AP Psychology - Cognition - Part 1 - Thinking & Problems
Summary
TLDRThis video introduces key concepts in cognition, focusing on how we think and solve problems. It explains how we group ideas through concepts and prototypes, and explores problem-solving strategies like algorithms, heuristics, and insight. The speaker highlights obstacles like confirmation bias, mental sets, and functional fixedness, which can hinder our thinking. The video also touches on mental shortcuts, such as representative and availability heuristics, and how framing and overconfidence affect decision-making. Overall, it provides an engaging look at the cognitive processes that shape our understanding of the world.
Takeaways
- 🧠 Concepts are mental groupings of similar items, like various types of chairs, helping us categorize and organize information.
- 🐦 A prototype is the best example of a category, such as a robin being more of a typical bird than a penguin.
- 🔢 Algorithms are step-by-step problem-solving methods that guarantee a correct answer if followed correctly.
- ⚡ Heuristics are mental shortcuts we use to make quick decisions and judgments without going through a lengthy process.
- 💡 Insight is the 'aha!' moment when the solution to a problem suddenly becomes clear.
- 🔍 Confirmation bias is when we seek information that supports our existing beliefs and ignore information that contradicts them.
- 🎯 Mental set refers to the tendency to approach problems in the same way based on past experiences, which can limit creative solutions.
- 🕯️ Functional fixedness is the inability to see an object being used for something other than its typical purpose, like using a matchbox as a candle holder.
- 📏 The representative heuristic is when we judge something based on how well it fits our mental image or stereotype of a category.
- 📚 The availability heuristic is when we make decisions based on the information that comes easily to mind, often leading to biased judgments.
Q & A
What are concepts, and how do they help us think?
-Concepts are mental groupings of similar objects, events, ideas, or people. They help us organize information by categorizing items in our brain, such as the concept of a 'chair,' which includes various types of chairs like armchairs, stools, or rocking chairs.
What is a prototype in the context of cognitive psychology?
-A prototype is the best example or most typical representation of a concept. For example, when thinking of a bird, most people visualize a robin, which is more prototypical of a bird than a penguin, even though both are birds.
What is the difference between an algorithm and a heuristic?
-An algorithm is a step-by-step, methodical procedure that guarantees a correct solution if followed properly. A heuristic, on the other hand, is a mental shortcut that allows for faster problem-solving, though it does not always guarantee the correct solution.
What is insight, and how does it differ from algorithmic problem-solving?
-Insight is the sudden realization or 'aha' moment when the solution to a problem becomes clear. Unlike algorithmic problem-solving, which is systematic and gradual, insight occurs spontaneously, often after struggling with a problem.
What is confirmation bias, and how does it affect problem-solving?
-Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one's pre-existing beliefs. It can hinder problem-solving by causing individuals to focus only on evidence that supports their views, while ignoring contradictory information.
What are mental sets and how do they influence our ability to solve problems?
-A mental set is a tendency to approach problems in a certain way based on past experiences. It can limit creativity and flexibility in problem-solving, as it makes individuals stuck in their usual thinking patterns, which may not apply to new situations.
What is functional fixedness, and how does it limit problem-solving?
-Functional fixedness is the tendency to perceive objects only in terms of their typical use. It prevents individuals from thinking creatively about how an object can be used in novel ways, which can limit problem-solving abilities.
What is the representative heuristic, and how can it lead to errors in judgment?
-The representative heuristic is a mental shortcut where people judge the likelihood of something based on how well it matches a prototype. It can lead to errors in judgment by ignoring base rates or statistical probabilities, focusing instead on stereotypes or mental images.
How does the availability heuristic influence decision-making?
-The availability heuristic is the tendency to make decisions based on how easily examples come to mind. If an event or example is more memorable or recent, people may overestimate its likelihood, even if it's statistically rare.
How does framing affect decision-making?
-Framing refers to how information is presented. The way a choice or situation is framed can significantly influence decision-making. For instance, people are more likely to choose a treatment with a '95% success rate' than one that 'kills 5 out of 100 people,' even though both present the same statistics.
