Thinking, problem solving and intelligence
Introduced| English |
|---|
| availability heuristic/əˌveɪləˈbɪlɪti hjuːˈrɪstɪk/ |
| representativeness heuristic/ˌreprɪˈzentətɪvnəs hjuːˈrɪstɪk/ |
A decision before an answer
- A heuristic is fast because it skips information; the same shortcut that saves time produces predictable errors.
- Your goal: Distinguish concepts, schemas and scripts as representations.
Represent the knowledge
- Concepts group instances; natural concepts have fuzzy boundaries organised around prototypes, so a robin is a "better" bird than a penguin and is verified faster.
- Schemas are organised knowledge structures about domains; scripts are schemas for event sequences. Schemas guide encoding and also distort recall toward the expected.
After heavy news coverage of plane crashes, a person judges air travel deadlier than driving. This best illustrates:
Vivid, easily recalled examples inflate the judged frequency.
Trade speed for certainty
- An algorithm guarantees a solution by exhaustive rule; heuristics trade certainty for speed. Availability estimates frequency by ease of recall, so vivid events are overestimated. Representativeness judges by similarity to a prototype and neglects base rates.
- Anchoring drags estimates toward an initial number. Framing changes choices between logically equivalent descriptions, and confirmation bias seeks only supporting evidence.
A quiet, bookish stranger is judged more likely to be a librarian than a farmer, although farmers vastly outnumber librarians. The error is:
Similarity to the librarian prototype overrides the low base rate of librarians.
Unstick the problem
- Problem solving fails in characteristic ways: functional fixedness (objects only in usual roles), mental set (old solutions to new problems), and missing insight restructuring.
- Means-end analysis reduces the difference to the goal; working backward suits problems with a clear goal state.
Estimating plane crashes as commoner than car deaths after news coverage is the availability heuristic. Judging a quiet bookish stranger more likely a librarian than a farmer, despite far more farmers, is representativeness neglecting base rates. Using a candle only as a candle, not as part of a shelf, is functional fixedness.
A schema for an ordered event sequence, such as visiting a restaurant, is called a ____.
Scripts are event-sequence schemas.
Weigh intelligence claims
- Intelligence theories differ on structure: Spearman's general factor g, Cattell's fluid versus crystallised abilities, Gardner's multiple intelligences, Sternberg's triarchic analysis.
- Test interpretation follows the psychometrics of earlier units: scores are reliable for prediction within their validation samples, but a score measures performance on the test, not a fixed essence.
Calling a heuristic an error in itself; heuristics are efficient defaults whose costs are predictable. Do not equate a test score with a fixed measure of worth or potential.
Which answer fits this case?
Distinguish concepts, schemas and scripts as representations
An algorithm trades speed for a guaranteed solution when one exists.
The trade runs the other way: algorithms guarantee the solution at the cost of time; heuristics are fast but not guaranteed.
Keep the distinctions
- availability heuristic 可得性启发式 — Estimating frequency or likelihood by how easily examples come to mind.
- representativeness heuristic 代表性启发式 — Judging probability by similarity to a prototype, neglecting base rates.
- Distinguish concepts, schemas and scripts as representations.
- Compare algorithms, heuristics and their characteristic biases.
- Evaluate intelligence theories and what test scores support.
Match each term with its precise meaning in this lesson.
Keep the distinctions stated in the teaching example.
Put this lesson’s reasoning or event sequence in order.
The order follows the stated process; check each stage before the next.