Mental sets is a daily and almost instant set of “guidelines” that we have used previously utilized to help evaluate a problem. It is the most efficient way our brains go about solving daily problems. By understanding what mental sets are, how our brain utilizes them, and best practices on intentionally altering the way we think we can benefit in our daily life to make more informed and deliberate decisions, enjoy solving problems, and effectively act on those decisions.

“In general, the term mental set refers to the tendency to think about and try to solve problems in a manner consistent with the way in which we have interpreted and solved seemingly similar problems in the past. There is a positive and a negative side to mental sets. On the positive side, if the approach we take to the problem is the correct one, it will help us solve the new problem quickly and efficiently” (DCL UNCG Psychology 121). While on the opposite side of the spectrum if you have learned something previously incorrect and try to build on that you will refer back to a wrong answer. This is where knowing how the process works can come into helping us utilize and train our brains more effectively and efficiently.

Have you ever heard of employers desiring someone who can think “outside the box” and that a desirable quality in an employee is to have a “creative” solution? While this is a grand way of wording the result, it is still based on the concept that those that can think quick on their feet and in nontraditional ways will succeed in their careers. This is does not necessarily mean that they always do not follow a set of rules in their thought process, but only that they have previously made connections or mental sets that are different than the general thought process and assumptions that most make. For example, when you are told a riddle and the solution is challenging due to the double meaning of some concepts and words and then you suddenly experience the “aha” moment. This is not only a thought process but there is an attached physical response related to this. In 2012 there was a study done by various scientists that took MRIs as people solved Chinese Chengyu riddles. Dr. Zhao goes on to say “Our data indicates that the early period of insight solution shows more activation in the middle temporal gyrus, the middle frontal gyrus and the anterior cingulate cortex. These activities might be associated to the extensive semantic processing, as well as detecting and resolving cognitive conflicts. In contrast, the late period of insight solution produced increased activities in the hippocampus and the amygdala, possibly reflecting the forming of novel association and the concomitant “Aha” feeling. Our study supports the key role of hippocampus in forming novel associations, and indicates a dynamic neural network during insight solution” (Zhao, 2013). While this may not seem revolutionary, it is insightful to the physical response and process of mental sets.

I found this profound in a simple discussion I had with my children as we shared riddles. For example, what has four legs and one foot? With the use of the words “legs and foot” you would typically refer to the mental set it was living, but it in fact was a bed. Another riddle we enjoyed was that of what seven letter word contains hundreds of letters? The answer- mailbox. By grouping the words “word and letter” your mental set mislead you to not create one of these “out of the box” answers earlier mentioned. But rest assured that now that you are aware of the issue and how to solve this differently you have created a new mental set and possible solution.

Overall, the world needs people to think alternatively and quickly to prove the success of our species. Mental sets help us in a way that could be considered “Darwinism” in nature and always evolving. By better understanding how to use and create mental sets we can not only better our answers, be more creative in our solutions, but also propose revolutionary concepts.

DCL UNCG Psychology 121. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2016, from                http://web.uncg.edu/dcl/courses/psychology-ischool/unit7/unit7_mental.asp

Zhao, Q., Zhou, Z., Xu, H., Chen, S., Xu, F., Fan, W., & Han, L. (2013). Dynamic Neural Network of Insight: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study on Solving Chinese ‘Chengyu’ Riddles. Plos ONE,  8(3), 1. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0059351

The instructions say to find an example of an event that illustrates the topic and discuss the event in relation to the course topic you chose.  But what part of life isn’t illustrated by the chapter on knowledge.  Every single perception and every single thought is processed through our own personal knowledge network.  I found it especially interesting that researchers had created a computer program designed to “learn” using the connectionist network proposed by Rogers and McClelland.  To me, it was amazing that after only 2,500 trials the computer had created clearly different patterns for differentiating between “salmon” and “canary.”