Outlines
🧠 Concepts and Prototypes
This paragraph introduces the idea of concepts, which are mental groupings of similar items, such as chairs, to simplify how we think about the world. It also explains prototypes, which are the best example of a category (e.g., a robin as a typical bird). The concept of prototypes helps us judge new information against our mental 'best examples,' influencing how we think about categories like professors, jocks, or birds.
💡 Problem Solving Strategies: Algorithms and Heuristics
This section discusses two problem-solving strategies: algorithms and heuristics. An algorithm is a step-by-step process that guarantees the correct answer, much like a computer would follow logical steps to solve a puzzle. In contrast, heuristics are mental shortcuts that help humans make quicker decisions but aren't always foolproof. Insight is also highlighted as a sudden 'aha' moment that helps solve problems, commonly seen in detective shows or courtroom dramas.
🔍 Cognitive Biases in Problem Solving
The paragraph explores obstacles in problem-solving like confirmation bias, where we seek information that supports pre-existing beliefs. It also introduces fixation, particularly mental and perceptual sets, which limit our thinking by narrowing the range of possibilities we consider. The example of the 'candle and matchbox problem' illustrates how functional fixedness can hinder creative problem-solving.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Concepts
💡Prototype
💡Algorithm
💡Heuristic
💡Insight
💡Confirmation Bias
💡Mental Set
💡Functional Fixedness
💡Representative Heuristic
💡Availability Heuristic
💡Framing
Highlights
Concepts are mental groupings of similar objects, people, or ideas, such as different types of chairs.
A prototype is the best example of a category, like a robin for birds, which we compare other items against.
Algorithms are step-by-step methods that guarantee a solution but are often time-consuming.
Heuristics are mental shortcuts that allow quicker problem-solving but are less accurate than algorithms.
Insight involves an 'aha' moment where a solution to a problem becomes clear spontaneously.
Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out information that supports our existing beliefs.
A mental set is when we approach problems in a specific way based on previous experiences, which can limit creativity.
Functional fixedness refers to the tendency to see objects only in their typical function, like not using a matchbox as a candleholder.
The representative heuristic involves making judgments based on how well something matches a stereotype or prototype.
The availability heuristic involves making decisions based on information that is most easily recalled, which may not always be accurate.
Overconfidence is a cognitive bias where individuals tend to overestimate their own knowledge and abilities.
Framing can significantly affect decision-making by changing how information is presented, such as emphasizing success rates vs. failure rates.
Mental strategies like heuristics allow us to conserve mental energy, but can also lead to errors in judgment.
Problem-solving can be hindered by biases such as fixation, where we are stuck in specific ways of thinking.
Examples like the Iraq War show how confirmation bias can affect real-world decision-making, focusing on evidence that supports preexisting beliefs.
Transcripts
[Music]
hello welcome to part one of cognition
uh we'll be talking about thinking and
problem solving here we go so first of
all we're talking about how we think we
have these things called
Concepts concepts are how we group
certain C things that we have in our
head so for instance I have here a
picture of
chairs um when we think of chairs all we
have this like file cabinet that we open
up in our brains and we've got all these
different types and sizes and colors and
types of chairs that we think so like we
got the chair like that you'll have at
your dinner table you have like an arm
chair rocking chair a stools a chair a
wheelchair uh a chair that you have out
in your deck etc etc you know a bench is
a chair and so a concept is just a group
right the key here is a
group of like items
okay now kind of breaking that down a
little bit further is thing called
prototype a prototype is our best
example of that type of whatever we're
talking about so for instance for Birds
when you think if I say what what do you
think of when you think of a bird
probably what comes to your mind is
something looks a little bit more like
this right looks like a robin a little
bit more likee um a penguin's probably
not the first thing that came to your
mind well you know that a penguin fits
the title of a bird it's got two feet
it's got some wings here but it's but
it's not the best example of a bird like
a robin's like birdier than a penguin is
if you will and it helps you uh see that
so that's a prototype's your
best
example all right and we use we judge
everything against a prototype um so
what's our prototype of what a professor
looks like in college what's a prototype
of what a a jock is in school you know
what what is when we think of these
things what does it look like right and
then a lot of times it plays tricks in
our minds if something doesn't match
that
prototype now as you're thinking we have
different strategies that you use now an
algorithm is step by step process step
by
step and you are
guaranteed the right
answer if you stick with it
so algorithm is guaranteed step by step
so if I ask you like solve or rearrange
