EDUP211 Reviewer
 Neurolinguistics- the study of the relationships among the brain,
Week 13: Organization of Knowledge
Representing Procedural Knowledge
Serial processing-
 Linear sequence of operations.
 Created using production rules.
1. If –then rules ex. If sliding on ice then pump the brakes
 Tasks may take multiple rules.
1. Organized into routines and subroutines
Squire’s Non-Declarative Knowledge
 Procedural knowledge
 Associative conditioning
1. Classical and operant conditioning
 Simple non-associative knowledge
1. Habituation & Sensitization
 Priming
1. Semantic priming - Meaning is primed. Ex. Remember
nurse-doctor study?
2. Repetition priming - Prior exposure primes same items
seen later
ACT-R Model ("Adaptive Control of Thought—Rational")
 Declarative knowledge is represented in structures called chunks
defined by its type and slots
1. Type represents concepts or categories (e.g., dogs) and
slots as category attributes (e.g., color or size)
 Combines declarative and procedural knowledge in a model
 Theory for simulating and understanding human cognition
 Goal is to create model that can simulate how knowledge is
organized and used to produce behavior
 J. Anderson is a prominent researcher in this area
Connectionist Model
 Parallel processing –Multiple operations occur simultaneously
 Parallel distributed processing (PDP) models- Goal is to model
information as it is represented in the brain
PDP Model
 The representation of information is distributed.
 Knowledge for specific things are not stored explicitly but stored
in the activations of patterns among units
 Learning occurs with changes in connection strength by
experience
 Units send excitatory and inhibitory signals to another unit
Week 14: Language
Language- Is the use of an organized means of combining words in order
to communicate with those around us. It also makes it possible to think
about things and processes we currently cannot see, hear, feel, touch, or
smell. These things include ideas that may not have any tangible form.
Psycholinguistics- is the psychology of our language as it interacts with
the human mind.
 Linguistics - the study of language structure and change;
cognition, and language;
 Sociolinguistics- the study of the relationship between social
behavior and language and
 Computational linguistics and psycholinguistics- the study of
language via computational methods
Properties of Language
1. Communicative - Language permits us to communicate with one
or more people who share our language.
2. Arbitrarily symbolic- Creates an arbitrary relationship between
symbol and what it represents.
3. Principle of conventionality - simply states that meanings of
words are determined by conventions—they have a meaning
upon which people agree.
4. Principle of contrast -different words have different meaning.
5. Regularly structured - Language has a structure; only particularly
patterned arrangements of symbols have meaning, and different
arrangements yield different meanings.
6. Structured at Multiple Level - The structure of language can be
analyzed at more than one level. a. sounds, b. Meaning units c.
Words and d. Phrases
7. Generative, productive - Within the limits of a linguistic structure,
language users can produce novel utterances. The possibilities for
creating new utterances are virtually limitless.
8. Dynamic- languages constantly evolve
Basic Component of Words
1. Phoneme - is the smallest unit of speech sound that can
be used to distinguish one utterance in a given language
from another.
2. Phonetics - is the study of how to produce or combine
speech sounds or to represent them with written
symbols.
3. Morpheme - The smallest unit of meaning within a
particular language.
2 parts of Morpheme
 Root words - Are the portions of words that contain the majority
of meaning. These roots cannot be broken down into smaller
meaningful units.
 Affixes - Include prefixes, which precede the root word, and
suffixes, which follow the root word.
2 Forms of Morpheme
 Content Morphemes - are the words that convey the bulk of the
meaning of a language.
 Function Morphemes - add detail and nuance to the meaning of
the content morphemes or help the content morphemes fit the
grammatical context.
Basic Components of Words
Syntax - refers to the way in which we put words together to form
sentences.
 Noun phrase - which contains at least one noun (often the subject
of the sentence) and includes all the relevant descriptors of the
noun (like “big” or “fast”)
 Verb phrase - which contains at least one verb and whatever the
verb acts on, if anything.
