What is “Thinking”?

Forming ideas Drawing conclusions Expressing thoughts Comprehending the thoughts of others

Where does it occur?Distributed throughout brainProblem solving and decision making: prefrontal cortex

© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Building Blocks of Thought

Mental ImagePreviously stored sensory experiences: visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, motor, or gustatory imagery

LanguageForm of communication using sounds and symbols combined according to rules

ConceptsMental representation of a group or category that shares similar characteristics (dog, camping, rivers)

© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

How do we develop

concepts? WILEY VIDEODrive Brain

Power

Three Strategies for Learning Concepts

Artificial Concepts(also called formal concepts)The rules are sharply defined (square). Often used in science

Hierarchies

Grouping concepts as subcategories within broader concepts

© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Natural Concepts/prototypes

The BEST example or typical representative of that concept

Problem Solving: Three Steps to the Goal

Preparation

Identify facts Separate relevant

from irrelevant facts

Define ultimate goal

Evaluation

Evaluate the solutions generated in Step 2 to see if they match criteria—if yes, problem solved! If not, return to production stage

© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Production

AlgorithmsLogical, step-by-step procedure that will always produce a solutionHeuristicsA simple rule/shortcut that does not guarantee a solution but narrows alternatives

More About Heuristics

Working Backward

Start with the solution, which is KNOWN, and work backward through the problem. The steps are then revealed.

Creating Subgoals

Breaking down a large complex problem into a series of small subgoals. The subgoals are stepping stones to the larger goal.

© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Means-end Analysis

The problem solver determines what would reduce the difference between what the state is NOW and the GOAL.

Barriers to Problem Solving

Mental SetPersisting in using problem-solving strategies that have worked in the past rather than trying new ones.

© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Practice overcoming mental sets!

Functional FixednessTendency to think of an object functioning only in its usual or customary way

© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Barriers to Problem Solving

Barriers to Problem Solving

Preferring information that confirms PREEXISTING positions or beliefs, while ignoring or discounting contradictory evidence.

A student who is going to write a research paper may primarily search for information that would confirm his or her beliefs. The student may fail to search for or fully consider information that is inconsistent with his or her beliefs.

A reporter who is writing an article on an important issue may only interview experts that support her or his views on the issue.

An employer who believes that a job applicant is highly intelligent may pay attention only to information that is consistent with the belief that the job applicant is highly intelligent.

© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Confirmation Bias

Barriers to Problem Solving

Availability heuristicJudging the likelihood or probability of an event based on how readily available the other instances of the event are in memory.

People who read more case studies of successful businesses may judge the probability of running a successful business to be greater.

Representativeness HeuristicEstimating the probability of something based on how well the circumstances match (or represent) our previous prototype

If I meet three people from a company and they are all aggressive, I will assume that the company has an aggressive culture and that most other people from that firm will also be aggressive.

© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Creativity: Elements of Creative Thinking

© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ability to produce valued outcomes in a novel way

Thinking and Creativity

Divergent ThinkingIn 5 minutes, how many words can you make from the letters in hippopotamus?

Thinking that produces many alternatives from a single starting point; a major element of creativity

Convergent ThinkingDetermining the best answer to a multiple- choice question.

Narrowing down alternatives to converge on a single correct answer

© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.