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Cognition
Cognition
•Thinking, or cognition, refers to a process that
involves knowing, understanding,
remembering, and communicating.
•Metacognition

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 Our concept of

What is thought?
men may include
all of the following
guys….

Based upon…
• Concepts -- Mental
grouping of similar
objects, events, ideas, or
people…

Form concepts from

1. Mental Images
2. Prototype
But they are based
(typical example) on our prototypes.
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Ideal male...
Category Hierarchies
•We organize concepts into category hierarchies.
•Part of our Schemata.

Courtesy of Christine Brune

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Problem Solving
Problem solving strategies include:

1. Trial and Error

2. Algorithms
3. Heuristics
4. Insight

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A B C

Tower of Hanoi Problem 7

 Algorithms
• Exhaust all possibilities
• Guarantee the right
solution to a problem.
• Usually by using a
formula. (Computers)
• They work but are
sometimes impractical
(very time consuming)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0xgjUhEG3U

SPLOYOCHYG 8
Heuristics
•A rule of thumb/
principle that
generally can be
used to make a
judgment or solve a
problem.
• It is fast, but is…
• Prone to errors
• Two major types of
heuristics….

PSYCHOLOGY 9
Representative Heuristic
Who went to Harvard?
This guy did not go to
Harvard (but he looks like
he did).
•Judging the likelihood
of things or objects in
terms of how well they
seem to represent, or
match, a particular
prototype.

• Like thinking everyone

from FC is a prep, NA is
ghetto, and NH is a hick
•If I tell you that Sonia Dara is a Sports Illustrated
swimsuit model, you would make certain quick • or someone with glasses
judgments (heuristics) about her…like about her is nerdy,
interests or intelligence. • or a blonde is not smart.
•She is an economics major at Harvard University.
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Availability Heuristic
Which place would you be more scared of
getting mugged or even murdered?
• Judging a situation
based on examples of
similar situations
that initially come to
mind.
• Vivid examples in
the news often
The Bronx, NY

cause an availability
heuristic.
Gary, IN
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_wkv1Gx2vM

The crime rate (per capita) of Gary, Indiana is

MUCH higher than the Bronx. But when you
think of crime, which town comes to mind? 11
 Insight
•Insight involves a
sudden novel
realization of a
solution to a problem.
•Humans and animals
have insight.
•Brain imaging and
EEG studies suggest
that when an insight Grande using boxes to
strikes (the “Aha” obtain food
experience), it
activates the right
temporal cortex
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Class Activity
• Exercise:
The Human Knot

• Incentive:
Candy!
Obstacles in Solving Problems

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Mental set
• a.k.a. rigidity
• The tendency to fall
into established
thought patterns.
• Some examples
are….

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Fixation

•An inability to see a problem from a fresh

perspective.
•An example of fixation is functional fixedness
(inability to see a new use for an object).

The Matchstick
Problem: How would
you arrange six
matches to form four
equilateral triangles?
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The Matchstick Problem: Solution

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Candle-Mounting Problem
Using these materials, how would you mount the
candle on a bulletin board?

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Candle-Mounting Problem: Solution

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 ?

Problem: Tie the two ropes together.

Use a screw driver, cotton balls and a matchbox.
The Nine-Dot problem
•Connect all 9 dots.

•Use only 4 lines.

•Do not lift your pencil from

the page after you begin
drawing.
Confirmation Bias
• We look for
evidence to confirm
our beliefs and
ignore evidence that
contradicts them.
• Forexample, if one
believes that all Look…I knew it was true!!!
Italians are in shape But is it really?

and go tanning, then

they turn on MTV.
2–4–6

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 Framing
• 90% of the population will
be saved with this
medication…..or
• The way a problem is
• 10% of the population will die
despite this medication. presented can
drastically effect the
way we view it.
• You should not drink more
than two drinks per
day….or
• You should not drink more
than 730 drinks a year.

What is the best way to market

ground beef — as 25% fat or
75% lean?
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Heuristics can lead to Overconfidence…
•A tendency to
overestimate the
accuracy of our beliefs
and judgments.

• Belief Perseverance-
maintaining a belief even
after it has been proven
wrong.

• Belief Bias- People will

tend to accept any and all
conclusions that fit in
with their systems of
belief, without challenge
or any deep consideration
of what they are actually
agreeing with.
Exaggerated Fear 26
CREATIVITY
• Almost impossible to
define.
• Some correlation
between creativity
and intelligence.
• Convergent
Thinking versus
Divergent Thinking

Think of as many uses as

you can for a …… Divergent Macgyver
thinking

Mythbusters 27
Language

Our spoken, written, or gestured work, is the way

we communicate meaning to ourselves and others.
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All languages contain….
Phonemes Morphemes

• The smallest units of • The smallest unit of

sound in a language. meaningful sound.
• English has about 44 • Can be words like a or
phonemes. but.
• Can also be parts of
words like prefixes or
suffixes…”ed” at the
end of a word means
past tense.

