Concepts:

Concepts are generalized ideas.

Concepts identify similarities among a
number of different stimuli or situation.
Concepts maybe simple or complex,
concrete or abstract. Concepts enable us
to identify objects or events more
clearly.
The Identification of
concepts:
• Person must determine which attributes are
relavant.
• Conservative Focusing, as a strategy that
involves altering one feature at a time.
Types Of Concepts:
Conjunctive concept : The simplest and most common
concept. It is defined by several characteristics that
must all be present for an object to fit the class

Disjunctive concept : defined in terms of one

characteristics or another, that is, the class of objects
must contain one of a group of qualities it need not
contain all.
Types of Concepts:
• Concepts may also be classified as classical or
probabilistic.
Example of classical Example of Probabilistic
concept is "BACHELOR" Concept is "BIRD"
Four major approaches to
understanding concept
formationTheory:
Association : The proponents of this theory
state that each time we see
H
a representative of the
concept, we are exposed to all of its stimulus
characteristics and thus tend to form associations
between the concept name and all the qualities.
Hypothesis Testing Theory : According to this
theory, we form hypotheses about the concept on
the basis of the examples we have seen, and we
test these hypothesis with new information.

Gestalt Approach : A child can, to some extent,

shorten the tedious process of strengthening
perceptual impression of the class of objects.
Information Processing Approach : This
approach combines all the other approaches. The
individual must first use the relevant information,
recognize the various characteristics, organize
them in some way, and then abstract the essential
elements from the larger array. Information
processing theory attempts to apply models of how
a computer works or how computer might deal
with information to human thinking.
Strategies for Concept Formation :
ALGORITHM : a procedure that will eventually
produce a solution if one exists.
HEURISTIC : is a short-cut; rather than relying on
pure trial and error or a slow systematic method such
as an algorithm, the individual tries to find the key to
the problem quickly.
• Some specific heuristics that people use
are scanning and focusing.

SCANNING : consists of forming a

hypothesis and then testing it by
scanning all of the relevant instances.
Problem Solving :
Concept formation is a special case of a more
general kind of thinking that is usually called
Problem solving : There are many different
kinds of problems but we usually judge that a
person is faced with a problem if the following
characteristics are present.
• There is some initial state.
• There is some goal state that is different
from the initial state and which the guessor
wishes to achieve.
• The actions that are necessary to
convert the initial state into the goal
state are not immediately obvious.
POLYA'S STAGES INFORMATION PROCESSING
INFORMATION:
Understanding Encode the Problem
the Problem in Working Memory

Search long-term
Devising a Plan
memory for plan or
production system
 Execute the
Carrying out the Plan
Production system

Evaluate the
Looking Back
Results
Kinds of Problems :
Arrangment Problems: require that a group
of elements be arranged or recombined in a
way that will satisfy a certain criterion. There
are several possible arrangments but only one
or a few will produce a solution.
Inducing Structure : a person must identify
the relations that exist among the elements
presented and construct a new relationship
among them.
Transformation Problem : consist of an
initial state, a goal state, and a series of
methods for changing the initial state into the
goal state.
Problem solving involves
certain phenomena :
1. Rigidity - refers to the fact that people often fail
to see adequate solutions for problems because they
fixate on only one way of moving the problem.

Two kinds of rigidity

- Response set and Perceptual set
2. Incubation and insight : refers to the increase in
likelihood of solving a problem that results from
placing a delay or rest between periods of works in
problem solving.

3. Satisfying : for example Simon of Carnegie

Mellon University observed that when people
make such decisions, they satisfy rather than
maximize or optimize.
Theories of Problem Solving :
Most Popular theory of problem solving involving
computer simulation is the General Problem Solver
(GPS for short) developed by Newell, Show, and Simon
at Carnegie Mellon University.
The GPS assumes that the problem space consist of a set
of nodes, each node corresponding to a state of knowledge
about the problem.
Wickelgreen's Theory of Problem
Solving with solution that consists of a
sequence of allowable actions or
(States) that lead from the initial goal
to goal state can be represented by a
diagram Wickelgreen, calls a state
action tree.
Number of possible states Initial State level
0
1

2 1

6 2

13 3
Goal
Reasoning as Problem
Solving
When we use: the term reasoning we are concerned
with the thinking involved in determining whether
or not one proposition follows logically from
another and not focusing on a solution to a problem.
When we reason we are attempting to determine the
validity of an argument or an idea.
Obstacles in Reasoning:
• Atmosphere effect
• Halo effect
• Logical fallacies

• Sets
Decision Making :
Decision making is a form of problem
solving of practical importance at life's
crucial junctions. (kreach et al, 1982).
• Normative
• Descriptive
Factors influencing Effective
Thinking :
1. Level of intelligence
2. Difficulty of the problem
3. Past experiences
4. Functional fixedness
5. Motivation
6. Freedom from stress or anxiety
Suggestions to improve thinking :
1. Avoid biases, prejudice, and false beliefs.
2. Be open minded
3. Avoid making hasty decisions
4. Take a break when you come to a dead end.
5. Use precise language
6. Do not blurr your thinking with strong emotions