PSYC 111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Availability Heuristic, Belief Perseverance, Long-Term Memory
Document Summary
Cognition refers to the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating: we organize events, objects, people, and so form into mental groups calls concepts. Sometimes these are formed by definition (ex: a triangle has 3 sides) More often, we form a concept by developing a prototype. (robins vs. Penguins robins fit more under birds than penguins: trial and error- attempting various solutions, algorithm- methodical rule/step-by-step procedure, heuristics- unconscious mental short-cuts, insights- sudden/novel realization of a solution to a problem. Confirmation bias- search for information that confirms our ideas (even if they are not there or not true). If you believe something, you are going to find any stretch to confirm it. Fixation- inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective. Mental set- tendency to repeat solutions that have worked in the past. Availability heuristic- base our judgements on the availability of information on our memories.