Unit 7B: Cognition - PowerPoint Presentation

Unit 7B: Cognition Thinking, Problem Solving, Creativity and Language

Cognition In the previous unit, we learned how we receive, perceive, store and retrieve information. This unit will talk about how we use all that information with our cognitive system. Thinking, or cognition  ( the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating) is how we do it. A cognitive psychologist would study that logical and sometimes illogical ways in which we create concepts, solve problems, make decisions and form judgments. In order to make sense of our world, we like to mentally group similar objects, events and people. These are called concepts  a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people . Life without concepts would be very difficult. We would need a different name for every single object or idea. Ex. We could not ask our friend to ‘throw a ball’ because there would be no concept of what the ball is, or even throw.

Organizing Concepts We tend to organize our concepts into hierarchies. Start with the most broad and work your way down. For example, cab drivers will organize a city into geographical sectors (N/E/S/W), then neighborhoods, then streets. Can you think of something you organize by using a hierarchy?

Organizing Concepts Prototypes  a mental image or best example of a category. Matching new items to a prototype provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin). One of the ways that we decide whether or not something belongs in a conceptual category is to match it to the best example of that concept according to the majority of people. The best example is called a prototype. The closer the new object, person, or idea is to the prototype; the easier it is to categorize it. Category Prototype Not a prototype Tree Maple Bonsai Bird Robin Penguin Furniture Chair Footstool Mode of transportation Car Unicycle  

Prototype of Birds

Prototype Test!

a bird a color a motor vehicle a hero a board game a philosopher Write down the first example that comes to mind for each of the following categories.

A bird . Robin Sparrow Eagle Something else A color . Red Blue Something else

A motor vehicle . Car Truck Something else A hero . Superman Batman Fireman Someone else

A board game . Monopoly Clue Trouble Something else A philosopher . Socrates Aristotle Someone else

Face Recognition for Prototypes Classify the following faces as either Asian or Caucasian

If we move away from prototypes, it can cause category boundaries to blur. Is a tomato a fruit? Is a 17 year old female a girl or a woman? Is a whale a fish or a mammal? When concepts fail to fit a prototype, it takes us longer to classify them. Ex. Whale is a mammal.

Image The other type of thought is an image . These are the mental pictures that we create in our minds of the outside world. Images can be visual (snow falling), auditory (the sound of the snow plows), tactile (the feel of soft, fluffy snow), olfactory (the smell of car exhaust on a cold day), or gustatory (what the cup of hot chocolate would taste like). Remember those senses from Module 2?

Solving Problems One attribute to our rationality is our problem solving skills in coping with novel situations. How am I going to get through this traffic jam? How am I going to get into my house without keys? Think of a novel situation you have been in. How did you react? How did some of the people around you react? For some problems we use trial and error . This is when we try every possible solution. This method can be very time-consuming and sometimes we may not solve the problem. It is not a very effective or efficient way to learn.

More Problem Solving Strategies Algorithms  a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Contrasts with the usually speedier – but also more error-prone – use of heuristics. For some problems we use algorithms . This is a logical rule or procedure that guarantees a solution to the problem. These rules or procedure often involve formulas. Examples of algorithms include using the formula length times width to find the area of a rectangle; systematically checking every drawer in your bedroom for your favorite blue sweatshirt; checking through all the tunes on you MP3 Player until you find the one you are searching for . Crazy, super smart math people use algorithms….Like I said.. Crazy. Can be laborous and exasperating to figure out. For example, how many words can you spell from the letters SPLOYOCHYG? Using an algorithm you would have to try each letter in each position…. 907,200 combinations!

More Problem Solving Strategies Heuristics  a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms. For some problems we use heuristics. This is a rule-of-thumb that allows us to reach a solution more efficiently and quickly. It does not guarantee a right solution though. Sometimes we make a judgment based on examples of similar situations that come to mind. Other times we judge a situation based on how similar it is to the prototype that we have in our mind. Heuristics are short cuts. When they work, they save us time and energy. Let s go back to our examples. A heuristic would be to check the drawers that have only sweatshirts in them to find the favorite blue one; and to search on the MP3 player for the name of the recording artist to find the song that you are looking for . For example, how many words can you spell from the letters SPLOYOCHYG? Using heuristics you could reduce rare letter combinations, such as 2 Ys together. Then with trail and error, you would probably find the answer.

