• How we represent ideas in our minds, and how we use these ideas to solve problems and make
decisions
• The mental manipulation of representations of information we encounter in our
environments
• Cognitive psychologists study thought and the understanding that results from
thinking
• Analogical and symbolic representations
• Analogical representations: Mental representations that have some of the physical
characteristics of objects
• Symbolic representations: Abstract mental representations that consist of words or
ideas
• Include a combination of analogical and symbolic representations
• Can sometimes lead to errors because we can represent only a limited range of
knowledge
• What are Schemas? Think back to chapter 4
• Related to the organization of analogical and symbolic representations in our minds
• Category: Group that is based on knowledge of shared properties
• Concept: A mental representation of objects, events, or relations organized around
common themes
• Prototype model
• A way of thinking about concepts. Within each category, there is a best example—a
prototype—for that category
• Exemplar model
• A way of thinking about concepts. All concepts in a category are examples (exemplars);
together, they form the category
• Stereotypes
• Cognitive schemas that allow for easy, fast processing of information about people,
events, or groups, based on their membership in certain groups
• The generalizations people make can lead to sexist or racist behaviors, such as
not hiring a person because she is female or not helping a person because he is
Latino
• Sometimes the terms reasoning, decision making, and problem solving are used interchangeably,
but they are not really the same
, • Reasoning
• Using information to determine if a conclusion is valid or reasonable
• Decision making
• Attempting to select the best alternative among several options
• Problem solving
• Finding a way around an obstacle to reach a goal
• A set of procedures to follow when thinking and making a decision
• “Rule of thumb” decisions are generally fine—good enough in our daily lives
• A shortcut used to reduce the amount of thinking that is needed to make decisions
• The availability heuristic is the tendency to make a decision based on
information that comes most easily to mind
• The representativeness heuristic is the tendency to place people or objects in a
category if they are similar to the concept that is the prototype
• The representativeness heuristic can lead to faulty reasoning if we fail to
take other information into account (e.g., the base rate)
• Framing
• How information is presented affects how that information is perceived and influences
decisions
• The paradox of choice
• When too many options are available, especially when all of them are attractive, we
experience conflict and indecision
• Subgoals
• In many cases, solving a problem requires breaking the task into subgoals
• Reaching each subgoal will result in achieving the main goal of solving the
problem
• Working backward
• Helpful when the appropriate steps for solving a problem are not clear; it involves
proceeding from the goal state to the initial state
• Analogy
• Finding an appropriate analogy for a problem can help achieve goals
• Sudden insight
decisions
• The mental manipulation of representations of information we encounter in our
environments
• Cognitive psychologists study thought and the understanding that results from
thinking
• Analogical and symbolic representations
• Analogical representations: Mental representations that have some of the physical
characteristics of objects
• Symbolic representations: Abstract mental representations that consist of words or
ideas
• Include a combination of analogical and symbolic representations
• Can sometimes lead to errors because we can represent only a limited range of
knowledge
• What are Schemas? Think back to chapter 4
• Related to the organization of analogical and symbolic representations in our minds
• Category: Group that is based on knowledge of shared properties
• Concept: A mental representation of objects, events, or relations organized around
common themes
• Prototype model
• A way of thinking about concepts. Within each category, there is a best example—a
prototype—for that category
• Exemplar model
• A way of thinking about concepts. All concepts in a category are examples (exemplars);
together, they form the category
• Stereotypes
• Cognitive schemas that allow for easy, fast processing of information about people,
events, or groups, based on their membership in certain groups
• The generalizations people make can lead to sexist or racist behaviors, such as
not hiring a person because she is female or not helping a person because he is
Latino
• Sometimes the terms reasoning, decision making, and problem solving are used interchangeably,
but they are not really the same
, • Reasoning
• Using information to determine if a conclusion is valid or reasonable
• Decision making
• Attempting to select the best alternative among several options
• Problem solving
• Finding a way around an obstacle to reach a goal
• A set of procedures to follow when thinking and making a decision
• “Rule of thumb” decisions are generally fine—good enough in our daily lives
• A shortcut used to reduce the amount of thinking that is needed to make decisions
• The availability heuristic is the tendency to make a decision based on
information that comes most easily to mind
• The representativeness heuristic is the tendency to place people or objects in a
category if they are similar to the concept that is the prototype
• The representativeness heuristic can lead to faulty reasoning if we fail to
take other information into account (e.g., the base rate)
• Framing
• How information is presented affects how that information is perceived and influences
decisions
• The paradox of choice
• When too many options are available, especially when all of them are attractive, we
experience conflict and indecision
• Subgoals
• In many cases, solving a problem requires breaking the task into subgoals
• Reaching each subgoal will result in achieving the main goal of solving the
problem
• Working backward
• Helpful when the appropriate steps for solving a problem are not clear; it involves
proceeding from the goal state to the initial state
• Analogy
• Finding an appropriate analogy for a problem can help achieve goals
• Sudden insight
