What is thinking ?
"The manipulation of mental representations
of information". This is the broad and scientific approach
to defining this mental process. What thinking does according
to this definition is to transform the representation of
information into a new and different form for the purpose of
answering a question, solving a problem, or aiding in reaching
a goal.
Concepts: Categorizations of objects,
events, or people that share common properties
Artificial concepts: Concepts that are
clearly defined by a unique set of properties or features
Natural concepts: Concepts that are defined
by a set of general, relatively loose characteristic feature
such as prototypes
Prototype: Typical , highly representative
examples of a concept
The importance of concepts lies in their ability
to allow us to think about and understand more readily the complex,
intricate world in which we live in. For example, the judgments
we make about the reasons for other people’s behavior are
based on the way we classify their behavior. Hence, our person
who washes her hands twenty times a day could vary, depending
on whether we place her behavior with in the conceptual framework
of a health care worker or a mental patient.
Decision making is among the most complex forms
of thinking.
Deductive reasoning : A reasoning process
whereby inferences and implications are drawn from a set of
assumptions and applied to specific cases
Syllogism: A technique in deductive reasoning,
in which a series of two assumptions are used to derive a conclusion.
Inductive reasoning: A reasoning process
whereby a general rule is inferred from specific cases, using
observation, knowledge and experience
Three major steps in problem solving:
Representing the problem - A crucial
aspect of the initial encounter with the problem is the way
in which we represent it to ourselves and organize the information
presented to us.
Well defined - both nature of the
problem and information needed to solve the problem are
available and clear.
Ill defined- the specific nature
of the problem is unclear and the information required to
solve the problem may even be less obvious.
Kinds of problems
Arrangement problems: problems whose
solution requires the rearrangement of a group of elements in
order to satisfy a certain criterion.
1. Anagrams Rearrange the letters in each
set to make an English word.
EFCTA
IAENV
BODUT
LIVAN
IKCTH
Problems of inducing structure: Problems
whose solution requires the identification of existing relationships
among elements presented so as to construct a new relationship
among them.
What number comes next in the series?
1 4 2 4 3 4 4 4 5 4 6 4__
Transformation problems: Problems to
be solved using a series of methods to change an initial state
into a goal state.
1. Water jars: A person has three jars having
the following capacities:
Jar A: 28 L.
Jar B: 7 L
Jar C: 5 L
How can the person measure exactly 11 L
of water?
Generating solutions-
Trial and Error - trying out all possible
combinations until a solution is reached.
Algorithm: is a set of rules that, if
followed, guarantee a solution, though the reason they work
may not be understood by the person using them.
Heuristic: A rule of thumb that may bring
about a solution to a problem but is not guaranteed to do so.
Means ends analysis: Repeated testing
to determine and reduce the distance between the desired
outcome and what currently exists in problem solving.
Subgoals: A commonly used heuristic
to divide a problem into intermediate steps and to solve
each one of them.
Representative heuristic: A rule
in which people and things are judged by the degree to
which they represent a certain category.
Availability heuristic: A rule
for judging the probability that an event will occur by
the ease with which it can be recalled from memory
Insight: Sudden awareness of the relationships
among the various elements that had previously appeared to be
independent of one another.
Judgment: Evaluating the solutions based
on the adequacy in meeting the demands of the problem
Impediments in Problem solving
Functional Fixedness: The tendency to
think of an object in terms of its most typical use
Mental sets: The tendency for old patterns
of problem solving to persist.
Confirmation bias: A bias in problem
solving favoring an initial hypothesis and disregarding contradictory
information suggesting alternative solutions.
Language
The systematic, meaningful arrangement of symbols,
not only essential to communication but shows clues on how we
think.
Grammar: the framework of rules that
determine how our thoughts can be expressed
Phonomes- the smallest units of sound
used to form words
Syntax- the rules that indicate how
words are joined to form sentences
Semantics- The rules governing the meaning
of words and sentences
Language Development
Babble: speechlike but meaningless sounds
Telegraphic speech: Sentences containing
only the most essential words
Overregularization: Applying rules of
speech in instances in which they are inappropriate
Language Acquisition Theories
Learning theory approach: Language acquisition
follows the principle of reinforcement and conditioning.
Innate mechanism: According to Noam Chomsky,
the innate linguistic capability in humans that emerges as a
function of maturation.
Universal grammar: An underlying
structure shared by all languages, the basis of Chomsky’s
theory that certain language characteristics are based in
the brain’s structure and are therefore common to all
people
Language acquisition device: A neural
system of brain hypothesized to permit understanding of
language.
Does thought determine language or does
language determine thoughts?
Linguistic relativity hypothesis: The
theory claiming that language shapes and may even determine
the way people perceive and understand the world
