Deductive reasoning—reasoning from the general to the specific.Inductive reasoning—reasoning from the specific to the general.Hindrances to problem solving may include:- Mental sets—barriers to problem solving that occur when we apply only methods
that have worked in the past rather than trying new or different strategies. - Functional fixedness—when we are not able to recognize novel uses for an object
because we are so familiar with its common use. - Cognitive illusion—systematic way of thinking that is responsible for an error in
judgment. - Availability heuristic—a tendency to estimate the probability of certain events in
terms of how readily they come to mind. - Representativeness heuristic—tendency to judge the likelihood of things accord-
ing to how they relate to a prototype. - Framing—the way an issue is stated. How an issue is framed can significantly affect
decisions and judgments. - Anchoring effect—tendency to be influenced by a suggested reference point,
pulling our response toward that point. - Confirmation bias—tendency to notice or seek information that already supports
our preconceptions and ignore information that refutes our ideas. - Belief perseverance—the tendency to hold onto a belief after the basis for the belief
is discredited. - Belief bias—the tendency for our preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning,
making illogical conclusions seem valid or logical conclusions seem invalid. - Hindsight bias—the tendency to falsely report, after the event, that we correctly
predicted the outcome of the event. - Overconfidence bias—the tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and
judgments.
Overcoming obstacles to problem solving can include:- Creativity—the ability to think about a problem or idea in new and unusual ways
to come up with unconventional solutions. - Incubation—putting aside a problem temporarily; allows the problem solver to
look at the problem from a different perspective. - Brainstorming—generating lots of possible solutions to a problem without making
prior evaluative judgments. - Divergent thinking—thinking that produces many alternatives or ideas.
- Convergent thinking—conventional thinking directed toward a single correct
solution.
Language—communication system based on words and grammar; spoken, written, or
gestured words and the way they are combined to communicate meaning from person
to person and to transmit civilization’s accumulated knowledge. Key elements of lan-
guage include:- Phonemes—smallest units of sound in spoken language.
- Morphemes—the smallest unit of language that has meaning.
- Grammar—a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand
others. - Syntax—rules that are used to order words into grammatically sensible sentences.
- Semantics—a set of rules we use to derive meaning from morphemes, words, and
sentences.
144 STEP 4. Review the Knowledge You Need to Score High
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