It also seemed intuitive that damage to this kind of network would cause “graceful degradation” in much the same way that damage to the brain does not completely erase knowledge, but rather degrades it.  It is exciting to imagine that using models like this we may someday better understand how brain damage affects the victim’s knowledge.  It is also exciting to think that these kinds of models may be stepping stones to creating a computer program that learns the way humans do, if not actually creating true artificial intelligence.

To pick a just one part of life that is illustrated by chapter 9, I could discuss my drive to pick my son up from school.  On the drive to his school, there were a large number of perceptions and responses that utilized my own personal connectionist network.  I looked at the keys on the kitchen table and recognized without any active effort on my part that they fit the concept of “keys”.  Then through some number of hidden units I also assessed that these keys “can – start my car.”  This made it possible for me to select the key that “starts my car” from the key that “unlocks my front door” and the one that “has an unknown purpose but I’m too lazy to remove from my key-chain.”

Starting my car and backing out of the garage also likely involved a number of these categorizing processes.  Once out of the driveway and on the road my brain is rapidly recognizing concepts like “sign” and using relations and hidden inputs to categorize to “stop sign” and “yield sign” helping me to navigate the drive without colliding with any of the oncoming traffic.  Ultimately I arrived at the school and as the dozens and dozens of children came tumbling out of the front door of the school, I was able to access the concept “child” and the relation and hidden inputs for “adorable,” “8 years old,” “boy,” and “beloved” to pick the one that I know and love as my own.

As a parent, being aware that these processes are all made possible by a fragile network of neurons protected by little more than a centimeter of bone, and that any number of diseases or injuries could disrupt the part of the connectionist network that allows me to see my child and love him as different from all the other children around him is nothing short of terrifying.  While I hope and pray that nothing ever happens to my own personal network, it is nice to know that our understanding of how these processes work is rapidly increasing.  Who knows, maybe someday our understanding will be so complete that we would be able to repair that damage should it ever occur.

After a tumultuous election year and the results it has now created, the one common factor that influenced many people into their choices was fear. Fear of what the world would be like under the other candidate. Fear of what the future will hold if that person becomes president. This fear of the unknown has long been tapped by both politicians and businesses to drive our decision making into what they are selling. However, prior to a decision, we often overrate the negative impact that decision will have us. This negative thinking is often not how we actually feel after the decision has been made.

Why is fear so important? Because it is an emotion that protects us from negative events. Fear exists in various aspects of our lives. Everytime we get in the car, a part of us is scared to get in an accident and be seriously hurt or killed. This emotion than dictates how we drive. Do we recognize it, stare it in the face and say “oh, well. You only live once.” Or do we drive so cautiously that the other drivers around us become angry and frustrated with our lack of risk taking. For most, it is a balance between these extremes. The emotion of fear brings about the attention to be cautious and observant prior to any decision making. Once all the risks are analyzed, we then move forward with a decision. Sometimes that process is quick and sometimes it’s antagonizing. When we don’t know the risks, our fear can often lead us away from rational thought. It’s this pathway that leads us to make decisions from a purely emotional perspective.

Now that we’ve gotten worked up about the decision and we’ve made a conclusion, how do we feel about the choice later? For most people, the level of negative emotion they felt about an outcome of a decision, drops dramatically when compared to how they felt about it before. This is the same for positive emotions as well. Prior to a decision, our expected emotions are more exaggerated than what they end up being afterwards. Why is that? Because when predicting our emotions, we don’t take into account our coping mechanisms. This is the factor that advertisers try to exploit. If we were able to take into account that we can handle a negative outcome better than we think, then we would be less prone to reacting on emotion alone.

How do we combat this? By understanding that this is part of our decision process. Our emotions are an important part of our decision making process and should not be negated. However, that doesn’t mean we have to rely strictly on them. This election cycle has shown how much emotion plays into our decisions. Fear and anger drove the entire rhetoric of both presidential candidates. Now we have to live with the consequences.

