Download
1 / 22
E N D
Marshmallow Challenge!!!! Build the Tallest Freestanding Structure: The winning team is the one that has the tallest structure measured from the table top surface to the top of the marshmallow. That means the structure cannot be taped to the floor or suspended from a higher structure, like a chair, ceiling or chandelier. The Entire Marshmallow Must be on Top: The entire marshmallow needs to be on the top of the structure. Cutting or eating part of the marshmallow disqualifies the team. Use as Much or as Little of the Kit: The team can use as many or as few of the 20 spaghetti sticks, as much or as little of the string or tape. The team cannot use the paper bag as part of their structure. Break up the Spaghetti, String or Tape: Teams are free to break the spaghetti, cut up the tape and string to create new structures. The Challenge Lasts 15 minutes: Teams cannot hold on to the structure when the time runs out. Those touching or supporting the structure at the end of the exercise will be disqualified. If your structure falls before or after it is measured, you are disqualified.
AP Psych – Myers, Ch. 10 Thinking& Cognition
Thinking • Cognition – the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating • Cognitive psychologists study and emphasize mental processes - Piaget
Concepts • A schema; a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people. • Hierarchies – further dividing concepts into smaller groups
Prototypes • A mental image or best example of a category.
To solve problems, we must use COGNITION! Problem Solving
Algorithm • A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. • Ex: math formula, recipes • Time consuming but always right
Heuristic • A“rule of thumb,” a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently • Ex: trial and error, common sense, educated guess • Usually speedy but more error prone than algorithms • Experience based
Using/Misusing Heuristics • Judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent or match particular prototypes • Ex: trucker vs professor • estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if events come readily in mind, then we presume such events are common • Ex: 9/11 and flying Representativeness Heuristic Availability Heuristic
Do We Fear the Right Things? • Why do we fear a less likely terrorist attack more than a more likely car accident? • We fear what our ancestral history has prepared us to fear. • We fear what we cannot control. • We fear what is immediate. • We fear what is most readily available in memory (availability heuristic). • We overestimate flight risks, overvalue lottery tickets, and underestimate the dangers of driving.
Insight • A sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem • Contrasts with strategy-based solutions • Right temporal lobe • Satisfaction
Metacognition • Thinking about thinking • Knowledge about cognition • Regulation of cognition • Ex: reflective on best study habits • Ex: How have I solved this similar problem before?
Obstacles to Problem Solving • Confirmation bias– a tendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions
Obstacles to Problem Solving • Overconfidence– the tendency to be more confident than correct • to overestimate the accuracy of one’s beliefs and judgments
Belief Perseverance • Clinging to one’s initial conceptions even after being presented with contradictory information. • Contradictory info often makes people even more defensive of prior beliefs.
Fixation • Inability to see a problem from a new perspective • Mental set - a tendency to approach a problem in a particular way • often a way that has been successful in the past • Predisposes how we think • Ex: couldn’t think in 3 dimensions
Functional Fixedness • The tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions
Framing • The way an issue is posed • How an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions and judgments • Those who understand the powers of framing questions can use framing to influence a particular viewpoint.
Convergent vs. Divergent Thinking • Thinking limited to available facts • Great for clear, concise problems. • Algorithms • Thinking that attempts to generate multiple solutions to a problem • Needed for real-world applications of problem-solving practices Convergent Thinking Divergent Thinking
Intuition and Problem Solving • Even though intuition is not always reliable, it allows us to make quick decisions and judgments that are born of experience and beliefs. • Smart thinkers should welcome intuition, but realize its limitations to overcome overconfidence, and biased and illogical thinking.
