Cognition 13-17% of AP Exam - PowerPoint Presentation

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Cognition13-17% of AP Exam

This includes: thinking(cognitive processes), problem solving, creativity, language, memory

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From Sherlock Holmes from A Study in Scarlett by Arthur Conan Doyle

Mr. Watson-Mr. Sherlock Holmes,” said Stamford, introducing us.

“How are you?” he said, cordially, gripping my hand with a strength for which I should hardly have given him credit. “You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive.”

“How on earth did you know that?” I asked, in astonishment.

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When asked, Holmes explained his reasoning as follows:

I knew you came from Afghanistan. From long habit the train of thought ran so swiftly through my mind that I arrived at the conclusion without being conscious of the intermediate steps. There were such steps, however. The train of reasoning ran, “Here is a gentleman of a medical type, but with the air of a military man. Clearly an army doctor, then.

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He has just come from the tropics, for his face is dark, and that is not the natural tint of his skin, for his wrists are fair. He has undergone hardship and sickness, as his haggard face says clearly. His left arm has been injured. He holds it in a stiff and unnatural manner. Where in the tropics could an English army doctor have seen much hardship and got his arm wounded? Clearly in Afghanistan. The whole train of thought did not occupy a second.

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Admittedly, even the fictional Sherlock Holmes has remarkable powers of deductive reasoning, even ordinary people display the power to sort through a vast array of perceptual inputs and deduce what they see in the real world.

Reference: Weiten, Wayne, Psychology: Themes and Variations, 7

th

ed.

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Problem Solving

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Test Your Wits?

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Test Your Wits: Your have two minutes to read each question, decide on your answer quickly and record your answers in lower case letters.

1. What goes up a chimney down, but won’t go down a chimney up?

2. What gets wetter and wetter the more it dries?

3. What was the highest mountain in the world before Mt. Everest was discovered?

4. What grows down when it grows up?

5. A farmer had 4 haystacks in one field and twice as many in each of his other 2 fields. If he put the stacks from all 3 fields together, how many haystacks would he have?

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6. First discovered in ancient times, what invention allowed people to see through solid walls?

7. A man carefully pointed his car due east and then drove for 2 miles. He was then 2 miles west of where he started. Why?

8. What can you put in a stainless steel box that will make it light?

9. What common word is pronounced incorrectly by a majority of Yale and Harvard graduates?

10. What goes around the world but stays in the corner?

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Test Your Wits: We will work in groups of 3 or four for an additional two minutes. Write your group answers in CAPITAL letters

.

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1. What goes up a chimney down, but won’t go down a chimney up?

2. What gets wetter and wetter the more it dries?

3. What was the highest mountain in the world before Mt. Everest was discovered?

4. What grows down when it grows up?

5. A farmer had 4 haystacks in one field and twice as many in each of his other 2 fields. If he put the stacks from all 3 fields together, how many haystacks would he have?

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6. First discovered in ancient times, what invention allowed people to see through solid walls?

7. A man carefully pointed his car due east and then drove for 2 miles. He was then 2 miles west of where he started. Why?

8. What can you put in a stainless steel box that will make it light?

9. What common word is pronounced incorrectly by a majority of Yale and Harvard graduates?

10. What goes around the world but stays in the corner?

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Did you work better with a partner or by yourself?

1. umbrella

2. towel/mop/sponge

3. Mt. Everest

4. duck/goose

5. One

6. Windows

7. Drive in Reverse

8. A flashlight or hole

9. “incorrectly”

10. a postage stamp

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A bit of background

The earliest studies by

E. B. Titchener

(Wundt’s student) relied on

introspection

to unlock to secrets of the mind.

By the beginning of the 20

th

century, psychologists actively discouraged the study of mental processes due to behaviorism as the predominate view.

John B. Watson

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John B. WatsonTopic was ignored for many years due to John B. Watson’s claim that thinking was sub-vocal speech (1925)

Not worthy of study

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By, the 1950s, there was a “cognitive revolution” in which psychologist such as

Herbert Simon

argue that behaviorist exclusive focus on overt responses was doomed to yield an incomplete understanding of human functioning.

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What is cognition (cognitive process)?

Cognition

- all mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating

Mental manipulations

Thinking may be referred to as cognition

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What do cognitive psychologist study?Logical and illogical ways we create concepts, solve problems, make decisions and form judgment

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Thinking- mental processing

Directed thought

Problem solving

Understanding

Decision making

Non-directed thought

Comprised of images

Mental imagery

Daydreaming

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Effortful vs. Automatic Processing

Effortful Processing-

encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

Rehearsal can boost effortful processing

Often produces durable and accessible memories

AP content learning is effortful

Automatic Processing

- unconscious encoding of incidental information such as space, time and frequency and of well-learned information, such as word meanings

What you ate for dinner yesterday is automatic processing

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Try this

.citamotua emoceb nac gnissecorp luftroffE

With practice (rehearsal), this task can become more automatic rather than effortful.

