Lesson 7 Thinking (Introduction to Psychology) PDF

# PSYC101 Introduction to Psychology ## Lesson 7 Thinking & Language **Ms. Robie Ann A. Frolles, RPM** ### Cognition - Mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating information. ### Thinking - Mental process of using information, knowledge, and experiences to...

# PSYC101 Introduction to Psychology ## Lesson 7 Thinking & Language **Ms. Robie Ann A. Frolles, RPM** ### Cognition - Mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating information. ### Thinking - Mental process of using information, knowledge, and experiences to make decisions, solve problems, and generate ideas. ### Concept - Mental groupings of similar objects, events, ideas, or people. ### Prototypes - A mental image or best example of a category (Rosch, 1978) ### Problem Solving: Strategies & Obstacles - What cognitive strategies assist our problem solving, and what obstacles hinder it? #### Algorithm - A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. #### Heuristics - A simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently. #### Insight - A sudden realization of a problem's solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions. #### Confirmation Bias - A tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence. ### Forming Good and Bad Decisions & Judgments - Intuition - Availability Heuristic - Overconfidence - Belief Perseverance - Framing #### Intuition - An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning. #### Availability Heuristic - Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common. #### Overconfidence - The tendency to be more confident than correct-to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments. #### Belief Perseverance - Clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited. #### Framing - The way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments. - EX. One tells patients that 10 percent of people die _during_ this surgery. The other says that 90 percent _survive_. Although the information is the same, the effect is not. Both patients and physicians perceive greater risk when they hear that 10 percent die (Marteau, 1989; McNeil et al., 1988; Rothman & Salovey, 1997). ### Thinking Creatively - What is creativity and what fosters it? ### Creativity - The ability to produce new and valuable ideas. - Creativity has five components (Sternberg, 1988, 2003; Sternberg & Lubart, 1991, 1992): 1. Expertise 2. Imaginative thinking skills 3. A venturesome personality 4. Intrinsic motivation 5. A creative environment