Insight  a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem; it contrasts with strategy-based solutions . For other problems we use insight. This is when a solution just pops into your head. Even though we have all these different ways of solving problems, we also have obstacles that prevent us from coming up with the best solutions. These obstacles prevent us from looking at alternatives, in other words they give us tunnel vision . It’s the ‘Aha!’ insight. Can you figure out what word goes with the following 3 words? – 1) Pine 2)Sauce 3)Crab The longer you think about it, the farther you will get from and insight answer.

Example You are searching for hot chocolate mix in an unfamiliar grocery store. How would you search for it using an algorithm? How would you search for it using heuristics? How would you search for it using insight?

Problem Solving in Genus Corvus

Solving Problems Using Creativity Creativity  the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas . Sternberg ’ s five components Expertise Imaginative thinking skills A venturesome personalityIntrinsic motivationA creative environment

Expertise is a well developed base of knowledge, which furnishes the ideas, images, and phrases we use as mental building blocks. Imaginative thinking skills provide the ability to see things in novel ways , to recognize patterns, and to make connections. A venturesome personality seeks new experiences, tolerates ambiguity and risk, and perseveres in overcoming obstacles. Intrinsic motivation is being driven more by interest, satisfaction, and challenge than by external pressures. A creative environment supports and refines creative ideas.

Problem Solving Obstacles Problem solving research identifies some common mistakes or obstacles that people make while trying to solve problems. Confirmation Bias  a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence. Confirmation bias is our tendency to notice information that supports what we believe and ignore information that doesn't ’ t support what we believe. We all want to be right, so we search for evidence for our ideas more eagerly than for evidence against our ideas. The problem with this is that we may miss important information in finding the right solution. Fixation is when we approach a problem the same way every time. This can be time efficient but sometimes it prevents us from seeing the problem from a new perspective. ‘Ordinary people evade facts, become inconsistent, or systematically defend themselves against the threat of new information, relevant to the issue.’ The US government launched it’s war on Iraq on the assumption that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction and posed and immediate threat. When that assumption turned out to be false, confirmation bias was one of the flaws in the judgement process as identified by the US Senate Committee. – Administration had ‘a tendency to accept information that supported their presumptions… more readily than information that contradicted. ‘

Confirmation Bias – Example – See instructions – Mrs. Connor!

Imagine that you serve on the jury of an only-child sole custody case following a relatively messy divorce. The facts of the case are complicated by ambiguous economic, social, and emotional considerations, and you decide to base your decision entirely on the following few observations. To which parent would you award sole custody of the child? Parent A, who has an average income, average health, average working hours, a reasonable rapport with the child, and a relatively stable social life, or B. Parent B, who has an above-average income, minor health problems, lots of work-related travel, a very close relationship with the child, and an extremely active social life.

Imagine that you serve on the jury of an only-child sole custody case following a relatively messy divorce. The facts of the case are complicated by ambiguous economic, social, and emotional considerations, and you decide to base your decision entirely on the following few observations. To which parent would you deny sole custody of the child? Parent A, who has an average income, average health, average working hours, a reasonable rapport with the child, and a relatively stable social life, or B. Parent B, who has an above-average income, minor health problems, lots of work-related travel, a very close relationship with the child, and an extremely active social life.

Fixation  the inability to see a problem from a new perspective, by employing a different mental set. Seeing a problem with ‘a fresh set of eyes’. The two types of fixation are: 1) Mental Set  a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past . What has worked for us previously? Ex. What are the next 3 letters? O-T-T-F-F- ___ - ___ -___ Ex. What are the next 3 letters? J-F-M-A-M ___-___-___. Which is easier to solve, the first or second?

Using the 6 matches, make an equilateral triangle.

2) Functional Fixedness  the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem solving . We have a hard time imagining alternative uses beyond the functional. Tear apart your house looking for a screwdriver, when a coin may have worked just as easily.

Using the materials, mount the candle to a bulletin board.

Making Decisions and Forming Judgments Using and Misusing Heuristics Two Types: 1) Representative Heuristics  judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information . The representative heuristic is a form of stereotyping. We judge people according to the likelihood that they fit our representation of groups to which we feel they should belong . Ex. A stranger tells you about a person who is short, slim, and likes to read poetry. They then ask you to guess whether this person is more likely to be a professor of classics at an Ivy League school or a truck driver. Which would be the better guess? You representative heuristics would allow you to make a snap judgment But it also can allow you to ignore other relevant information. To judge the likelihood of something, we intuitively compare it with our mental representation of that category – of say, what truck drivers are like. If the two match, the fact usually overrides other considerations of statistics or logic.

