CHS AP Psychology

Unit 7 Part II: Cognition

Essential Task 7.1: Define cognition and identify how the following interact to form our cognitive life: schemata/concepts, prototypes, assimilation, accommodation, effortful processing, and unconscious processing.

Cognition Definition

Cognition, or thinking, refers to a process that involves:

1.Knowing2.Understanding3.Remembering4.Problem solving5.Communicating.

Purposeful!

Cognitive Psychology

Cognition involves a number of mental activities, which are listed below: 1. Concepts

2. Problem solving3. Decision making4. Judgment formation5. Language6. Memory

Remember Schema? What prior knowledge lets us know what a CHAIR is?

• Furniture• Seat• Four Legs• Back• Arms• Sits one person• Cushioned• Made of wood

Schema or Concept

The mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people. There are a variety of

chairs but their common features make up your CHAIR schema

Schemata can get fuzzy

• Is a whale a mammal?

• Are penguins and kiwis birds?

• Are 17 year old people children or adults?

Can I read your mind?Get out a half sheet of paper to find out!1. State a color.2. Name or draw a triangle.3. List the first type of motor vehicle that comes to

mind.4. Write a sentence5. Give me a hero.6. Describe a heroic act7. Game8. Philosopher9. Writer10. Pop Star

I gave schemata and tried to predict prototypes.1. red or blue2. a picture of an equilateral triangle3. a car4. a short declarative statement, e.g., “The boy is

home.”5. Superman, Batman, or possibly a fireman6. a single act by a male, e.g. a rescue by a fireman7. monopoly or some other board game8. Socrates or Aristotle9. Nicolas Sparks, or some other white male

author10. Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift or Lady Gaga

Prototypes

A prototype is the BEST example or cognitive representation of something within a certain schema or concept.

SchemaList characteristics that make a place a college or university.

PrototypeNow list a specific college that BEST represents or embodies those characteristics.

The way we THINK leads us to…

• Determine how we solve problems

Essential Task 7.2: • Problem Solving Steps• Identify problem-solving techniques:

– algorithms – heuristics

• Factors that influence their effectiveness – problem representation– mental set– functional fixedness– motivation– confirmation bias

4 Problem Solving Steps

1. Define the Problem2. Use that definition to decide what

category a problem belongs to and then based on that

3. Select a solution strategy that would solve a problem in that category

4. Evaluate progress toward goal

Possible Solution Strategies

• Trial and error– Works best with limited number of choices

• Information retrieval– Retrieve from memory information about how such a problem has

been solved in the past• Algorithms

– Step-by-step methods that guarantees a solution– Methodical, logical rules or procedures that guarantee solving a

particular problem.– Math problems are an example of the type best solved using an

algorithm• Heuristics

– Rules of thumb that may help simplify a problem, but do not guarantee a solution.

– They are quicker than algorithms

Algorithms

Algorithms, which are very time consuming, exhaust all possibilities before arriving at a

solution. Computers use algorithms.

S P L O Y O C H Y G

If we were to unscramble these letters to form a word using an algorithmic approach, we would face

907,208 possibilities.

Heuristics

• In psychology, heuristics are simple, efficient rules, learned from experience

• people use to – make decisions – come to judgments – solve problems typically when facing

complex problems or incomplete information.

Heuristics

Heuristics make it easier for us to use simple principles to arrive at solutions to problems.

S P L O Y O C H Y GS P L O Y O C H G YP S L O Y O C H G YP S Y C H O L O G Y

Heuristic at work: Y’s usually go at the end of a word.

Heuristics

• A quick way to arrive at a solution, but it also is more error-prone.– It’s sometimes referred to as “jumping to

conclusions.”

• How can “jumping to conclusions” be a problem?

Obstacles to Solving Problems• Confirmation Bias

– Search for things that fit our own prejudice and ignore facts

• Motivation– Desire to solve a problem

• Mental sets– Tendency to perceive and approach problems

in certain ways• Functional fixedness

– Tendency to see only a limited number of uses for an object

Confirmation Bias

• While we make a decision, we actively look for information that confirms our ideas

Motivation• If you don’t attempt to solve a problem

you won’t.

Mental Set

• “We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein

Functional Fixedness

• “I can only use it for this one thing!”