Thinking

Cognition: another term for thinking, knowing, and remembering
-We form concepts in order to think about the world.

Concepts: a mental grouping of similar objects, ideas, or people.
-Concepts are similar to Piaget's idea of Schemas.
We base our concepts on prototypes.
Prototypes: a mental image or best example of a category

How do we solve problems?

Algorithms: a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem
Heuristics: a rule-of-thumb strategy that often allows us to make judgements and solve problems efficiently
Insight: a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem 
-No real strategy involved

Obstacles to Problem Solving

Confirmation Bias: a tendency to search for information that confirms one's preconceptions

Match Problems

Fixation: the inability to see a problem from a new perspective
Mental Set: a tendency to approach a problem in a particular way, especially if it has worked in the past
The Jug Problem

Functional Fixedness: the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions

Types of Heuristics

(That often leads to errors)

Representativeness Heuristic: a rule of thumb for judging the likelihood of thinking in terms of how well they match our prototype
-Can cause us to ignore important information
Availability Heuristic: estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in our memory

Overconfidence: the tendency to be more confident than correct
Framing: the way an issue is posed
-It can have a drastic effects on your decisions and judgements
Belief Bias: the tendency for one's preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning.
-Sometimes making invalid conclusions valid or vice versa.
Belief Perseverance: clinging to your initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed had been discredited.