The Count’s song from Sesame Street is a great example of the phonemic restoration effect. Phonemic restoration effect is “perceptual phenomenon where under certain conditions, sounds actually missing from a speech signal can be ‘filled in’ by the brain and clearly heard.” (Psychology Concepts). How does this relate to a kid’s show like Sesame Street, well if you take a look at the video posted below you should realize that the count is a vampire, so as vampires like to do, they like to suck your blood.

However add in the beeping sound that often accompanies curse works on television and add in the fact you can only here the “uck” over the beeping.  It is very easy to mistake the word for the F-word.  Even better, as your brain factors in the context of him being a vampire and how the rest of his words are quite actually highly ambiguous  in terms of using the word ‘Suck’ or  ‘F-word’. It is possible to determine that the real word is in fact meant to be ‘suck’ and not the ‘F word’.

My next point was going to be an example using the lyrics right away, but I found the uncensored version on accident because I just assumed they were all censored. And it would seem that he’s actually saying the word ‘Count’.  The beeping is so complete that you’re tricked into thinking you hear the ‘uck’ which of course because it’s censored beeping you add an F.  And again because of the context that he’s a vampire, you think oh they must really mean suck despite the ambiguous language in the song allowing you to perceive it as the ‘F-word’. But I lacked a bit of context of my own in that I didn’t really watch sesame street as a child nor do I have any reason to watch it today, so I’m not 100% familiar with everyone’s role, so I missed the context that the count is the count because he loves to count.  While the words aren’t similar I still consider this a great example because you honestly don’t know what he’s saying when it’s censored and if you listen to it, you start to realize that there is a perceived word and how quickly your mind decides that you actually heard the ‘F-word’ instead when it’s just not true.

Link to the count’s song censored:

References:

Goldstein, E. B. (2011). Cognitive Psychology; Connecting Mind, Research and Everyday Experience (Vol. 3). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Phonemic Restoration Effect. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2016, from http://www.psychologyconcepts.com/phonemic-restoration-effect/

(2008). The Count Censored. Retrieved November 20, 2016, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-Wd-Q3F8KM

In the word of ophthalmology, problem solving is embedded into our every move. In a large eye hospital, such as the one I work in- every patient is a new adventure full of opportunity to problem solve. We really never know what or who will walk through the door. Most of the time, a patient is not sure of the severity of their condition, but bless their lucky stars they decided to have their symptoms checked. For “routine” appointments, these problems are generally “well-defined” as described by our text. However well-defined problem solving and ill-defined problem solving sometimes blend into one another on a daily basis.

As a certified ophthalmic assistant there are certain “must haves” that must be obtained during a routine exam in order for insurance to cover the exam. Vision, pupils, confrontations, intraocular pressure and slit lamp exam are the usual key components for a medical examination.  As a tech, we hit all of those must haves mentioned above in order to “solve” the ‘routine’ problems that come in through the door such as irritation, redness, gradual blurry vision, etc. There is a clear, well-defined end point and we know exactly what steps to take in order for this to occur.

However, ill-defined problems will typically walk in the door (yes walk in) on a Friday around 4:00 p.m. just before the office closes for the weekend. Hypothetically speaking, let’s pretend this patient walked in because a fruit from a tree outside their home fell on their ‘face’ as they were routinely picking these fruits as they have done several time before. However, ever since this fruit fell on their ‘face’, their vision seems a bit “off”, the eye is somewhat painful and they were just a bit concerned. When you bring the patient back, you begin by routinely addressing their chief complaint and review their histories and review of systems. Upon beginning the physical exam, vision obtained in the eye where the fruit hit (yes eye, not face as originally described) presents with only light perception. For those who do not understand what that means, cover one eye and shine a light at the eye. Imagine only being able to see a faint light- and being unable to see the big “E” on the visual acuity chart or even seeing a technician’s hand moving a foot in front of you. This is serious business when a mere 2-3 hours before this patient was able to see fairly well as measured by the Snellen eye chart.

