Thinking and Problem Solving

Fact #1

• The brain is awesome – and we know nothing about it

No, but really… there are reasons she will be forever alone.

Girl’s got some moves?

How is all that possible – and you can speak and pick up a pencil “…

without thinking about it?”

The Cognitive Niche – Steven Pinker (Harvard)

• Three key ideas to note1. Computation

2. Evolution – (genetic survival)

3. Specialization

1. Computation

• The function of the brain is information processing

• Problem: What is intelligence, and how can a hunk of matter (such as a brain) achieve it?

• Intelligence = pursuit of goals by inference (knowledge of logic, statistics and cause/effect)

• Romeo and Juliet:– Goal = “touch Juliet’s lips”

Romeo’s Inference =

“ If C is between A and B, they cannot touch. If A goes over C, C is no longer between A and B. Therefore, to touch Juliet’s lips, go over the wall…”

How computation works in the brain:

• Goals and knowledge are information: they are represented as patterns in bits of matter in the system.

• System is designed so that one representation causes another, and the changes mirror the laws of logical or statistical inference

In other words…

• Romeo’s going to go over the wall because his brain made it possible due to his intellectually based cognition, or his inference

Evolution and Specialization

2. Evolution: already covered in Behavior Genetics chapter

• What’s the argument for evolution in how our brains work?

3. Specialization: a “theory of everything” doesn’t exist

• Specific parts of the body have specific functions that have evolved over time

In other words…

• We have specialization because every different type of problem requires a different tool for solving

– Cognition problem solving?– Heart-based problem solving?– Nervous system based problem solving

The limits of Human Intuition

A man bought a horse for $60 and sold it for $70. Then he bought the same horse back for $80 and again sold it, for $90. How much money did he make in the horse business?

Super simple, right?• Most common answer: $10

– You actually make $20

• How do you do it?

• Comparing total amount paid out with total amount taken in (160-140=20)

• Most American college students answer incorrectly

• Most German banking executives get it wrong

Let’s try again

A man bought a horse for $60 and sold it for $70. Then he bought firewood for $80 and then sold it, for $90. How much money did he make?

Information processing model

• Organize items into mental groupings– Called concepts

• Form concepts from prototypes– Representative of the most typical member of

a category

• Complex concepts = schemas

How do you give someone directions?What mental processes do you go through?

Let’s try some more logic puzzles

All members of the cabinet are thieves. No composer is a member of the cabinet.

What conclusion can you draw? Is there one?

• Yes! There is a valid conclusion– Some thieves are not composers or there are

thieves who are not composers

How about another…

Some archaeologists, biologists, and chess players are in a room. None of the archaeologists are biologists. All of the biologists are chess players. What follows? What conclusions can you draw?

• Pinker found that most people will say that none of the archaeologists are chess players – not valid

• What is valid is to say that some chess players are not archaeologists.