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Focus vs. Divided Attention

Focus or selective attention-

The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

An example is the “cocktail party effect”

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Focus vs. Divided Attention

Divided attention-

attempt to focus attention on more than one task, sensory input or bit of information

Not exactly “multitasking”

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Thinking

Cognition

mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Cognitive Psychologists

study these mental activities

concept formation

problem solving

decision making

judgment formation

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Thinking

Concept

mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

Prototype

mental image or best example of a category

matching new items to the prototype provides a quick and easy method for including items in a category (as when comparing feathered creatures to a prototypical bird, such as a robin)

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Thinking

Algorithm

methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem

contrasts with the usually speedier–but also more error-prone--use of

heuristics

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Thinking

Heuristic

simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently

usually speedier than

algorithms

more error-prone than

algorithms

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Thinking

Unscramble

S P L O Y O C H Y G

Algorithm

all 907,208 combinations

Heuristic

throw out all YY combinations

other heuristics?

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Thinking

Insight

sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem

contrasts with strategy-based solutions

Confirmation Bias

tendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions

Fixation

inability to see a problem from a new perspective

impediment to problem solving

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The Matchstick Problem

How would you arrange six matches to form four equilateral triangles?

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The Three-Jugs Problem

Using jugs A, B, and C, with the capacities shown, how would you measure out the volumes indicated?

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The Candle-Mounting Problem

Using these materials, how would you mount the candle on a bulletin board?

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The Matchstick Problem

Solution to the matchstick problem

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The Three-Jugs Problem

Solution:

a) All seven problems can be solved by the equation shown in (a): B - A - 2C = desired volume.

b) But simpler solutions exist for problems 6 and 7, such as A - C for problem 6.

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The Candle-Mounting Problem

Solving this problem requires recognizing that a box need not always serve as a container

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Problem SolvingDefinition – the goal directed process initiated in the presence of some obstacles and the absence of an evident solution

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Steps in Problem Solving

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PreparationDefine the problem

Gather information

Consider solutions

Assess how the problem is structured

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Production

Random search

(Trial and Error Method)

Algorithms

(any method that guarantees a solution; step-by-step procedure)

Heuristics

(mental shortcuts: requires some knowledge and experience to draw upon; “rule of thumb”)

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IncubationOptional stage of “sleeping on it.”

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EvaluationDid the solution satisfy the demands of the problem?

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Insight

A sudden change in perception that results in a solution to a problem

Wolfgang Kohler

Sultan

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Problems or Hindrances

Confirmation Bias

Mental Set

fixation

Functional Fixedness

Misuse of heuristics –

availability and representativeness

Overconfidence

Belief perseverance

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Thinking

Mental Set

tendency to approach a problem in a particular way

especially a way that has been successful in the past but may or may not be helpful in solving a new problem

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Thinking

Functional Fixedness

tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions

impediment to problem solving

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Creative Thinking

In one minute, think of as many uses as you can for a brick.

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Creative Thinking

In one minute, think of as many uses as you can for a fork.

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Heuristics

Representativeness Heuristic

judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes

may lead one to ignore other relevant information

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Heuristics

Availability Heuristic

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

Example: airplane crash

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Thinking

Overconfidence

tendency to be more confident than correct

tendency to overestimate the accuracy of one’s beliefs and judgments

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Thinking

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?

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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

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Creative Thinking

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Michael WertheimerSet and Information Processing

From Favorite Activities for the Teaching of Psychology, Benjamin, L. (ed.) #34

Instruct student to get out a piece of paper and a writing instrument.

Have students listen to the narrative and take notes as appropriate.

At the conclusion of the reading, students will take a brief “quiz” with 5 questions.

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Listen to this

Assume that you are the engineer of a passenger train. At the first station, 20 passengers get on. At the next station, 5 passengers get off and 15 get on. At the next station, 10 passengers get off and 12 get on. At the next station, 7 get off and 10 get on. At the next station, 5 passengers get off and 5 get on. At the final station, 8 passengers get off and 3 get on.

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Ask students to number their papers from 1-5.1. How old is the engineer of the train?

2. How many stations were there?

3. How many passengers are left on the train?

4. How many people have gotten off the train since the first station?

5. . How many passengers have gotten on the train anywhere along its route?

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How did you do?5. 654. 35

3. 30

2. 6

1. ???

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Creative ThinkingDefined as a final outcome, product or solutions which is both novel (original) and useful.

Examples include paintings, poetry, problem solving, scientific discovery, etc.

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Measuring CreativityTo measure, must compare people of similar age, education and profession

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Measuring Creativity

Divergent Production-

the purpose is to come up with as many answers or solutions as possible to a particular problem (sometimes in a specific amount of time)

Example

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Divergent ProductionIn a one minute period, how many pictures of real objects can you make using a circle?

