotion affects thinking and decision-making should be evaluated.

Units of Thought

• Concepts can be defined as categories or labels for objects with common traits.
• Basic concepts are those that are neither too broad nor too specific; these are learned and used often.
• Prototypes are the "average" or most representative examples of a concept.

Combining Concepts

• Concepts combine to form propositions, representing a single distinct idea.
• Cognitive schemas group propositions into mental networks that represent world assumptions.
• Schemas are influenced by mental images, which don't necessarily need to be visual.

Bottom-up and Top-Down Processing

• Bottom-up processing originates directly from sensory input, unaffected by prior experiences.
• Top-down processing uses prior experiences (schemas) to guide information processing.
• The Rat Man experiment (Bugelski & Alampay, 1961) exemplifies top-down processing biases.

Types of Schemas

• Self-schemas represent personal expectations.
• Scripts are step-by-step sequences of expected actions in specific situations.
• Social schemas are generalizations, or stereotypes, about groups of people.

Schemata Adaptation

• Schemas are derived from past experiences and adapted as new information is encountered.
• Assimilation occurs when new information is integrated into existing schemas without schema change.
• Accommodation occurs when schemas change in response to new learning.

Schemas in Action

• Schemas influence beliefs and expectations concerning the world, without necessarily needing conscious attention.
• This leads to shortcuts, but can also promote stereotypical thinking.
• Studies such as Darley and Gross (1983) demonstrate how schemas of different qualities lead to different predictions.

Cognitive Processes

• The IB exam might require students to address one cognitive process; options are memory, thinking/problem-solving.
• Schemas are tools that support cognitive processes.

Types of Thinking

• Intuitive thinking (System 1) is automatic and happens without conscious deliberation.
• Intuitive thinking in people, such as in a study by Denes-Raj & Epstein (1994), can lead them to go against rational thought when choosing.
• Iowa Gambling Task can be used to measure intuitive thinking.
• Rational thinking (System 2) is conscious and involves full knowledge and computational capacity.

Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)

• TPB explains the link between attitudes and behavior in decision-making.
• The human problem-solver is assumed to be rational and use environmental information effectively.
• Factors influencing actions are attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control.

TPB in Action

• Studies, such as Albarracin et al. (2001), examined TPB's effectiveness in predicting condom use.
• The study revealed correlations between intentions, attitudes, subjective norms, and behavioral control.
• Study showed a notable limitation: self-reported attitudes can sometimes differ from actual behavior.

Problem Solving

• Reasoning is a form of directed thought that analyzes information to draw conclusions.
• Algorithms are step-by-step procedures that guarantee accurate solutions, but are often time-consuming.
• Humans utilize heuristics, or mental shortcuts (e.g., using intuitive thinking), as an alternative.

Types of Heuristics

• Affect heuristic relies on emotional responses rather than facts.
• Availability heuristic relies on easily accessible information, whereas availability can lead to overestimation of event frequency.
• Representativeness heuristic focuses on observed similarities to past events.
• Anchoring heuristic relies on initial estimates to form judgments.

Describing Heuristics/Biases

• An availability heuristic is where people use quick judgments based readily available information.
• This is driven by ease of recall: some memories are better remembered and events leaving an impression, are seen as more significant.

Cognitive Biases

• Illusions of correlation are false perceptions of relationships between events.
• Hindsight bias is overestimating the prediction accuracy of an outcome after it occurred.
• Confirmation bias happens when people prefer information that supports their existing beliefs and overlook contradictory information.
• Belief perseverance means sticking to beliefs, despite evidence disproving them.
• Optimism bias means expecting positive outcomes.
• Selective attention limits attention to specific stimuli.
• Matching bias is focusing on named values instead of supporting logic or rules.

Wason's Four-Card Problem

•  A classic problem highlighting reasoning biases.
•  The problem presents a rule and requires identifying what cards need to be shown to verify the rule.

Research on Cognitive Biases

• Studies like those by Anderson, Lepper, & Ross (1980) and Chapman & Chapman (1968) explored the persistence of beliefs and biases in perception.

Cognitive Dissonance

• Cognitive dissonance is the uncomfortable feeling when attitudes clash with behavior.
•  This can drive conformity and justification of effort.
• Studies like those of Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) investigated how rewards affect perceptions of tasks.

Emotions

• Emotions are individual feelings triggered by significant stimuli.
• All emotions include three parts: physical changes, cognitive interpretations, and social/cultural influences.

Emotions and the Face

• Primary emotions, such as anger, happiness, fear, surprise, disgust, sadness, and contempt, are present from birth (Ekman, 1997).
• Secondary emotions are influenced by culture and age.

Emotions and the Brain

• The right brain hemisphere processes emotions, whereas the left hemisphere interprets their meaning.
• The amygdala is crucial for emotions, particularly fear.
• It quickly evaluates incoming sensory data for significance and makes quick processing decisions.
• Pathways to trigger response include short, quick routes through the thalamus, to the amygdala and longer routes that include the cortex and hippocampus.

Emotions and Hormones

• Norepinephrine and adrenaline are stress-related hormones impacting arousal and alertness.
• These hormones affect the brain, but the types of brain patterns can vary during emotional arousal.
• Oxytocin is strongly associated with trust behavior.

Emotions and Cognition

•  Emotional events are often retained as flashbulb memories, which are easily recalled, though possibly inaccurate.
• Emotions can influence thinking and decision-making, such as in the use of the affect heuristic when emotions are used as shortcuts to judgment instead of logic.
• Perceptions of outcomes in some situations can influence emotional reactions.
• Emotions can affect cognitive processes, particularly emotional reasoning.

The Iowa Gambling Task

• The Iowa Gambling Task assesses the role of emotional reasoning in decision-making.
• Damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VPC) can lead to poor choices.
• Development of the VPC, and its influence on emotional reasoning, can vary throughout puberty.