Cognition or Thinking

Cognition/Thinking                Algorithm o A problem-solving strategy that follows specific methods and steps o Guarantees a correct solution Anchoring Bias o The bias to be affected by an initial anchor, even if the anchor is arbitrary, and to insufficiently adjust our judgement away from that anchor Availability heuristic o Description  The idea that things that come to mind easily are seen as more common o Potential Threat to Accuracy  We may overestimate the crime statistics in our own area, because these crimes are so easy to recall Belief Perseverance o Tendency to stick to initial beliefs despite discovering contradictory information Bounded awareness o Systematic ways in which we fail to notice obvious and important information that is available to us Bounded ethicality o The systematic ways in which our ethics are limited in ways we are not even aware of ourselves Bounded Rationality o Model of human behaviour that suggests that humans try to make rational decisions but are bounded due to cognitive limitations Bounded self-interest o The systematic and predictable ways in which we care about the outcomes of others Bounded willpower o The tendency to place greater weight on present concerns rather than future concerns Cognition o The process of acquiring and using knowledge Cognitive accessibility o Description  The idea that some memories are more highly activated than others o Potential Threat to Accuracy  We may think that we contributed more to a project than we really did because it is so easy to remember our own contributions Cognitive misers o Describes brain’s tendency to be used stingily, reluctance to use more sophisticated ways of thinking Concepts – Natural and Artificial o Natural  Through experiences and can be developed from either direct or indirect experiences o Artificial  Defined by a specific set of characteristics  Various properties of geometric shapes, like squares and triangles, serve as useful examples of artificial concepts  E.g. mathematic formulas Confirmation Bias o Description  The tendency to verify and confirm our existing memories rather than to challenge and disconfirm them o Potential Threat to Accuracy  Once beliefs become established, they become self-perpetuating and difficult to change Counter-factual thinking o Description  When we “replay” events such that they turn out differently (especially when only minor changes in the events leading up to them make a difference) o Potential Threat to Accuracy  We may feel particularly bad about events that might not have occurred if only a small change had occurred before them                Expectancy effects o Anything that goes along with making expectations come true o Related to confirmation bias Framing effects o A person’s decision is affected by the way the information about the decision is presented (framed) o Eg. Regulating gun ownership vs. restricting gun ownership Functional Fixedness o Description  When schemas prevent us from seeing and using information in new and non-traditional ways o Potential Threat to Accuracy  Creativity may be impaired by the overuse of traditional, expectancy-based thinking Heuristic o Information-processing strategies that are useful in many cases but may lead to errors when misapplied o Simplify decision making by using mental short cuts Hindsight Bias o The tendency to think that we could have predicted something that has already occurred that we probably would not have been able to predict o “I knew it all along” bias Inattentional blindness o Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere Change blindness o Failing to notice changes in the environment; a form of inattentional blindness Information source monitoring o Remembering or not remembering source o Remembers event but not where it came from o Can work with availability heuristic  Information comes to mind, but can’t remember source, so no guarantee that information is correct Insight o An understanding of the unconscious causes of the disorder Intuition o The ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning Lateral thinking o Thinking outside the box Mental Set o A tendency to approach a problem in one specific way, usually a tried and true one Misinformation effect o Description  Errors in memory that occur when new, but incorrect information influences existing accurate memories o Potential Threat to Accuracy  Eyewitnesses who are questioned by the police may change their memories of what they observed at the crime scene Overconfidence o Description  When we are more certain that our memories and judgements are accurate than we should be o Potential Threat to Accuracy  Eyewitnesses may be very confident that they have accurately identified a suspect, even though their memories are incorrect Representativeness Heuristic o Description  The tendency to make judgements according to how well the events matches our expectations o Potential Threat to Accuracy  After a coin has come up “heads” many times in a row, we may erroneously think that the next flip is more likely to be “tails” (Gambler’s fallacy)             Salience o Description  When some stimuli (e.g. those that are colourful, moving, or unexpected) grab our attention and make them more likely to be remembered o Potential Threat to Accuracy  We may base our judgements on