a certain set of letters to make a word
if you said okay so if we had like a c d
e a i don't know I'm just making stuff
up here PS I don't know if that makes a
word throw a t in there and throw R back
here okay if we rearrange this to make
some words say okay I'm going to put R
first I'm going put a second second then
we're going to put C and know then we're
going to rearrange these and I put R
first a second C and then I start with E
this time start with D this time but R
first a second c3d I'm going to put a
third this time we're just going to keep
trying them all out until we get all
these and you know add add add add the
rest of the letters here but we keep
trying them all until we figure it out
all right so step by step you're
guaranteed the right this is algorithm
is what a computer uses it goes step by
step to figure something out a heuristic
is a
mental shortcut we as humans use uh
heuristics all the time I'm talk about a
couple of heuristics in the next slide
here but fistic are mental shortcuts um
they allow us to
um to not have to go through the
step-by-step process allow us to kind
of take in and make judgments about the
world around us much more quickly
because if we had to go through
everything
algorithmically then we wouldn't have
time to do a whole lot of stuff because
all of our mental power because we know
that our brain right is INF is finitely
capable of of its Consciousness or its
memory and we need to can only use
certain amount at a time and so if we
devote that to something then we can't
devote it to something else right so a
heuristic allows us to save time okay so
it's a mental shortcut so for instance
um if I asked you um what those letters
represented you might not put like a an
R r or an e followed by I don't know if
I had a y in there you might not put an
e followed by a y very often because you
never see an e followed by Y in real
life or a y followed by a z or something
like that something that you wouldn't
see you say I know I'm never going to
see this I'm not even going to try it
and that would be a heris Insight is
kind of like that
aha moment so maybe you're trying to
answer that problem with the rearranging
the letters you try doing a step by step
first of all you probably try to do a
shortcut and that doesn't work then you
try to do then you try to do it step by
step and that's not working then
sometime you go oh that's it and you
have this aha moment so insight's kind
of this just this aha moment that we
have when we're trying to solve a
problem um when you watch like detective
shows or Sherlock Holmes or like a
lawyer Show often you'll see the main
character just go I've got it and you
know they'll walk away and then all the
people in the room are left like what he
got and they follow him to the next room
that's that a that's called Insight
right that just happens like
spontaneously and all of a sudden it's
kind of this cool magical moment where
everything just comes together in our
head and we just get it it's called
Insight um okay so now some obstacles to
problem solving first thing we have here
is confirmation bias we've talked about
this before but confirmation bias is
where we tend to look for information
that supports an idea that we already
have so for instance um if I'm looking
uh we do this a lot with politics right
um you have a political idea and whether
you like or dislike the president you
tend to see things that support your
like or support your dislike of the
president and you ignore things that
might go against that might say oh you
know what he's not such a bad idea or
you know what he's not such or he's not
as good as I thought he was we tend to
just focus on the things that support us
uh often times with religion same thing
things that we're passionate about a lot
of times we use confirmation bias so
this is a problem with problem
solving um fixation there's two types
fixation is when we're um not able
to um not able to look at something
completely or all around we're fixated
with certain events so type of fixation
is called a mental
set um a perceptual set which we had
back in sensation perception perceptual
set is how we perceive the world around
us a mental set is how we think about
the world around us so we have this
mental set so if I see if you know uh if
I think that girls can only do a certain
job right if I if I perceive that a girl
can't do a particular job I say just you
know as an example a girl is not going
to I I think that a girl can't be a a
minor right I'm mining for coal okay so
my my percept my mental set is when I
say okay tell me about what a minor
looks like or what would you say is this
minor in this next room probably what's
not going to come into your mind is a
girl because your mental set your way of
thinking about that particular idea does
not include a girl even though a girl is
perfectly capable of mining can do it
just the same we don't think of it our
mental set doesn't allow us to think of
that and that hurts us sometimes when
we're trying to solve problems uh
likewise an idea called functional
fixedness this is where we tend to only
look at something uh for what we
commonly see it used for so for instance
this is a very common uh example that
you've probably had in class um it's
called a candle Matchbox problem I think
it's what it's usually referred to as
and says you get these uh supplies how
can you make that candle stick on the
wall and uh and light it right and so we
see this candle we see this tax and you
know everybody's scratching their head I