Semantics - the study of meaning of words, phrases and sentences. What
a speaker conventionally means (objective or general meaning) - not what
he is trying to say (subjective or local meaning)
 Lexical Semantics - words and meaning relationship among
words.
 Phrasal/sentential semantics - syntactic units larger than a words.
The View of SPEECH Perception as Special
  Categorical Perception - is a phenomenon of perception of
distinct categories when there is a gradual change in a variable
along a continuum.
 The Motor Theory of Speech Perception - is the hypothesis that
people perceive spoken words by identifying the vocal tract
gestures with which they are pronounced rather than by
identifying the sound patterns that speech generates.
Week 15: Language in Content
Language and Thought
One of the most interesting areas in the study of language is the
relationship between language and the thinking of the human mind
(Harris, 2003). Many people believe that language shapes thoughts. It is
for this reason that the Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association places big value on political correctness in researchers’
writings. And for this reason, politicians and media use labels like
“freedom fighters” versus “terrorists,” or “surgical strikes” versus
“bombing raids”. Many different questions have been asked about the
relationship between language and thought. We consider only some of
them here. Studies comparing and contrasting users of differing languages
and dialects form the basis of this section.
Differences among Languages
As you know, different languages comprise different lexicons. They also
use different syntactical structures. These differences often reflect
variations in the physical and cultural environments in which the
languages arose and developed. For example, in terms of lexicon, the
Garo of Burma distinguish among many kinds of rice, which is
understandable because they are a rice-growing culture.
The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
The concept relevant to the question of whether language influences
thinking is linguistic relativity.
Linguistic relativity- refers to the assertion that speakers of different
languages have differing cognitive systems and that these different
cognitive systems influence the ways in which people think about the
world.
Linguistic Relativity or Linguistic Universals?
There has been some research that addresses linguistic universals—
characteristic patterns across all languages of various cultures—and
relativity. Recall from Chapter 9 that linguists have identified hundreds of
linguistic universals related to phonology (the study of phonemes),
morphology (the study of morphemes), semantics, and syntax. For
example, Chomsky would argue that deep structure applies, in its own
way, to the syntaxes of all languages.
Colors
 An area that illustrates much of this research focuses on color
names. These words provide an especially convenient way of
testing for universals. Why? Because people in every culture can
be expected to be exposed, at least potentially, to pretty much
the same range of colors.
 In actuality, different languages name colors quite differently. But
the languages do not divide the color spectrum arbitrarily. A
systematic pattern seems universally to govern color naming
across languages. Consider the results of investigations of color
terms across a large number of languages.
Verbs and Grammatical Gender Syntactical
as well as semantic structural differences across languages may affect
thought. For example, Spanish has two forms of the verb “to be”—ser and
estar. However, they are used in different contexts.
Also consider some more facts:
 Children who learn Mandarin Chinese tend to use more verbs
than nouns. In contrast, children acquiring Englishor Italian tend
to use more nouns than verbs.
 Korean-speaking children use verbs earlier than do English-
speaking children. In contrast, English-speaking children have
larger naming vocabularies earlier than do Korean-speaking
children.
Concepts - an intriguing experiment assessed the possible effects of
linguistic relativity by studying people who speak more than one
language.
Bilingualism and Dialects - Suppose a person can speak and think in two
languages.
 Bilinguals- people who can speak two languages think differently
 Monolinguals- people who can speak only one language
Language Mixtures and Change
Bilingualism is not a certain outcome of linguistic contact between
different language groups. Here are some scenarios of what can happen
when different language groups come into contact with each other:
 Sometimes when people of two different language groups are in
prolonged contact with one another, the language users of the
two groups begin to share some vocabulary that is superimposed
onto each group’s language use. This superimposition results in
what is known as a pidgin. It is a language that has no native
speakers.
 Over time, this admixture can develop into a distinct linguistic
form. It has its own grammar and hence becomes a creole.
 Modern creoles may resemble an evolutionarily early form of
language, termed protolanguage.
Dialect- is a regional variety of a language distinguished by features such
as vocabulary, syntax, and pronunciation.
 Sometimes, differing dialects are assigned different social
statuses, such as standard forms having higher status than non-
standard ones.