a single salient event while we ignore hundreds of other equally informative events that we do not see Schemas o Patterns of knowledge in long-term memory that help them remember, organize, and respond to information Assimilation o Using already developed schemas to understand new information Accommodation o Learning new information, and thus changing the schema Sleeper effect o Judges the truth incorrectly due to forgetting what the source was Source monitoring o Description  The ability to accurately identify the source of a memory o Potential Threat to Accuracy  Uncertainty about the source of a memory may lead to mistaken judgements Source amnesia o Inability to remember when/where/how you acquired information System 1 (automatic) thinking o Intuitive decision-making system. Typically, fast, automatic, effortless, implicit, and emotional System 2 (deliberative) thinking o More deliberate decision-making system. Slower, conscious, effortful, explicit, and logical Trial & error o A problem-solving strategy that takes what works, and drops what doesn’t work Vivid case memory bias o When vivid memories come to mind more easily o Related to availability heuristic Emotion & Stress (Chapter 11, 16.1, 16.2)                 Acute vs prolonged stress responses o Prolonged is long period of time o Acute is not Amygdala & fight/flight response o Amygdala  In charge strong emotions such as fear and aggression o Fight & flight  An emotional and behaviour reaction to stress that increase readiness to action  Triggered in men by the activation of HPA axis Autonomic nervous system o Glands, muscles of internal organs o Sympathetic and parasympathetic responses Basic & secondary emotions o Basic  Biological and universal  Happiness, surprise, sadness, anger, disgust, fear, shame, interest o Secondary  More complex  Involves more cognitive appraisal  Eg. humility, Nostalgia, regret Cannon-Bard Theory of emotion o Bodily reaction and emotion happen simultaneously o The experience of an emotion is accompanied by physiological arousal Choking phenomenon under stress o Malfunction of prefrontal cortex o Not being able to do what you’re normally able to do because of pressure Cognitive appraisal model of stress o A personal interpretation of a situation and possible reactions to it Defensive Pessimism o The worst could happen, so I better prepare myself o Anticipating the bad, working towards preventing it Emotional Intelligence o The ability to accurately identify, assess, and understand emotions, as well as to effectively control one’s own emotions Explanatory style and stress o Optimism vs. pessimism  Realistic optimism  Defensive pessimism Facial feedback theory o Emotional expression can lead to physical changes tied to the specific emotion o If your face is smiling, you are more likely to feel happier General adaptation syndrome o Hans Selye Happiness predictors o Poverty vs. wealth, relationships with others, marital status, food, etc. HPA Response axis o A physiological response to stress involving interactions among the (H) Hypothalamus, (P) Pituitary, and (A) Adrenal glands James-Lange Theory of emotion o Body feels first, then emotions kick in o Our experience of an emotion is the result of the arousal we experience o Fear does not occur along with the racing heart but occurs because of the racing heart o Different patterns of arousal may create different emotional experience Lazarus’ Cognitive Appraisal Theory o There is a constant thinking happening, not always conscious, but can influence how we feel at any given moment               Left vs right frontal brain dominance o One side of brain is dominant o Left: analytical and methodical o Right: visual and intuitive Low & high brain pathways o High  Prefrontal Cortex o Low  Amygdala Mindfulness o State of being consciously aware of something o A mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calming accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensation o Used in therapy Misattribution of arousal o The tendency for people to incorrectly label the source of the arousal that they are experiencing  “Capilano Suspension Bridge Experiment.” Paradox of choice o Barry Schwartz o The fact that in western developed societies a large amount of choice is commonly associated with welfare and freedom but too much choice causes the feeling of less happiness, less satisfaction and can even lead to paralysis Peak performance curve o Reasonable amount of stress can help with performance o Too much or too little can hinder performance Polygraph assessments o Measures can include  Perspiration (GSR)  Sweating  Heart rate  Respiration  Breathing  Blood pressure Problem focused coping o Solve o Commonly used by males Emotion focused coping o Support o Commonly used by females Realistic Optimism o Not naïve, somewhat realistic Schachter-Singer/2-Factor Theory o 2 things happen to create an emotional experience. Something happening, and body interpreting it o The experience of emotion is determined by the intensity of the arousal we are experiencing, but that the cognitive appraisal of the situation determines what the emotion will be o Emotion = arousal + cognition Secondary emotions o More complex emotions, involve more cognitive appraisal  E.g. humility, nostalgia, regret Set-point o A theory that states everyone’s body