PYC1501 Study Notes (SUMMARY)

Problem Solving Steps in the problem solving process 1. Identify the problem and define it clearly 2. Explore various strategies a. Trial and error (randomly try all possibilities) b. Heuristic (try most likely solution first) 3. Explore possible solutions 4. Evaluate and learn from solutions Concepts in problem solving - Insight= answer appears suddenly - Restricted thinking o Emotional barriers o Learned barriers o Perceptual barriers o Cultural barriers Reasoning Structure of reasoning - Consist of a premise and a conclusion - Premise provides the evidence for the conclusion - Conclusion is the statement Deductive reasoning - The process of drawing a conclusion that follows logically from two or more statements or premises - Based on logical rule that if the premise is true then the conclusion is true - Eg. I see raindrops, it is raining Inductive reasoning - Uses available evidence to generate conclusion about the likelihood of something happening - Premises do not guarantee conclusions - Eg. There are clouds, I think it might rain © 2015 Together We Pass. All rights reserved. - Analogical reasoning= infer patterns of relations between things, used to find patterns in events Formal and informal reasoning Formal Informal Premise stated explicitly Premise is implied Problem being reasoned is not personally relevant Has personal consequences for everyday life - accept premise as true without thinking carefully - accept a conclusion because it agrees with our personal views Structures and rules are more obvious Structures and rules are not so obvious Usually only one correct solution Generally several correct solutions Fallacies - Conclusions based on misleading arguments - Use irrelevant premises to support a conclusion - Types of fallacy o Playing on someone’s sympathies to get something done o Trying to discredit an issue by discrediting the person who supports the issue o Relying on the characteristics of a certain group in order to gain support for a particular conclusion o Using a false analogy o Using a slightly changed version of someone else’s point of view as a basis for your reasoning Critical reasoning - Thinking critically about the information you have - To evaluate info and make good judgments - Steps to improve critical reasoning o Identify the problem o Keep an open mind (avoid categorization and all-or-nothing) o Remember the difference between language and reality o Use open-ended questions o Avoid over-generalizations o Be empathetic o Obtain relevant information o Use informal knowledge o Develop collective thinking Thinking © 2015 Together We Pass. All rights reserved. - Thinking refers to mentally processing info - Perception= form of knowing based on info obtained from our sensory systems - Through thinking we process symbolic representations of things - Thoughts can be symbols or representations of actual objects or events because they exist inside our heads Images - Symbolic representations of objects and their characteristics - Mental representation that has picture-like qualities - Senses (auditory, visual, smell) - Images are stored in memory or can be invented or created - Help us to remember things Concepts - Categories we form as mental representations of groups - Help us to organize knowledge in systematic ways - May be related to physical objects (food) or abstract (democracy) or represent properties of objects (colour, size) - Hierarchical organization of concepts o Superordinate level –food o Intermediate level –fruit o Subordinate level – Apples, pears etc - Conceptual rules o Exact= denotative meaning o Personal= connotative meaning - Conceptual errors o Stereotyping o All-or-nothing thought o One-dimensional thought - Prototypes o Ideal models of concepts o Eg. Table is