Linguicism or stereotype - based on dialect, may be quite widespread and
can cause many interpersonal problems.
 For example, we frequently make judgments about people’s
intelligence, competence, and morality based on the dialect they
use. Specifically, a person who uses a non-standard form may be
judged to be less educated or less trustworthy than a person who
uses a more standard form. Usually, the standard dialect is that of
the class in society that has the most political or economic power.
Virtually any thought can be expressed in any dialect.
Neuroscience and Bilingualism
Learning a second language increases the gray matter in the left inferior
parietal cortex. This density is positively correlated with proficiency. Thus,
the more proficient a person is in a second language, the denser this area
of the brain will be. Finally, a negative correlation exists between age of
acquisition and the density in the left inferior parietal cortex —the higher
the age of acquisition, the less the density. These findings suggest that
this area of the brain benefits from the learning of a second language and
that the earlier this learning occurs, the better it is both for brain density
and for overall proficiency.
Slips of the Tongue- An area of particular interest to cognitive
psychologists is how people use language incorrectly. One way of using
language incorrectly is through slips of the tongue—inadvertent linguistic
errors in what we say. They may occur at any level of linguistic analysis:
phonemes, morphemes, or larger units of language.
Various kinds of slips in the conversations
1. Anticipation- the speaker uses a language element before it is
appropriate in the sentence because it corresponds to an element
that will be needed later in the utterance. For example, instead of
saying, “an inspiring expression,” a speaker might say, “an expiring
expression.”
2. Perseveration- the speaker uses a language element that was
appropriate earlier in the sentence but that is not appropriate
later on. For example, a speaker might say, “We sat down to a
bounteous beast” instead of a “bounteous feast.”
 3. Substitution- the speaker substitutes one language element for
another. For example, you may have warned someone to do
something “after it is too late,” when you meant “before it is too
late.”
4. Reversal (also called “transposition”)- the speaker switches the
positions of two language elements. An example is the reversal
that reportedly led “flutter by” to become “butterfly.” This
reversal captivated language users so much that it is now the
preferred form. Sometimes, reversals can be fortuitously
opportune.
5. Spoonerisms- the initial sounds of two words are reversed and
make two entirely different words. The term is named after the
Reverend William Spooner, who was famous for them. Some of
his choicest slips include, “You have hissed all my mystery
lectures,” [missed all my history lectures] and “Easier for a camel
to go through the knee of an idol” [the eye of a needle].
6. Malapropism, one word is replaced by another that is similar in
sound but different in meaning (e.g., furniture dealers selling
“naughty pine” instead of “knotty pine”).
Additionally, slips may occur because of insertions of sounds (e.g.,
“mischievious” instead of “mischievous” or “drownded” instead of
“drowned”) or other linguistic elements. The opposite kind of slip involves
deletions (e.g., sound deletions such as “prossing” instead of
“processing”). Such deletions often involve blends (e.g., “blounds” for
“blended sounds”).
Metaphorical Language
Metaphor- is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to
one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or
identify hidden similarities between two ideas.
Similes- introduce the words like or as into a comparison between items
(e.g., The child was as quiet as a mouse).
Language in a Social Context
The study of the social context of language is a relatively new area of
linguistic research. One aspect of context is the investigation of
pragmatics, the study of how people use language. It includes
sociolinguistics and other aspects of the social context of language. Under
most circumstances, you change your use of language in response to
contextual cues without giving these changes much thought. Similarly,
you usually unselfconsciously change your language patterns to fit
different contexts.
 Personal Space - the distance between people in a conversation
or other interaction that is considered comfortable for members
of a given culture.
 Proxemics - is the study of interpersonal distance or its opposite,
proximity.
Speech Acts - When we communicate with others, we can use either
direct or indirect speech.
 Direct Speech Acts - An utterance is seen as a direct speech act
when there is direct relationship between the structure and the
communicative function of the utterance. ... Direct speech acts
therefore explicitly illustrate the intended meaning the speaker
has behind making that utterance.