Unforgettable = un · for · get · table 29

Structuring Language

Phonemes Basic sounds (about 44) … ea, sh.

Smallest meaningful units (100,000)

Morphemes … un, for.

Meaningful units (290,500) … meat,

Words pumpkin.

Composed of two or more words

Phrase (326,000) … meat eater.

Composed of many words (infinite)

Sentence … She opened the jewelry box.

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Grammar
• The rules of a
language.
• Syntax: the order of
words in a language.
• Semantics: the set of
rules by which we
derive meaning from
morphemes, words,
Is this the White and sentences.
House or the House • Ex: adding –ed to the word
White?
laugh

Language Failure
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Language Acquisition
Stages that we learn language…
1.Babbling Stage (ah-goo) – 4
months
2.Holophrastic Stage (one word
stage – doggy) – 1 year
3.Telegraphic Speech Stage (2
word stage -- “Go car”) –
before 2 years old
• Syntax Understanding
• Overgeneralization -- rules
• Overextension -- concepts

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How do we learn language?

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Social Learning Theory

• B.F.Skinner from the

Behaviorist School
• Baby may imitate a
parent.
• If they are
reinforced they keep
saying the word.
• Ifthey are punished,
they stop saying the
word.

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Noam Chomsky’s Theory
(Nativist theory)
• We learn language
too quickly for it to
be through
reinforcement and
punishment.
• Inbornuniversal
language acquisition
device

The Girl in the Window

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 Critical Period Hypothesis for
Language Development
• Childhood is a critical period for fully
developing certain aspects of language.
Children never exposed to any language
(spoken or signed) by about age 7 gradually
lose their ability to master any language.

Genie
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thIDCL3NClQ

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Critical Period
Learning new languages gets harder with age.

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Genes, Brain, & Language
•Genes design the mechanisms for a
language, and experience modifies the brain.

Michael Newman/ Photo Edit, Inc.

Eye of Science/ Photo Researchers, Inc.

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Benjamin Whorf’s
Linguistic Relativity/ Determinism
• The idea that
language determines
the way we think.
• TheHopi tribe has
no past tense in
their language, so
Whorf says they
rarely think of the
past.

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 Do Animals Think?
Common cognitive skills
in humans and apes
include the following:

1. Concept Formation
2. Insight
3. Problem Solving
4. Culture
African grey parrot sorts red
5. Theory of Mind? and blue blocks and balls.

CNN video
Object Permanence
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Insight
Chimpanzees show insightful behavior when
solving problems.

Sultan uses sticks to get food. 43

Problem Solving

Apes are, much like us, shaped by

reinforcement when solving problems.

Termites Fishing

Hammer & Anvil

Chimpanzee fishing for ants.

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Animal Culture
Animals display customs and culture that are learned and
transmitted over generations.
Cooperation & Imitation
Chimps vs Children

Dolphins using sponges as Chimpanzee mother using and

forging tools. teaching a young how to use
a stone hammer. 45
 Do animals use language?

• Washoe (chimp) 181 Signs (ASL) by 32

•Kanzi uses Lexigram (300 +) – phrases & semantics –
Novel Sentences
•Limited Vocabulary & Lack Syntax Understanding
CNN video
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=V1vcyoh0_ew

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Section 5- Learning Goal Five: Discuss the importance of cognitive reappraisal with respect
to stress.

• Cognitive appraisal is an individual’s interpretation of events in their lives as harmful,

threatening, or challenging and their determination of whether they have the resources to
cope effectively with the events.
• Coping is a kind of problem solving.
• In the case of primary appraisal, individuals interpret whether an event involves harm or
loss that has already occurred, a threat of some future danger, or a challenge to overcome.
• In the case of secondary appraisal, individuals evaluate their resources and determine how
effectively they can be used to cope with the event. It is considered secondary because it
both comes after primary appraisal and depends on the degree to which an event is
appraised as harmful, threatening, or challenging.

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Cognitive Reappraisal
• To reinterpret an experience or to think about it in a different way means that we are
cognitively reappraising the situation.

• Research has shown that reappraising an event can change the way we feel about the
situation and can also change the brain activity linked to the experience.

• Benefit finding means looking at a stressful event and focusing on the good that has arisen
in one’s life as a result of that event.

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