2) Availability Heuristics  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. Anything that allows information to pop into mind quickly and with little effort – how recent it is, it’s vividness, or distinctiveness – can increase it’s perceived availability, making it seem commonplace. Casinos entice us to gamble by signaling even small wins with lights and bells ,while keeping any sort of loss silent.

Availability Heuristic Death, Population, and Crime Estimates

Which is a more common cause of death in the U.S.? A. all accidents or B. strokes? A. suicide or B. blood poisoning? A. homicide or B. diabetes? A. motor vehicle (car, truck, bus) accident or B. colorectal cancer? A. drowning or B. leukemia? How certain are you of your answer? 50% = totally a 50/50 guess 51% - 65% 66% - 85% 86% - 99% 100 % = absolutely certain

Which country has the largest population? A. Saudia Arabia or B. Morocco? A. Australia or B. Myanmar? A. South Africa or B. Vietnam? A. Libya or B. Sri Lanka? A. Iraq or B. Tanzania? How certain are you of your answer? 50% = totally a 50/50 guess 51% - 65% 66% - 85% 86% - 99% 100 % = absolutely certain

Which city has the highest crime rate? A. Chicago, IL or B. Kansas City, MO? A. Las Vegas, NV or B. Stockton, CA? A. Miami, FL or B. Phoenix, AZ? A. Honolulu, HI or B. Raleigh, NC? A. New York, NY or B. Aurora, CA? How certain are you of your answer? 50% = totally a 50/50 guess 51% - 65% 66% - 85% 86% - 99% 100 % = absolutely certain

Answers

Which is a more common cause of death in the U.S.? (Deaths are reported per 100,000.) All accidents (37.7) vs. strokes (51.1) Suicide (10.9) vs. blood poisoning (11.2) Homicide (5.9) vs. diabetes (24.5) Motor vehicle accidents (15.3) vs. colorectal cancer (17.8 ) Drowning (1.3) vs. leukemia (7.1)

Which country has the largest population? Saudi Arabia (28 million) vs. Morocco (34 million) Australia (21 million) vs. Myanmar (47 million) South Africa (48 million) vs. Vietnam (86 million) Libya (6 million) vs. Sri Lanka (20 million) Iraq (28 million) vs. Tanzania (38 million)

Which city has the highest crime rate? Chicago (15.6) vs. Kansas City (26.1) Las Vegas (11.3) vs. Stockton (14.6) Miami (13.9) vs. Phoenix (15.0) Honolulu (1.7) vs. Raleigh (6.0) New York (6.6) vs. Aurora (9.5)

Availability Heuristic

How many firearms deaths were there in the U.S. in 2006? (Write down your estimate.) What percentage were: Homicides ______ % Suicides ______ % Accidents ______ % 100 % TOTAL Population of the U.S. in 2006: Approximately 300 million

In the U.S., between 1997 and 2002, “2335 children… died in alcohol-related [automobile] crashes.” What percentage were riding in the same vehicle with the drinking/drunk driver? (“Child” is defined as ≤ 14 years of age; “alcohol-related” is defined as blood alcohol content of > 0.01 g/dL.)

With the charge of felony, in what percentage of the cases is the plea of insanity entered?

The Answers

How many firearms deaths were there in the U.S. in 2006? What percentage were: Homicides ______ % Suicides ______ % Accidents ______ % 100 % TOTAL A. > 100,000 B. 80,001 - 100,000 C. 60,001 - 80,000 D. 40,001 - 60,000 E. < 40,000 What percentage were homicides ? A. > 79% B. 60% - 79% C. 40% - 59% D. 20% - 39% E. < 20% What percentage were suicides ? A. > 79% B. 60% - 79% C. 40% - 59% D. 20% - 39% E. < 20% What percentage were accidents ? A. > 79% B. 60% - 79% C. 40% - 59% D. 20% - 39% E. < 20% 30,896 41 55 4 Source : http :// www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr57/nvsr57_14.pdf

In the U.S., between 1997 and 2002, “2335 children… died in alcohol-related [automobile] crashes.” What percentage were riding in the same vehicle with the drinking/drunk driver? (“Child” is defined as ≤ 14 years of age; “alcohol-related” is defined as blood alcohol content of > 0.01 g/dL.) 68% -- 1,588 Source : http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5304a2.htm The majority were unrestrained. The median BAC was .13 g/dL. How many were riding in the same vehicle as the drunk driver? A. > 79% B. 60% - 79% C. 40% - 59% D. 20% - 39% E. < 20%

In less than 1% of the cases. 25% of the pleas are successful. 15% of these are released, with most being for “minor offenses that would not have resulted in prison time anyway.” Source: Raulin, M.L. (2003). Abnormal Psychology How often? A. > 79% B. 60% - 79% C. 40% - 59% D. 20% - 39% E. < 20% With the charge of felony, in what percentage of the cases is the plea of insanity entered?