 Indirect Speech Acts - Sometimes speech acts are indirect,
meaning that we accomplish our goals in speaking in an oblique
fashion. One way of communicating obliquely is through indirect
requests, through which we make a request without doing so
straightforwardly for example, “Won’t you please take out the
garbage?”
Types of Indirect Speech Acts There are four basic ways of
making indirect requests:
1. asking or making statements about abilities;
2. stating a desire;
3. stating a future action; and
4. citing reasons.
Searle’s Taxonomy of Speech Acts
1. Representative - A speech act by which a person conveys a belief
that a given proposition is true. The speaker can use various
sources of information to support the given belief. But the
statement is nothing more, nor less, than a statement of belief.
Qualifiers can be added to show the speaker’s degree of certainty.
2. Directive - An attempt by a speaker to get a listener to do
something, such as supplying the answer to a question.
Sometimes a directive is quite indirect. For example, almost any
sentence structured as a question probably is serving a directive
function. Any attempt to elicit assistance of any kind, however
indirect, falls into this category.
3. Commissive - A commitment by the speaker to engage in some
future course of action. Promises, pledges, contracts, guarantees,
assurances, and the like all constitute commissive
4. Expressive - A statement regarding the speaker’s psychological
state.
5. Declaration (also termed performative) - A speech act by which
the very act of making a statement brings about an intended new
state of affairs.
According to the three-part theory, indirect speech can serve three
purposes:
Plausible deniability- Imagine a policeman pulls you over when you are
driving and wants to give you a traffic ticket. By saying, “Maybe the best
thing is to take care of this right here,” you can imply that you might be
willing to pay a bribe to get off the ticket. If the policeman is inclined to
accept, he can do so. If he is not interested in the bribe, he cannot arrest
you for the attempted bribe (you hope!) because you never made an
explicit offer. You purposely were indirect in order to ensure, to the extent
possible, plausible deniability (in this case, of your attempt to bribe).
Similarly, sexual overtures are often made in an indirect way in order to
ensure deniability should the object of the overtures react negatively.
Relationship negotiation- This occurs when a person uses indirect
language because the nature of a relationship is ambiguous. For example,
one purpose of an indirect sexual overture may be plausible deniability
(the first purpose). But the overture also may be indirect to avoid
offending the targeted individual if he or she is not interested in a sexual
relationship (relationship negotiation). In this case, indirectness is a way
of helping two people mutually resolve the nature of their relationship.
Language as a digital medium of indirect as well as direct
communication- Language can serve purposes other than direct
communication. For example, suppose the emperor believes he is wearing
fine robes when he is in fact naked. A boy shouts out, “The emperor has
no clothes.” The boy is not telling the others anything they do not know—
they can see the emperor has no clothes. What he is telling them is that it
is not just they as individuals who see no clothes—everyone sees the
emperor wearing no clothes. The boy has communicated something
digitally—that all know the emperor is naked—that before was
ambiguous.
Conversational Postulates
likely to ask for help than are young boys. Older adolescent and young
adult males prefer to talk about political views, sources of personal pride,
and what they like about the other person. In contrast, females in this age
group prefer to talk about feelings toward parents, close friends, classes,
and their fears. Also, in general, women seem to disclose more about
themselves than do men. Conversations between men and women are
sometimes regarded as cross-cultural communication. Young girls and
boys learn conversational communication in essentially separate cultural
environments through their same-sex friendships. As men and women,
we then carry over the conversational styles we have learned in childhood
into our adult conversations.
 Maxim of relation - You should make your contributions to a
conversation relevant to the aims of the conversation.
 Maxim of manner - You should try to avoid obscure expressions,
vague utterances, and purposeful obfuscation of your point.
 Maxim of quantity - Make your contribution to a conversation as
informative as required but no more informative than is
appropriate.
  Maxim of quality -Your contribution to a conversation should be
truthful; you are expected to say what you believe to be the case.
