Thinking
Cognition
o Mental activity
What drives behaviors
o Memory
o Communication, language
o Thinking, imagining, daydreaming
o Sensory input
We can see and observe this
We can also observe the behavior output in response
We cannot observe cognition that causes the behavior output
Cognitive Abilities
o When thinking goes right
o Concepts
Cannot be seen
Ability to categorize something
Use exemplars to determine
Ex: a robin and a blue jay are both birds
Prototype is the best exemplar for a category/concept
We more quickly categorize things that fit the prototype
Ex: a penguin is a bird, but it isn’t like the typical bird
Even if something does not fit our prototype well, we can make
assumptions based off our prototype
o Ex: an unusual bird most likely lays eggs and makes a nest
How we categorize people is how we remember them later
Especially racial categories
We might make judgments on people just from categorizing them
Our memories change to better fit our prototype
o Ex: seeing someone half white/half Asian and classifying
them as Asian, we will remember them as more
prototypically Asian
o Problem Solving
Trial & Error
Random
Thorndike’s cats in a box
Algorithms
Takes time but very accurate
Try every possible combination in a systematic order
How a computer works
o But a computer is obviously faster
Ex: for unscrambling letters, try every possible combination of
letters
Heuristics
, Quicker but may be inaccurate
Rule-of-thumb
Ex: for unscrambling letters, try starting by grouping together
letters that go together like -th- or doing words that end in -er
Insight
Aha moment
The answer comes to you without thinking about it
Right temporal lobe
Ex: associate three words with one other word
Limits of Cognition
o When thinking goes wrong
o Humans make predictable errors
o Confirmation Bias
Look for evidence that supports your pre-existing notion
Ignore evidence that would prove us wrong
We should instead look at evidence from both sides
Worsened by social media
Social media takes information that you’ve clicked on previously
and only shows you things that relate to that
You have to work hard to prove yourself wrong
o Belief perseverance
Once we have made a decision, we are less likely to change our mind
Even if you see evidence against your decision, you will likely stick to your
original decision
o Availability heuristic
Whatever we hear about most, we assume is most common
Ex: we fear shark attacks more than heart attacks even though heart
attacks are much more common
o Overconfidence
Once we have made a decision, we feel more confident in our choice
Once we decide a belief, we are more confident than we should be
Even if guessing
Language
Phonemes
o A sound
o Usually a letter or a couple letters
o Ex: a, b, ch, sh, p, i, th
o Babbling stage is when children only make phonemes
Morphemes
o Smallest unit of sound that has meaning
o Usually a word or a part of word
o Can be a prefix/suffix
Cognition
o Mental activity
What drives behaviors
o Memory
o Communication, language
o Thinking, imagining, daydreaming
o Sensory input
We can see and observe this
We can also observe the behavior output in response
We cannot observe cognition that causes the behavior output
Cognitive Abilities
o When thinking goes right
o Concepts
Cannot be seen
Ability to categorize something
Use exemplars to determine
Ex: a robin and a blue jay are both birds
Prototype is the best exemplar for a category/concept
We more quickly categorize things that fit the prototype
Ex: a penguin is a bird, but it isn’t like the typical bird
Even if something does not fit our prototype well, we can make
assumptions based off our prototype
o Ex: an unusual bird most likely lays eggs and makes a nest
How we categorize people is how we remember them later
Especially racial categories
We might make judgments on people just from categorizing them
Our memories change to better fit our prototype
o Ex: seeing someone half white/half Asian and classifying
them as Asian, we will remember them as more
prototypically Asian
o Problem Solving
Trial & Error
Random
Thorndike’s cats in a box
Algorithms
Takes time but very accurate
Try every possible combination in a systematic order
How a computer works
o But a computer is obviously faster
Ex: for unscrambling letters, try every possible combination of
letters
Heuristics
, Quicker but may be inaccurate
Rule-of-thumb
Ex: for unscrambling letters, try starting by grouping together
letters that go together like -th- or doing words that end in -er
Insight
Aha moment
The answer comes to you without thinking about it
Right temporal lobe
Ex: associate three words with one other word
Limits of Cognition
o When thinking goes wrong
o Humans make predictable errors
o Confirmation Bias
Look for evidence that supports your pre-existing notion
Ignore evidence that would prove us wrong
We should instead look at evidence from both sides
Worsened by social media
Social media takes information that you’ve clicked on previously
and only shows you things that relate to that
You have to work hard to prove yourself wrong
o Belief perseverance
Once we have made a decision, we are less likely to change our mind
Even if you see evidence against your decision, you will likely stick to your
original decision
o Availability heuristic
Whatever we hear about most, we assume is most common
Ex: we fear shark attacks more than heart attacks even though heart
attacks are much more common
o Overconfidence
Once we have made a decision, we feel more confident in our choice
Once we decide a belief, we are more confident than we should be
Even if guessing
Language
Phonemes
o A sound
o Usually a letter or a couple letters
o Ex: a, b, ch, sh, p, i, th
o Babbling stage is when children only make phonemes
Morphemes
o Smallest unit of sound that has meaning
o Usually a word or a part of word
o Can be a prefix/suffix