has a genetically determined range of weight and temperature that their body will try to maintain to stay at optimal health Spillover effect o The tendency of one person’s emotion to affect how other people around them feel  When someone is pissy, people around them feel awkward      Stress Scale of Life Events o Catastrophic events  Earthquakes, combat stress, floods o Life changes  Death of loved ones, divorce, loss of job, promotion o Daily hassle  Rush hour traffic, long lines, job stress, burnout o Chronic stress by age o Chronic stress wears us out more Stress management techniques o 1. Exercise, move more, make endorphins  Might also build confidence as body looks better  Exposure to nature better than treadmill o 2. Relaxation techniques, meditation o 3. Sleep restores, repairs, helps regulate… o 4. Decrease reliance on stimulants o 5. Social involvement, connection, support o Research suggests that mindfulness & meditation training may increase left frontal brain activity, associated with positive emotion Stress-related growth & hardiness o Stress-related growth  A disposition al response to stress that enables the individuals to see opportunities for growth as opposed to threats or debilitation o Hardiness  Relationship to both optimism and self-efficacy  The ability to endure difficult conditions Sympathetic response system o Adrenal glands make adrenaline/epinephrine and/or noradrenaline/norepinephrine, in a stressful situation Parasympathetic response systems o Calms body down after stressful situation Motivation (Chapter 11.4) (Noba)            Anorexia nervosa o An eating disorder characterized by extremely low body weight, distorted body image, and an obsessive fear of gaining weight Bulimia nervosa o An eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging Appetite hormones o Orexin  Secreted by hypothalamus  Triggers hunger o Ghrelin  Secreted by empty stomach  Sends hunger signals to brain o Insulin  Secreted by pancreas  Controls blood glucose o Obestatin  Secreted by stomach  Sends “full” signal to brain o PPY  Secreted by digestive tract  Sends “not hungry” signal to brain o Leptin  Secreted by fat cells  Sends signals to brain diminishing reward of food Arousal theory o People who experience low arousal needs bigger thrills o Sensation seeking  Crime Cognitive dissonance motivation o Need to be consistent o Try to level inconsistencies Eating: Multiple influence factors o Social rules, connect, stress, holiday pressures, treats, tradition, regression o Cultural influence o Conditioning: time and setting o Taste o Comfort food Ego-depletion o Exhaustion of resources from resisting a temptation o Exerting self-control reduces individuals’ capacity to exert more self-control in a consequent task: whether that task is in the same domain or not Flow state o State of optimal performance Goal activation o Conscious  When a person is fully aware of contextual influences and resulting goal-directed behaviour o Nonconscious  When activation occurs outside a person’s awareness, such that the person is unaware of the reasons behind her goal-directed thoughts and behaviours Homeostasis o Tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state  Body temperature Intrinsic motivation o Feeling motivated because you like it, or just simply want to do it          Extrinsic motivation o Motivation received because of the reward of a specific action  Working for money at a job you don’t like, just for the money Learned helplessness o Based on animal research, part of positive psychology o If you feel like there’s no point in doing anything, then you learn to feel hopeless and depressed o There’s additional stress if you do have control Maslow’s hierarchy o Bottom level being most basic physiological needs, and top being needs that a person meets when lower, more basic and important needs are met Motivation & work – incentives o Incentive: something that motivates or encourages one to do something o 2 types of work with motivational incentives  Physical  Cognitive o Three factors that lead to better performance & personal satisfaction  Autonomy  Desire to be self-directed o “Do whatever you want” software company o More things got done than any other day  Mastery  Urge to get better at something  Miss. Schulman example  Purpose  Purpose maximisers, not just profit maximisers Perceived control o The belief that one can determine one’s own internal states and behaviour, influence one’s environment, and/or bring about desired outcomes Prevention vs promotion orientation o Prevention  Emphasizes safety, responsibility, and security needs, and viewing goals as “ought”  Avoid loss and approach non-loss o Promotion  Emphasizes hope, accomplishment, advancement needs, and viewing goals as “ideal”  Seeks to approach gains and avoid non-gains Self-determination theory o 1. Autonomy o 2. Mastery o 3. Purpose o 3a. Social connection Self-efficacy beliefs o Albert Bandura o Belief that when someone does something, they think that it will work for them o Eg. when a student thinks studying hard will for sure get them good grades Self-regulation: stages & orientations o Self-regulation  The process through which individuals alter their perceptions, feelings, and actions in the pursuit of a goal o Stages  Deliberative  Implemental o Orientations  Prevention  Promotion