Irony, sarcasm, and jokes might seem to be exceptions to the
maxim of quality, but they are not. The listener is expected to
recognize the irony or sarcasm and to infer the speaker’s true
state of mind from what is said. Similarly, a joke often is expected
to accomplish a particular purpose. It usefully contributes to a
conversation when that purpose is clear to everyone.
Neuropsychology of Language
Wernicke’s Area - posterior left hemisphere brain region. essential to
language comprehension. Damage to Wernicke's area disrupts
comprehension but spares production in terms of fluency.
Broca’s Area - anterior left hemisphere brain region. essential to language
production. Damage to Broca's area spares comprehension but disrupts
speech production, resulting in slow, labored articulation.
The Brain and Semantic Processing
The evidence comes from studies involving patients with Alzheimer’s
disease, aphasia, autism, and many other disorders. There are five brain
regions that are involved in the storage and retrieval of meaning:
 the ventral temporal lobes, including middle and inferior
temporal, anterior fusiform, and anterior Para hippocampal gyri;
 the angular gyrus;
 the anterior aspect (pars orbitalis) of the inferior frontal gyrus;
 the dorsal prefrontal cortex; and
 the posterior cingulate gyrus.
Aphasia- Is an impairment of language functioning caused by damage to
the brain.
 Wernicke’s Aphasia - is caused by damage to Wernicke’s area of
the brain It is characterized by notable impairment in the
understanding of spoken words and sentences. It also typically
involves the production of sentences that have the basic structure
of the language spoken but that make no sense.
 Broca’s Aphasia - is caused by damage to Broca’s area of the
brain. It is characterized by the production of agrammatical
speech at the same time that verbal
 Global Aphasia - Global aphasia is the combination of highly
impaired comprehension and production of speech. It is caused
by lesions to both Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas. Aphasia following
a stroke frequently involves damage to both Broca’s and
Wernicke’s areas. In one study, researchers found 32% of aphasias
immediately following a stroke involved both Broca’s and
Wernicke’s areas).
 Anomic Aphasia - involves difficulties in naming objects or in
retrieving words. The patient may look at an object and simply be
unable to retrieve the word that corresponds to the object.
Sometimes, specific categories of things cannot be recalled, such
as names of living things.
Week 16: Problem Solving and Creativity
Problem Solving Cycle
1. Problem Identification. Do we actually have a problem?
2. Definition of Problem. What exactly is our problem?
3. Constructing a strategy for problem. How can we solve the
problem?
 The strategy may involve analysis—breaking down the whole of a
complex problem into manageable elements.
 Complementary process of synthesis—putting together various
elements to arrange them into something useful. Using Divergent
and Convergent thinking.
Divergent thinking- you try to generate a diverse assortment of possible
alternative solutions to a problem.
Convergent thinking- to narrow down the multiple possibilities to
converge on a single best answer.
Four Heuristics
1. Means–ends analysis - The problem solver analyzes the problem
by viewing the end—the goal being sought —and then tries to
decrease the distance between the current position in the
problem space and the end goal in that space
2. Working forward - The problem solver starts at the beginning and
tries to solve the problem from the start to the finish.
3. Working backward - The problem solver starts at the end and
tries to work backward from there.
4. Generate and test - The problem solver simply generates
alternative courses of action, not necessarily in a systematic way,
and then notices in turn whether each course of action will work.
Isomorphic Problems
Sometimes, two problems are isomorphic; that is, their formal structure is
the same, and only their content differs. Sometimes, as in the case of the
hobbits and orcs problem and a similar missionary and cannibals’
problem, in which cannibals eat missionaries when they outnumber
them, the isomorphism is obvious. Similarly, you can readily detect the
isomorphism of many games that involve constructing words from
jumbled or scrambled letters. It often is extremely difficult to observe the
underlying structural isomorphism of problems. It is also difficult to be
able to apply problem-solving strategies from one.
Mental Sets, Entrenchment, and Fixation
One factor that can hinder problem solving is mental set—a frame of
mind involving an existing model for representing a problem, a problem
context, or a procedure for problem solving. Another term for mental set
is entrenchment. When problem solvers have an entrenched mental set,
they fixate on a strategy that normally works well in solving many
problems but that does not work well in solving this particular problem.