Making Decisions and Forming Judgments Overconfidence Overconfidence  the tendency to be more confident that correct – to over-estimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments. We overestimate what our performance was, is, or will be. Have you ever been overconfident that a paper or assignment will take you less time than you think? On average, it takes twice the amount of time to do something than you originally think. We always believe we will have more free time next weekend, next month, etc. Overconfidence does have adaptive value – people who are overconfident tend to be more positive, live more happily, find it easier to make tough decisions, than people with less confidence.

Making Decisions and Forming Judgments The Belief Perseverance Phenomenon Belief Perspective  clinging to one ’ s initial conceptions after the basis on which they are formed has been discredited. Consider the opposite.

Thinking Belief Bias the tendency for one’s preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning sometimes by making invalid conclusions seem valid or valid conclusions seem invalid Belief Perseverance clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited B elief perseverance is our tendency to stick with our initial idea even when we get evidence that proves us wrong. This is why first impressions are so important. Once they are established they are likely to continue for a long period of time.

Making Decisions and Forming Judgments The Perils and Powers of Intuition Intuition  an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning . Unconscious intuition – Ex. Chess players can ‘read a board’. Pretty much anything you are good at, you can use intuition to assess a situation in an eye blink. Chick sexing – when acquired expertise becomes an automatic habit, as it is for experienced chick sexers , it feels like intuition. At a glance, they just know. They rely on procedural memory to perform their jobs. Procedural memory is often implicit, meaning people have a difficult time explaining how they perform a skill.

Making Decisions and Forming Judgments The Effects of Framing Framing  the way an issue is posed; how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments. Example: What is the best way to market ground beef--as 25% fat or 75% lean ? Framing experiments: Preferred portion size in restaurants – 2 scenarios – 1) A restaurant offers a regular and an alternative ‘small’ sized option, people will pick the regular option more often. 2) If the restaurant makes the small size the default option and labels the larger option as ‘supersized’, more people will choose the smaller option. Organ donors – In most countries, when renewing your drivers license, the default option is yes for organ donation. Very few opt out. In NA, the default option is no and only 1 in 4 opt in. Retirement savings – People are enrolled automatically into retirement options when they get a job, and have to opt out. Most just stay in the program, even though it is a lesser take home pay.

Language

Language  our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning. Our language is what sets humans apart from other species. Language allows us not only to communicate but to transmit a whole civilizations accumulated knowledge across generations.

Phonemes  in language, the smallest distinctive sound unit . English about 40 phonemes Learning another language ’ s phonemes Building Blocks of Language To build a house you need materials and the knowledge of the rules of what to do with those materials. The same thing applies to language. There are the materials and then the rules of how to put it all together.The materials of the building blocks are the phonemes and the morphemes. Phonemes are the smallest units of sound that are used in a language. In English there are about 44 phonemes. Examples of phonemes are “b”, “m ” , “ a ” , and “ th ” .

Sounds alone do not make a language. Morpheme  in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix). Includes prefixes and suffixes. 40 or so phonemes can combine to form over 100,000 morphemes to form over 616 , 500 words.

Grammar  in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others Syntax  the rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language. Ex. Adjectives before nouns – White house not house white. Semantics  the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language; also, the study of meaning . Ex. Adding ‘ ed ’ to the end of a word implies it happened in the past – laugh to laughed.

Language Development When Do We Learn Language ? Or Language Learning Milestones Receptive Language is the ability to comprehend speech. Develops from simplicity to complexity. Infants start without language ( infantis means not speaking). Slowly learn mouth movements associated with different sounds. From 0-4 months.