Suspicion sets in, upon checking pupils – wait, where is the pupil? Yes, that’s right it is completely blown and now blends in with the iris. Oh boy. At this point confrontation fields (peripheral vision) in that eye are non-existent and intraocular pressure (glaucoma test) is well above normal range. A simple small fruit falling around the eye area now results in a dislocated lens and a retinal detachment. All of which indicate badness and immediate surgery. As you can see, the ‘abnormal’ also can present in a routine and well-defined way and then blend into ill-defined problem solving where I must deter from the normal path. At this point, you need to quickly find the physician, and have the patient seen immediately, no dilation is necessary (blown pupil remember) and glasses or artificial tears are not going to fix this problem   As the ill-defined blends with the well-defined it is our responsibility as technicians to know which way to take the exam based on the initial findings. As another example, If a patient has narrow angles discovered during the slit lamp examination, the technician must problem solve. Again, narrow angles are badness and if someone with narrow angles is dilated, then the patient’s intraocular pressure will skyrocket and irreversible blindness could result.

Problem solving and the ability to deter from the well-defined is essential in most, if not all medical professions. Obstacles will typically present themselves and it is up to the medical professional to be in the correct mind-set and have the proper training to problem solve and trouble shoot complications and abnormal situations. I often find myself using all types of techniques to problem solve- whether it be “means end analysis”, or “working backwards” to connect the dots in order to correctly screen and assess the patient as well as help the physician make a proper diagnosis. Problem solving is just a part of everyday life.

Image Credit: www.slideshare.net

As depicted in the illustration above, a dilemma such as saving the world would certainly be considered an ill-defined problem. This is because a problem of this magnitude would not have its goals or steps clearly laid out. Additionally it is highly likely, or at least we would hope so for the sake of mankind, that there may be more than one approach or correct answers to solve the problem. Although, I believe that Einstein brings up a valid point, which is that in order to effectively solve a problem it is imperative to first fully understand exactly what the nature of the obstacle(s) is that is in the way of the goal. (Penn State, n.d.)

In the article Problem-Solving Strategies and Obstacles, Cherry (2016) writes about challenges that make problem solving difficult, which are similar to the barriers outlined in the lesson 13 commentary. According to Cherry, we are presented with a host of problems in our lives each day. These problems can range from minor issues such as, which route to take to work to avoid morning rush hour traffic to much larger issues like developing a five-year plan for your life and career path. In cognitive psychology, the act of problem solving is a mental process one uses to identify, analyze and find answers (Cherry, 2016) when it is not obvious how to overcome the obstacles that prevent you from achieving a goal, otherwise known as a problem (Goldstein, 2015).

The mental processes that are work during problem solving include; recognizing the problem, making a mental representation of the problem, considering the pertinent information applicable to the problem, identifying various facets of the problem and lastly describing or labeling it.  Problem solving strategies may include; algorithms or a step-by step process to generate the correct answer (ex: mathematical formula), heuristics or a mental “rule of thumb” that may be applicable to certain scenarios but do not guarantee a correct solution, trial and error that is similar to the generate and test method described in the lesson where you try different solutions to see what works and insight in which a problem is similar to something you dealt with previously, like an analogy. (Cherry, 2016)

The obstacles to problem solving in which we encounter are mental set, functional fixedness, irrelevant or misleading information and Cherry also adds in assumptions.  Mental set occurs when we only refer to solutions we have used in the past rather than attempting to identify new ideas that may be more effective. Functional fixedness is when we perceive problems in their usual manner that interferes with our ability to quickly solve the issue. The lesson indicates several examples of people failing to think of ways to use objects other than their primary or common purpose. Misleading information can lead to faulty solutions, which makes it important to have accurate and relevant information during the problem solving process. Lastly, assumptions regarding constraints can hinder the ability of a person to produce viable solutions. (Cherry, 2016)

So whether you are attempting to solve a math problem, a riddle or saving the world it is useful to keep in mind the strategies to effect problem solving while being aware of the obstacles you may face to finding an effective solution.