Functional fixedness - is the inability to realize that something known to
have a particular use may also be used for performing other functions.
Stereotypes - are beliefs that members of a social group tend more or less
uniformly to have particular types of characteristics
What Are the Characteristics of Creative People?
 Some psychologists measure creativity through divergent
production—the generation of a diverse assortment of
appropriate responses.
Divergent production - the capacity to produce novel solutions to a
problem. It is one of the abilities recognized in the structure of intellect
model.
Neuroscience and Creativity
The examination of creative thought and production has led researchers
to identify brain regions that are active during creativity. The prefrontal
regions are especially active during the creative process, regardless of
whether the creative thought is effortful or spontaneous.
In addition to the prefrontal area, other regions have also been identified
as important for creativity. In one study, participants were given a list of
words that were either semantically related or unrelated.
Week 17: Decision Making and Reasoning
Classical Decision Theory- The earliest models of how people make
decisions are referred to as classical decision theory. Most of these
models were devised by economists, statisticians, and philosophers, not
by psychologists. Hence, they reflect the strengths of an economic
perspective. One such strength is the ease of developing and using
mathematical models for human behavior.
The Model of Economic Man and Woman
Among the early models of decision making crafted in the 20th century
was that of economic man and woman. This model assumed three things:
 1. Decision makers are fully informed regarding all possible options
for their decisions and of all possible outcomes of their decision
options.
2. They are infinitely sensitive to the subtle distinctions among
decision options.
3. They are fully rational in regard to their choice of
Subjective Expected Utility Theory
An alternative model makes greater allowance for the psychological
makeup of each individual decision maker. According to subjective
expected utility theory, the goal of human action is to seek pleasure and
avoid pain. According to this theory, in making decisions, people will seek
to maximize pleasure (referred to as positive utility) and to minimize pain
(referred to as negative utility).
Heuristics and Biases
The world is full of information and stimuli of different kinds. In order to
function properly and not get overwhelmed, we need to filter out the
information we need among the many different pieces of information
available to us. The same holds true for decision making.
 Heuristics - are mental shortcuts that lighten the cognitive load of
making decisions.
 Satisficing - is a decision-making strategy that aims for a
satisfactory or adequate result, rather than the optimal solution.
 Bounded rationality - is the idea that in decision-making,
rationality of individuals is limited by the information they have,
the cognitive limitations of their minds, and the finite amount of
time they have to make a decision.
 Representativeness Heuristic - is used when making judgments
about the probability of an event under uncertainty
 Availability Heuristic - is a mental shortcut that relies on
immediate examples that come to a given person's mind when
evaluating a specific topic, concept, method or decision.
 Anchoring - or focalism is a cognitive bias where an individual
depends too heavily on an initial piece of information offered
when making decisions.
 Framing - in which the way that the options are presented
influences the selection of an option. For instance, we tend to
choose options that demonstrate risk aversion when we are faced
with an option involving potential gains.
Biases
In the next section, we discuss several biases that frequently occur when
people make decisions: illusory correlation, overconfidence, and hindsight
bias.
 Illusory Correlation - We are predisposed to see particular events
or attributes and categories as going together, even when they do
not.
 Overconfidence - Another common error is overconfidence—an
individual’s overvaluation of her or his own skills, knowledge, or
judgment.
 Hindsight Bias - a bias that can affect all of us is hindsight bias—
when we look at a situation retrospectively, we believe we easily
can see all the signs and events leading up to a particular
outcome
Fallacies
a mistaken belief, especially one based on unsound argument.
 Gambler’s fallacy - is a mistaken belief that the probability of a
given random event, such as winning or losing at a game of
chance, is influenced by previous random events.
 Conjunction Fallacy - is a formal fallacy that occurs when it is
assumed that specific conditions are more probable than a single
general one.
 Sunk-Cost Fallacy - This fallacy represents the decision to
continue to invest in something simply because one has invested
in it before and one hopes to recover one’s investment.