don't know how to do it uh of course the
correct answer is right you take the tax
out of the box you tack the you know the
Box uh up to the wall you put the candle
you sit inside the box and then you
light it right and so we have to kind of
think outside the box for that as it
were you know no pun intended but before
we got to that idea we probably had
functional fix in this because we never
thought of this box that held the tax as
a holder for the candle and so we had
this functional fix
inness
um so yeah there you go another example
of like confirmation bias would be like
uh in Iraq they had the weapons of mass
destruction U that's why we went and
invaded Iraq and so all these things you
know even after it was proven that it
wasn't true that they didn't have
weapons of mass destruction or we
couldn't find any El least we kept
looking for reasons to uh that oh they
could have had it they could have had it
um okay finally um here's some more
fistic that I promised first of all we
have a what's called a representative
heuristic heuristics are mental
shortcuts um representative heuristic is
how well does this represent my
basically how well does it represent
something that kind of like your mental
how was just represent what I already
know about um so we takes these
shortcuts so if I asked you for
instance
um if I asked you what which is more
likely to be who who's who has more uh
short people that have a mustache and
glasses and are very thin I asked you is
it going to be more of a truck driver or
more of a college professor and you
would probably say probably the college
professor right because we have this
picture this mental set of our image of
this truck D these big Burly guys
probably right and so uh what comes in
our head a representative teristic was
we represent We compare it against
something that we already know and we
take that shortcut we okay that if I
really ask you know we break this thing
down how many truck drivers are there in
the world probably or in the United
States you know we've got uh tens of
thousands of them right how many uh
College professors much less than that
right we have more truck drivers than we
have college professors especially maybe
if I even made a professor of like Latin
or something like that and um in reality
right even if it was like one in 10 of
the truck drivers there would still be
way more truck drivers that would be
short and skinny with glasses and
mustache than um professors because
there's just more of them right but we
don't send to think that way because we
just compare it against our preconceived
ideas additionally would be the
availability
heris availability heris
is we take these shortcuts of just
information that we're that we know
about that we have available to us so
maybe you've never seen something or you
don't uh you don't know something very
well we use availability heretic a lot
uh this kind of happens with culturally
right if we see like the terrorist
attacks right so the terrorist attacks
we saw um people from the Middle East
attack the Twin Towers right terrorist
attack and maybe we people who don't
have a lot of contact with people from
the Middle East um tend to look at those
anybody who's from the Middle East as a
potential
terrorist um even though because our
only contact our only reference is that
time that we've seen that they were a
terrorist right even though there's
millions and millions and millions of
people from the Middle East who are not
terrorists and so we you might have this
availability heretic can only compare it
against something that you know that's
the only that's the only example that
you have available to you so
availability heuristic last two things
overconfidence we've talked about this
before we tend to be overconfident about
uh our decisions all the time we are
extremely overconfident
um we something called there's a an idea
called the better than average effect we
all think that we're better than average
right well no we can't all be better
than average right that would defeat the
definition of the word average but we
tend to think that way we have this
overconfidence with her and that's a as
a problem we're forming judgments and um
decisions and finally this idea of
framing how we frame something can
affect our decisions big time when we
talk about social Psych ology and
persuasion this comes in the Big T I
mean look at this I actually you look at
this you think oh man this guy's getting
the crap beat out of him this is not
fair this is a horrible image of the
United States soldiers if I just showed
you this one you would think oh look
we're you know we're compassionate we
love each other you know then I give you
the real whole
picture and you see oh well this is a
little bit more um uh complicated than
one or the other so how we framed the
picture can determine how we feel about
it another example of framing would be
um
if I told you that a drug has a 95 90
let's say 95% success rate of of working
but it has a 5% okay it has a 5% 95%
success rat of working if not you're
going to die right or if I told you this
is going to kill five out of 100 people
right if I told you it's going to kill
five out of
100 most people are going to be a lot
more um hesitant to take that drug than
if I said it had a 95% success rate
they're both the same information it's
just how I framed it was different how I
present it how it's presented to you is
kind of How It's framed all right so
that's uh the first part of cognition
and we'll see you next time
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