 References

Cherry, K. (2016, August 31). Problem-Solving Strategies and Obstacles. Retrieved November 19, 2016 from https://www.verywell.com/problem-solving-2795008

Goldstein, E. B. (2015). Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research, and everyday experience (4th ed.). Australia: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Penn State World Campus (n.d.). Lesson 13: Problem Solving. Retrieved November 19, 2016 from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1804143/modules/items/21169401

The textbook, Cognitive Psychology by E. Bruce Goldstein defines the misinformation effect as, “Misleading information presented after a person witnesses an event can change how the person describes that event later” (Goldstein, 222). It is evident to see that in everyday life, examples of the misinformation effect surround us. This is eminent on social media platforms from Twitter and Facebook, to even major news outlets such as CNN and ABC News as well. Topics on the docket of discussion include the general concepts about misinformation on social media, and a more specific example, which is the 2015 terrorist attack in Paris, France.

On social media, it is often difficult to get verified correct information from an established credible source. Even then, the information provided by such a source can be plagued by misinformation. Just over one year since the terrorist attack in Paris, which left the entire earth shaken, I stumbled across an article by the Huffington Post on Facebook, remembering the events that took place November 15, 2016. I then came across an in the way related article posted by the Huffington Post about the connection between the attack in Paris and the one in Nice. Now, of course, I realized that things that the Huffington Post and such websites post need to be taken with a grain of salt, but I came across something that caught my attention. What caught my attention was an image of a Canadian Sikh man and freelance writer, Veerender Jubbal. The image was a side-by-side picture, which I will include, of Jubbal standing in front of a mirror taking a picture on his iPad on one side of the image, and on the other end of the image is the same “mirror picture” but the iPad he was once holding is now the Qur’an, and he is wearing a suicide bomb vest. The image of Jubbal in the vest, holding the Qur’an, originally began circling social media days after the terrorist attack in Paris and began circling once more after the attack in Nice. Although the accusation was debunked after the Paris attack, people still fell victim to believing that this was one of the terrorists in charge of the Nice attack.

The image of Jubbal is just one example of misinformation that surrounded the terrorist attack in Paris, France. Another example of misinformation relating to the terrorist attack is the video clip posted by a social media user of the Eiffel Tower turning off its lights following the attack as an act of solidarity. The original post went viral then after until it was later revealed that the Eiffel Towers lights turn off after 1 am every day. Another example of misinformation is an image of what appears to be a march in Germany of supporters standing with Paris. This, in fact, was not the case, the march was an anti-immigration march, and the image was purposely cropped by the original poster to hide signs and banners that were carried by the protestors.

Going back to the image of Veerender Jubbal, there have been several eyewitness accounts of individuals that were both at the locations of the attack or came into contact with the suspected terrorists beforehand. Julien Pierce, who was inside the Bataclan concert hall, stated he saw two to three unmasked very young men fire at random into the crowd of people. Another account was provided by a man with the last name Hill, who was at an ATM yards from the Bataclan, stated he saw a heavyset Caucasian-looking male shouting, “Allez!” who at first appeared to be directing people out of the street, but then thought he might be one of the suspected men involved in the attack. What changed Hill’s testimony, we cannot be sure. These are some of the real testimonies of individuals who were there, but these people’s testimony was overlooked when the image of Jubbal flooded social media days following the attack. The question, why the testimonies were overlooked, still stands. Jubbal is not a Caucasian male, nor does he appear to be “very” young.

An experiment done by Elizabeth Loftus on misleading postevent information (MPI) can help shed some light on the case of the image of Jubbal. Loftus had her participants look at slides of a car stopped at a stop sign and then proceeds to turn the corner and hits a pedestrian. Loftus replaced the words “stop sign” with “yield sign” in the question, “Did another car pass the red car while it was stopped at the stop sign?”, for the MPI group of the experiment. What she found was that there was a high probability that the participants in the MPI group would state they saw a yield sign rather than the actual stop sign in the slides. This can be considered in the case of originally published eyewitness testimony of the attacks in Paris and the image of Jubbal. Perhaps, individuals who had originally read the descriptions of the assailants provided by Hill and Pierce, but then came across the image of Jubbal in the suicide bomb vest were more inclined to believe Jubbal was a suspect based on the nature of the image.