Naturalistic Decision Making- Many researchers contend that decision
making is a complex process that cannot be reproduced adequately in the
laboratory because real decisions are frequently made in situations where
there are high stakes. For instance, the mental state and cognitive
pressure experienced by an emergency room doctor encountering a
patient is difficult to reproduce outside a clinical setting
Group Decision Making- Groups form decisions differently than
individuals. Often, there are benefits to making decisions in groups.
However, a phenomenon called “groupthink” can occur that seriously
impairs the quality of decisions made.
Benefits of Group Decisions
Working as a group can enhance the effectiveness of decision making, just
as it can enhance the effectiveness of problem solving. Many companies
combine individuals into teams to improve decision making. By forming
decision-making teams, the group benefits from the expertise of each of
the members. There is also an increase in resources and ideas.
Groupthink- is a phenomenon characterized by premature decision
making that is generally the result of group members attempting to avoid
conflict. Groupthink frequently results in suboptimal decision making that
avoids non-traditional ideas.
Six symptoms of groupthink:
1. Closed-mindedness—the group is not open to alternative ideas.
2. Rationalization—the group goes to great lengths to justify both
the process and the product of its decision making, distorting
reality where necessary in order to be persuasive.
3. Squelching of dissent—those who disagree with the group are
ignored, criticized, or even ostracized.
4. Formation of a “mind guard” for the group—one person
appoints himself or herself the keeper of the group norm and
ensures that people stay in line.
5. Feeling invulnerable—the group believes that it must be right,
given the intelligence of its members and the information
available to them.
6. Feeling unanimous—members believe that everyone
unanimously shares the opinions expressed by the group.
Deductive Reasoning
Judgment and decision making involve evaluating opportunities and
selecting one choice over another.
Reasoning - is the process of drawing conclusions from principles and
from evidence.
In reasoning, we move from what is already known to infer a new
conclusion or to evaluate a proposed conclusion. Reasoning is often
divided into two types: deductive and inductive reasoning.
 Deductive reasoning - is the process of reasoning from one or
more general statements regarding what is known to reach a
logically certain conclusion.
 Inductive reasoning- is a method of reasoning in which the
premises are viewed as supplying some evidence for the truth of
the conclusion; this is in contrast to deductive reasoning.
is the process of reasoning from specific facts or observations to
reach a likely conclusion that may explain the facts. The inductive
reasoner then may use that probable conclusion to attempt to
predict future specific instances.
Conditional Reasoning - A form of logical reasoning based on conditional
statements or conditional propositions having the form If p, then q, in
which p is the antecedent and q is the consequent.
Causal Inferences- Is the process of drawing a conclusion about a causal
connection based on the conditions of the occurrence of an effect.
 One approach to studying inductive reasoning is to examine
causal inferences— how people make judgments about whether
something causes something else.
  one reasons to the conclusion that something is, or is likely to be,
the cause of something else. For example, from the fact that one
hears the sound of piano music, one may infer that someone is
(or was) playing a piano.

Discounting error - Once we have identified one of the suspected causes

of a phenomenon, we may commit what is known as a discounting error.

Categorical Inferences- one makes a judgment about whether something

is, or is likely to be, a member of a certain category. For example, upon
seeing an animal one has never seen before, a person with a limited
knowledge of dogs may be confident that what he is seeing is a dog but
less certain about the specific species.

Reasoning by Analogy

Inductive reasoning may be applied to a broader range of situations than

those requiring causal or categorical inferences. For example, inductive
reasoning may be applied to reasoning by analogy. Consider an example
analogy problem:

Fire is to asbestos as water is to: (a) vinyl, (b) air, (c) cotton, (d) faucet.

Reasoning by analogy- the reasoner must observe the first pair of items
(“fire” and “asbestos” in this example) and must induce from those two
items one or more relations (in this case, surface resistance because
surfaces coated with asbestos can resist fire). The reasoner then must
apply the given relation in the second part of the analogy. In the example
analogy, the reasoner chooses the solution to be “vinyl” because surfaces
coated with vinyl can resist water.