According to the Gestalt approach, what are the possible obstacles for solving insight problems? Give an example of each.
what is..
Mental state: to see things in a certain way instead of in another equally plausible way. Ex: ways to solve a physics problem; how to measure a building (shadows, drop a penny and calculate how long it took to hit the ground, lower a rope down then measure the rope, etc.)
Functional fixedness: to see objects only in the terms of their intended use. Ex: pencil seen only as a writing utensil and could be used to point, push a tiny button, as a weapon, etc.
100
When you deny the antecedent it is considered what?
What is..
Invalid and/or Logical Fallacy
100
Is inductive reasoning more “specific to general” or “general to specific”?
What is..
specific to general
100
What is the definition of the utility theory?
What is..
We choose the options that maximize benefits and minimize costs.
100
What is the difference between abstract and concrete?
What is..
Abstract terms refer to ideas or concepts; they have no physical referents.
Concrete terms refer to objects or events that are available to the senses.
200
What is the difference between well-defined problems and ill-defined problems? Give an example of each.
What is..
Well-defined problems: have a correct answer; certain procedures, when applied correctly will lead to a solution. Ex: algebra problems
Ill-defined problems: occur frequently in everyday life, do not necessarily have one “correct” answer, and the path to the solution is unclear. Ex: relationship problems, picking a career path, etc.
200
Name the type of syllogism that corresponds with each example.
If P, then Q.
P.
Therefore Q.
All A are B.
All B are C
Therefore, all A are C
What is..
Conditional Syllogisms; Categorical Syllogisms
200
what are the three types of Heuristics in reasoning, and provided some information on the three.
What is..
Availability heuristic, events are judged as more likely if they easily come to mind.
Representative heuristic, an individual categorizes a situation based on a pattern of previous experiences or beliefs about the scenario.
Anchoring & adjustment heuristic, reflects the degree to which the initial judgment about an event or situation prohibits one from deviating from that position regardless of new Information to the contrary
200
The vacation experiment made the participant decide whether or not to purchase a vacation package. How did the result differ as the students passed, failed or had to wait two days?
What is..
The participants were more likely to buy the vacation if they knew the score. If the student had to wait for the exam score, then they rather buy the 5$ nonrefundable fee and wait until they knew to make a decision. 55-60% would buy if they knew and only 30% would buy it if they had to wait.
200
Yes or no, are the following arguments valid?
1. Affirming the consequent
2. Denying the consequent
3. Affirming the antecedent
4. Denying the antecedent
What is..
no, yes, yes, no
300
According to the gestalt approach, what are the two types of thinking? Explain them and give an example of each.
What is..
Reproductive thinking: old behaviors that are used to solve problems. Ex: you know how to play tic tac toe from playing it a lot as a child.
Productive thinking: exhibiting structural understanding of problem; requires knowledge of the bigger picture and underlying structure. Ex: you know how to play the numbers game because it has the same underlying structure of tic tac toe.
300
If life exists on Mars, then Mars has an atmosphere.
Mars has an atmosphere.
Ergo, life exists on Mars. Is this valid? Why or why not?
What is..
Invalid (Affirming the consequent)
300
Give an example of inductive reasoning.
What is..
All turtles I've seen are green, therefore all turtles are green. Etc.
300
The more alternatives experiment wanted to see if number of alternatives influence decision making. What was the method and results?
What is..
Method- Participants asked to consider purchasing a CD player in scenario a or b.
Two scenarios
a.
I. A popular, discounted Sony
II. Waiting to learn about other models
b.
I. A popular, discounted Sony
II. A top-of-the-line, discounted Aiwa
III. Waiting to learn about other models
In scenario a 65% of the participants bought the Sony. And in scenario b participants would wait to buy it (44%) rather than the Sony (28%) or the Aiwa (28%).
Results indicate that we prefer to wait when we are given more options.
300
What is logical validity?
What is..
An argument is valid if its conclusion logically follows from the preceding statements.
400
Explain the Insight experiment, its results and the interpretation of the results.
What is..
Participants were asked to solve two types of problems (insight problems and algebra problems). They were also asked to rate their progress every 15 seconds from 1-7. (1=not even close, 7= almost solved and/or solved).
Results- the algebra problems had steady progress all the way through to the solution. The insight problems jumped dramatically from 3 to 7.
Interpretation- insight problems require a different type of thinking than algebra problems. The participants had an “Aha!” experience when they figured out the problem because it just sort of jumped out at them. Whereas for the algebra problems participants knew how far they were from the solution based on the steps they had to follow in order to solve the problem.
400
What was the “real-life” Wason card experiment and what did the results show us about the context of a situation and how it effects a persons ability to logically evaluate that situation?
What is..
Participants were given the traditional Watson card task, then given the more “realistic” Watson card task. Results showed that the realistic task scored significantly higher than the regular or more abstract Watson card task. The context of the situation changed the participants' abilities to logically evaluate the situation.
400
explain how inductive reasoning is used in psychological research.
What is..
Scientists have an idea of something to study more in depth. Then they go and collect data through experiments observations or surveys. With all of the data in hand, they analyze it to draw out conclusions.
400
What was the method and result of the framing experiment?
What is..
The experiment gave the participant two options; definitive and risky. Both got framed with either gains or losses and then compared.
When the wording is positive (gain) the definitive option was picked at 72% and the risky option was 28%.
When the wording was negative (loss) the risky option got the higher score with 78% compared to definitive 22%.
400
Give 5 tips for better problem- solving.
What is..
sleep, reduce WM load, follow systematic plan, develop subgoals, search for relations among problems, work backwards, find a different problem representation, draw inferences, practice, etc.
500
Explain the Sleep Experiment, its results and the interpretation of the results.
What is..
The participants were asked to record a single number at the end of a number sequence. The numbers were 4 9 1. The number that was being asked to be recorded was the number that was missing from the group. 4 _ 9 _1 _... There were three groups ( Day-time wakefulness, Nocturnal wakefulness, and Nocturnal sleep). They were taught the rules and then asked to come back in 8 hours to take it.
Results- the participants who slept out-performed the other two groups. The people who were up all night performed the same as the people who had a full nights rest but did the experiment later in the evening and had an average day.
Interpretations- people had gained better insight when they were asleep for 8 hours than the people who had the distracted 8 hour gap.
500
What was the procedure for the belief bias experiment and what did the results show about validity?
What is..
Procedure- Participants shown different combos of valid/invalid statements (some true & some false)
Results: Believable were more likely to be seen as valid compared to non-believable statements for both valid AND invalid statements.
500
A fear of flying is more common than fear of riding in cars. Travelling by car is 500x more dangerous than flying. Why is this?
What is..
When a plane crashes it is front page news and becomes a big deal but car accidents generally go unnoticed by the public. In thinking about risks, people use the availability heuristic and use past events to guide their judgments.
500
Explain the predicting emotions experiment with procedure and results.
What is..
The participants was given 5$ and then had to rate their happiness. Based on a coin flip, they would either gain 5$ or lose 3$. Before the coin flip, participants predicted their new happiness level for each scenario.
The result shows that happiness grows as we win and decrease as we lose but that the participants predicted a bigger change in happiness then the actual result. It was not accurate at all and the negative feeling was way overestimated.
500
Explain the procedure and results to the tumor experiment.
What is..
Procedure- there were 3 conditions: 1. Tumor problem only 2. Tumor problem + fortress passage 3. Tumor problem + fortress passage + told that the passage would help in solving the tumor problem
Results- 10% of people solved the problem without the 2nd passage; 30% of people solved the problem with the 2nd passage but no further instruction; 75% of people solved the problem when told to use the 2nd passage to solve it