Overall, the relationship between the misinformation effect and this real-life example of misinformation in social media is clear. The individuals who read the eyewitness accounts had an alteration of what they believed those witnesses saw, and their overall conclusion of the attacks. This real-life example of the misinformation effect shows that false memories, even though they are not the memories of the key witnesses, can be altered by suggestion.

Gilbert, B. (2015). GamerGate Supporters Tried to Turn One of Their Biggest Critics Into a Paris Terrorist Suspect. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/veerender-jubbal-photoshopped-by-gamergate-supporters-2015-11

Goldstein, E. (2011). Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research, and Everyday Experience. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth CENGAGE Learning.

Hopkins, S. (2016). Nice Attack Blamed On Sikh Man Veerender Jubbal Who Was Also Wrongly Accused of Paris Massacre. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/nice-attack-blamed-on-sikh-man-veerender-jubba-who-was-also-wrongly-accused-of-paris-attacks_uk_5788d9a6e4b08078d6e89e5a

Whitten, S. (2015). Misinformation Spreads on Social Media Following Paris Attacks. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/misinformation-spreads-social-media-following-paris-attacks-n464291

The other day when I was teaching I made a connection with analogical problem solving and place value. As a substitute teacher, I generally teach special needs children and do my best to help them understand material. The other day I worked with children with emotional disorders/behavioral problems. We worked on place values, some of the students got frustrated and gave up before they started, and others took some time and figured it out on their own. There was an example given at the top like such:

7,570,987 seven million five-hundred seventy thousand nine hundred eighty-seven
7,570,987 seven million five-hundred seventy thousand nine hundred eighty-seven
7,570,987 seven million five-hundred seventy thousand nine hundred eighty-seven

And so on…

Their task was then to look at the number underlined to come up with a solution, what place value was underlined. The example given to them at the top of the paper was the source problem. They were given the following instructions:

Find the place value of the underlined number.

Example: 4,509, 789 Solution: Hundreds place

So, the target problem and the source problem were similar in what they asked, but the slight variation was that they needed only to write the place value of the underlined number and not the actual number itself. The structural features are similar, both examples ask to find the place value, but differ slightly because the example includes the number and place value while the question only asks for place value. This slight change in structure confused some of the students. So, I had to help them to see the similarities and how to compare the two and find an answer by asking probing questions (guided practice). So, after they explained to me what they did I realized that they were getting overwhelmed with finding the place values. They did not know where to start, so I said to them, “Let’s look at the example”, then I proceeded to go over it with them. Next I had them look at one of the problems then asked, “What place value is underlined?”, the boy shrugged his shoulders. I said, “Okay, so let’s look at the example. Find the example with the same place value number underlined.” When they find it I then point out the bolded words and ask what place value is this. They say it (ex. five-hundred thousand) then I ask again so take the number out and tell me the place value and they do that. And I say this problem has the same place value as that example, so it would be the same answer. Then they have an aha-moment and it becomes obvious to them how to solve the problems. Analogical reasoning is an important educational tool because it can help people learn to solve real world problems by using comparison between two different situations to solve the present one (Goldstein, 2011) (Vendetti, Matlen, Richland, & Bunge, 2015).

References

Goldstein, E. B. (2011). Cognitive Psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday experience
(Vol. 3). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Vendetti, M. S., Matlen, B. J., Richland, l. E., & Bunge, S. A. (2015). Analogical reasoning in the classroom:
Insights from cognitive science. Mind, brain, and education. 9 (2). Doi: 10.1111/mbe.12080