Chapter Nine - Thinking and Language PDF

Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Chapter Nine- Thinking and Language Overview  Concepts  Language and Thought Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Thinking Cognition involves the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating. Concepts he...

Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Chapter Nine- Thinking and Language Overview  Concepts  Language and Thought Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Thinking Cognition involves the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating. Concepts help to simplify thinking through mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, and people. After placing an item in a category, memory gradually shifts it toward a category prototype. Categories boundaries begin to blur as movement from prototypes occur. Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Problem Solving: Strategies  An algorithm is a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees a solution to a problem.  A heuristic is a simpler strategy that is usually speedier than an algorithm but is also more error prone.  Insight is not a strategy-based solution, but rather a sudden flash of inspiration that solves a problem. Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Problem Solving: Obstacles  Confirmation bias predisposes us to verify rather than challenge our hypotheses.  Fixation, such as mental set, may prevent us from taking the fresh perspective that would lead to a solution. Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Forming Good and Bad Decisions and Judgments  Intuition is an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning.  Availability heuristics can distort judgment by estimating event likelihood based on memory availability.  Overconfidence can impact decisions when confidence outweighs correctness. Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Forming Good and Bad Decisions and Judgments  Belief perseverance occurs when we cling to beliefs and ignore evidence that proves these are wrong.  Framing sways decisions and judgments by influencing the way an issue is posed. It can also influence beneficial decisions. Can you think of any such decisions? Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images THE FEAR FACTOR— WHY WE FEAR THE WRONG THINGS 1. We fear what our ancestral history has prepared us to fear. 2. We fear what we cannot control. 3. We fear what is immediate. 4. We fear what is most readily available in memory. SCARING US ONTO DEADLY HIGHWAYS In the three months after 9/11, those faulty perceptions led more Americans to travel, and some to die, by car. (Adapted from Gigerenzer, 2004.) Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images The Perils and Powers of Intuition  Intuition is analysis “frozen into habit.”  Intuition is implicit knowledge.  Intuition is usually adaptive, enabling quick reactions.  Learned associations surface as “gut” feelings.  Intuition is huge.  Critical thinkers are often guided by intuition. Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images And so… Smart, critical thinking listens to the unseen mind, and then evaluates evidence, tests conclusions, and plans for the future. Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Thinking Creatively  Creativity is the ability to produce new and valuable ideas.  It is supported by  Aptitude or the ability to learn  Intelligence  Working memory Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Thinking Creatively Divergent thinking • Expands the number of possible problem solutions (creative thinking that diverges in different directions) Convergent thinking • Narrows the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution Macduff Everton/The Image Bank/Getty Images Thinking Creatively  Robert Sternberg and his colleagues propose five ingredients of creativity.  Expertise  Imaginative thinking skills  Venturesome personality  Intrinsic motivation  Creative environment