CognitionModule 34 – Thinking, Concepts, and Creativity

Cognition• Mental activities

• Thinking• Knowing• Remembering• Communicating

Cognition• Concepts

• Mental groupings of similar objects

• Prototypes• A mental image or

best example of a category

Creativity• Creativity

• Ability to generate novel and useful products or solutions to solve problems

Creativity• Convergent Thinking

• Applying rules to solve• 1+5=6

• Divergent Thinking• Produces a variety of

solutions to any problem

• Writing, chess

CognitionModule 35

Problem Solving• Trial and Error• Insight

• “Aha!” moment

• Algorithms• Use a set of rules that

guarantee a solution

• Heuristics• Shortcuts that produces

a quick answer but does not guarantee correct one

The World of Cognito

• In the land of Cognito all residents are either truckers or professors.

•90% of the population are truckers and 10% are professors

The World of Cognito

•Following are descriptions of residents… are they professors or truck drivers?

The World of Cognito

Bucky Loves football Has been divorced three times Enjoys going hunting

The World of Cognito

Teresa •Carries a laser pointer•Not very athletic •Loves classical music

The World of Cognito

Curtis•His personal vehicle has Chicago Bears license plates, a Blackhawks flag, and bumper stickers for the White Sox

•Swears a lot•Loves classic rock music

The World of Cognito

Hank•Wears a baseball cap every day to work

•Has numerous tattoos•Wears old jeans and beat up flannel shirts

The World of Cognito

Jake

•Loves action movies

•Loves eating pie at diners

•Drinks a lot of cheap coffee

The World of Cognito

Alfred

•Balding

•Wears a tweed jacket with elbow patches

•Uses big words a lot

The World of Cognito

Tom

•Uses a CB radio – calls himself “Big Tommy”

•Is overweight (very large stomach)

•Eats very unhealthy

The World of Cognito

Vincent

•Wears glasses

•Speaks five languages fluently

•Carries around large piles of papers in his old leather messenger bag

The World of Cognito

Harold

•Reads constantly

•Buys a lot of Starbucks

•Talks about his glory days at Oxford

The World of Cognito

Lucas

•Goes to the opera monthly

•Has traveled to 32 countries

•Spends a lot of time on his computer

How many of each did you have?•How does this compare to population of Cognito?

•90% truckers

•With limited information … how did you make a shortcut to a decision?

Heuristics• Representative

• Judging the likelihood of an event in terms of how well it seems to match a particular prototype

Heuristics• Availability

• Judging the likelihood that an event will b=happen in terms of how readily it comes to mind, based on either personal experience or exposure through the media

Parent worries

Availability Heuristics• Kidnapping• School snipers• Terrorists• Dangerous strangers

Reality• Car accidents• Homicide• Abuse• Suicide

Reasoning• Deductive

• Start with a premise they have a strong reason to believe is accurate

• General to specific

• All humans are mortal, and I am human, then I am mortal.

• All dolphins are mammals, all mammals have kidneys; therefore, all dolphins have kidneys.

Reasoning• Inductive

• Involves basing a conclusion on specific examples or determining general principles from analyzing examples

• Specific to General

• Grace leaves for school at 7:00am. Grace is always on time. Grace assumes, then, that she will always be on time if she leaves at 7:00am.

• All cats that you have observed purr. Therefore, every cat must purr.

Obstacles to Problem Solving• Confirmation bias

• Tendency to focus on information that is consistent with one’s viewpoint – ignore rest

• Barry is in love and notices only the wonderful positive qualities of his girlfriend. He ignores all the negatives.

Obstacles to Problem Solving

•Belief perseverance• Hold on to belief even

after it is disproven

• Consider the opposite

Obstacles to Problem Solving• Anchoring bias

• Tendency to rely heavily on the first piece of info offered when making decisions

• MSRP for a new Lexus is $39,465. You negotiated a price for $35,250. You feel terrific. You believe you got a good deal!

• JC Penney

Obstacles to Problem Solving• Framing

• The way an issue is stated affects the outcome

• 10% of patients will die having this surgery

• 90% of patients will survive having this surgery

Obstacles to Problem Solving

• Mental Set• Tendency for people

to approach a problem with the mind-set of what has worked in the past will always work

• Lack of fresh perspective

• Crash course