Productive Language Move into the Productive Language stage after 4 months. This is the ability to pronounce words. Follows in 3 stages: 1) Babbling Stage  beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language. Babbling sounds the same in any language. Simply constant and vowel pairs. By 10 months, babbling sounds like the language of the household. Japanese language example on pg. 315-316

2) One-Word Stage  the stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words. Around 12 months can now associate a word with a picture. Use one syllable words to communicate meaning. (Ma or Da) Ex. Doggy! = Look at the dog over there! 3) Two-Word Stage  beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly two-word statements. Go from learning a word a week to a word a day. Use Telegraphic Speech  early speech state in which a child speaks like a telegram – “go car” – using mostly nouns and verbs. Ex. Want JuiceSyntax is now in play and order of words is evident. Ex. Big Doggy, not Doggy Big.

Language Development in Infants and Toddlers

Language Development When Do We Learn Language?

Language Acquisition The learning of language is called language acquisition. Two psychologists have different theories on how language is acquired or learned. They are B.F. Skinner and Noam Chomsky.

Language Development Explaining Language Development Skinner: Operant Learning Learning principles Association Imitation Reinforcement

Skinner’s theory According to Skinner language is learned like everything else; through association (by linking certain sounds with certain people and objects), imitation (by doing what we see others doing) and reinforcement (by getting or not getting hugs, praise and so on). Remember those concepts from the lesson on operant conditioning and learning by observation. Skinner ’ s theory helps to explain why we speak the language that we learn at home.

Gleason’s Wug Test

Language Development Explaining Language Development Chomsky: Inborn Universal Grammar Language acquisition device Universal grammar

Chomsky’s theory According to Chomsky we are prewired with the capability to learn language. He believes that the brain is like a language acquisition device and that there is a critical period or an optimal time for language to be developed. Chomsky theory helps to explain why children can master the complexity of learning a language, or many languages at an early age.

Chomsky’s Language Development

Language Development Explaining Language Development Statistical Learning and Critical Periods Statistical learning – ability to understand the break in syllables and where different words end. Critical (sensitive) period – can only be mastered easily in the infant stage. Learning a language later on in life is much more difficult.

Language Influences Thinking Thinking and Language Together If language influences the way that we think, does it influence what we are able to think about? The psychologist Benjamin Whorf believes that the language that we use controls, and in some ways limits our thinking. His theory is called the linguistic relativity hypothesis . Linguistic Determinism  Whorf ’ s hypothesis that language determines the way we think . Gestures – the out sign – baseball sign languageBilingual advantage - bilingual children have increased word power. Those who learn to inhibit one language while using the other are also better able to inhibit their attention to irrelevant information.

Thinking in Images Sometimes we think without using language. We make a mental image instead. Using mental images has been shown to increase performance. How it works is that after you learn a skill, you practice the skill by imagining yourself doing the skill. The research suggests that this will increase performance. It can be applied to piano playing, playing golf, studying; the list is endless. Imagining a physical activity triggers action in the same brain areas that are triggered when actually performing that activity. FMRI’s show a person imagining the experience of pain, which activates some of the same areas in the brain as the actual experience of pain . Ex. Mentally rehearsing a physically taxing activity – ex. Distance running, weight lifting. http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTFnEoVDIQY 45 min mark

Hope Theory Goals are important for having hope, but a goal alone is not enough. One must have pathways for reaching those goals and beliefs about your capabilities in achieving those goals.

Animal thinking and language It appears that animals display remarkable capacities for thinking. For example: Apes and monkeys can learn concepts. Once the concept has been learned, using MRIs, neuron activity can be measured when the animal encounters similar concepts. Chimpanzees use insight when solving the problem of how to get to some bananas that are suspended with only a stick available to use to get them. Pigeons can sort objects into similar items.

Animals and language It appears that animals can also use and understand language. For example: Monkeys use different alarm cries depending on the type of predator. Dogs can be asked to retrieve certain items by name. Chimpanzees can make signs or push button in sequence to get a reward. Pigeons can peck a sequence of keys to get food.

Animal Thinking and Language The straight-line part of the dance points in the direction of a nectar source, relative to the sun Direction of nectar source

Animal Thinking and Language Gestured Communication

Animal Thinking and Language Is this really language ? But are these examples of thinking and language? This controversy has divided the scientific community. Many scientists have made serious attempts at rearing apes in language-rich environments, but the results have not overwhelmingly demonstrated that apes can use language as human beings use it. What are the criteria that are used to determine a true capacity for language? Is the language symbolic : Can it be used to represent absent objects? Does the language have syntax , or word order? Can the language be used in a creative or productive manner?What do you think?

Teaching Language to Chimps

Can Chimpanzees Plan Ahead