Psychology 110

Neil Lutsky, Carleton College
October 30, 2002

Class Outline: The Soft Voice of Human Reason: Thinking and Decision Making


I. Introduction: How rational an animal?

  1. Reason in expectancy value and rational choice models.
  2. The strange case of Mary Tofts.
  3. Challenges to reason.

II. Shortcomings of logical reasoning?

  1. Deductive reasoning and affirming the consequent.
  2. Inductive reasoning.
    1. Confirmation biases.
      1. Definition and demonstrations.
      2. Domain specific vs. abstract logic training.
    2. Cognitive heuristics.
      1. Representativeness.
      2. Availability.
      3. Framing.
  3. Advice from the Harvard Business Review.
  4. Encouraging critical thinking through
    explicit instruction and immersion.

III. Descriptive accounts of differences in reasoning.

  1. Piaget's model of cognitive development.
    1. Background.
    2. Four periods of cognitive development.
      1. Sensorimotor.
      2. Preoperational thought.
      3. Concrete operations.
      4. Logical operations.
  2. Perry's scheme of intellectual development:

    Dualism, Multiplicity, Relativism, Commitment.

VI. Factors in problem solving: background knowledge, mental set, motivation, and restructuring.

  1. Get properly motivated (or in the mood).
  2. Restructuring the problem: Analogies and creative thinking.