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Divergent ProductionMany words begin with the letter L and end with the letter N. In one minute, list as many words as possible that have the form

L________N

(You may have as many L s and N s as you choose.)

L -----------N

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Convergent Production

Convergent Production

- person uses information given to arrive at one single answer

Example:

Problem solving activities

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Measuring Creativity

Remote Associates Test (RAT)

developed by Mednick and Mednick measures one’s creativity by his/her ability to see relationships between ideas which are remote from each other

Example: See examples

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RATFor each set of words, try to think of a fourth word that is related to all three words.

For example: paint doll cat

The answer is house. House paint, dollhouse and house cat.

Get it?

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RAT

Man hot sure

Stick hair ball

Blue cake cottage

Man wheel high

Motion poke down

Wood liquor luck

House village golf

Plan show walker

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RAT answersMan hot sure

Stick hair ball

Blue cake cottage

Man wheel high

Motion poke down

Wood liquor luck

House village golf

Plan show walker

Fire

Pin

Cheese

Chair

Slow

Hard

Green

Floor

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5 components of CreativityExpertise

Imaginative thinking skills

A venturesome personality

Intrinsic motivation

A creative environment

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Expertise: Well developed knowledge base

Furnishes ideas, images, phrases

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Imaginative thinking skillsSeeing things in novel ways

Recognize patterns

Make connections

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A venturesome personalitySeeks new experiences

Tolerates ambiguity and risk

Perseveres in overcoming obstacles

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Intrinsic motivationBeing driven more by interest, satisfaction, and challenge rather than by external pressures

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A creative environmentSparks, supports, refines creative ideas

Being around supportive people

Networking effectively with colleagues

Supports innovation, team building, and communication

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IntuitionAn effortless, immediate automatic feeling or thought

Contrasts with explicit conscious reasoning

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Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence

designing and programming computer systems

to do intelligent things

to simulate human thought processes

intuitive reasoning

learning

understanding language

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Artificial Intelligence

Computer Neural Networks

computer circuits that mimic the brain’s interconnected neural cells

performing tasks

learning to recognize visual patterns

learning to recognize smells

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Language

Language

our spoken, written, or gestured works and the way we combine them to communicate meaning

Phoneme

in a spoken language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

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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)

Grammar

a system of rules in a language that enables us to communicate with and understand others

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Language

Semantics

the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language

also, the study of meaning

Syntax

the rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences in a given language

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Language

We are all born to recognize speech sounds from all the world’s languages

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Percentage able

to discriminate

Hindi t’s

Hindi-

speaking

adults

6-8

months

8-10

months

10-12

months

English-

speaking

adults

Infants from English-speaking homes

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Language

Babbling Stage

beginning at 3 to 4 months

the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language

One-Word Stage

from about age 1 to 2

the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in single words

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Language

Two-Word Stage

beginning about age 2

the stage in speech development during which a child speaks in mostly two-word statements

Telegraphic Speech

early speech stage in which the child speaks like a telegram-–“go car”--using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting “auxiliary” words

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Language

Summary of Language Development

Month

(approximate)

Stage

4

10

12

24

24+

Babbles many speech sounds.

Babbling reveals households

language.

One-word stage.

Two-world, telegraphic speech.

Language develops rapidly into

complete sentences.

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Language development

Receptive language: being able to understand but not communicate yet; reading lips and discriminating speech sounds

Productive language: producing language to communicate; speaking and writing; expressive language

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Aphasia

Impairment of language

usually left hemisphere damage to

Broca’s

area (impaired speaking) or Wernicke’s area (impaired understanding)

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Broca’s AreaControls language expression

Area of the frontal lobe/left hemisphere

Directs muscle movements

involoved

in speech

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Wernicke’s area

Controls language reception

Language comprehension and expression

Left temporal lobe

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Theories of Language AcquisitionThere are a variety of theories of how a human learns their native language

How do you think one learns a language?

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Learning TheoriesFocuses on the role of imitation or modeling

Skinner’s reinforcement theory

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Nativist Theories

Chomsky’s theory of innate language acquisition device or LAD

Critical or sensitive period

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Cognitive Theory

Cognitive abilities make language development possible

Children are active participants in language learning

Piaget believed cognition precedes language

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Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis(aka) Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis or Whorfian Hypothesis

What is the relationship between language and thought?

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Benjamin WhorfLanguage determines

thought or more accurately, language

influences

thought

Interesting guy, not a psychologist

Critics suggest: Words reflect rather than create the way we think

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Language

Linguistic Determinism

Whorf”s hypothesis that language determines the way we think

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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

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Animal Thinking and Language

Gestured Communication

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Animal Thinking and Language

Is this really language?