04/22/14 Thinking

• Concepts- Mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people.
• Concepts are similar to Piaget's idea of schemas.
• Prototypes- Mental image or best example of a category.
• Algorithms- A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem.
• Heuristics- A rule of thumb strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently. 
• Insight- A sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem.
• No real strategy involved.
• Confirmation Bias- A tendency to search for information that confirms one's preconceptions.
• Fixation- The inability to see a problem from a new perspective.
• Mental Set- A tendency to approach a problem in a particular way especially if it has worked in the past.
• May or may not be a good thing.
• Functional Fixedness- The tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions. 
• Types of Heuristics  (Often lead to errors)
1. Representativeness Heuristic
• Rule of thumb for judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they match our prototype. 
• Can cause us to ignore important information.
2. Availability Heuristic
• Estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in our memory.
• If it comes to wind easily we presume it is common.
• Overconfidence- The tendency to be more confident that correct.
• To overestimate the accuracy of your beliefs and judgments.
• Belief Bias- The tendency for one's preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning.
• Sometimes making invalid conclusions valid or vice versa.
• Belief Perseverance
• Clinging to your initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited.