Definition: Latin for arguments "against the person."
Insight: Ad hominem is a form of argument or propaganda that attacks people that support a cause or idea, and not the cause or idea itself.
Insight: The principle of ad hominem is that if you don't like a person that supports an idea, then you should oppose the idea itself based on the person.
Definition: "The unconscious use of a value that is easily accessible in memory as a "starting point" for making a judgment about a quantity or cost."
Example: Charity donation suggestions
Insight: When we don't have any meaningful data to make a decision, we often rely on any information that is available, even if we know it is irrelevant.
Definition: Humans are rational, but within limits.
Insight: Humans need to have mental shortcuts, because we do not have the capacity to make machine-like computations.
Insight: People reason differently depending on context.
Insight: Bounded Rationality occurs because we need to reach conclusions and decisions with incomplete information, or limited time.
Reference: Gigerenzer & Goldstein (1996) defined bounded rationality as the observation that people are rational but with limitations.
Definition: A memory process of storing and retrieving information together with other pieces of related information; reducing a large number of items to a single item.
Insight: Experts in various fields are able to perceive and store large meaningful patterns of information through chunking, and search for answers in their working memory to solve problems.
Insight: As units of information become increasingly meaningful, we can reduce the number of single units of information that need to be remembered.
Reference: Adriaan de Groot (1966) study of chess players: found that chess masters are able to chunk a large number of recognisable or meaningful positions together, but their memories of random positions were almost the same as novice players.
Reference: Mazzoni, Loftus, Seitz, & Lynn, 1999: students were told their dreams would be interpreted by a clinical psychologist - but they were told fake information about the meaning of the dreams. Some students were told that the meaning of their dreams was that they had been bullied before the age of 3.
Insight: Stereotyping is an example of confirmation bias in action - we remember more easily information that confirms existing hypothesis or biases to form stereotypes.
Insight: Beliefs can influence our memories, as our brain looks for information that confirms those beliefs.
Definition: The failure to use items in unusual ways.
Example: The Candle Problem. Subjects were asked to fix a candle to the wall using a box of thumbtacks and some matches. They had difficulty viewing the box as something that could hold the candle, as it was viewed as a container for the thumbtacks.
Insight: Functional fixedness is an example of a 'thinking rut'.
Example: Hindsight bias tends to occur when political decisions have poor outcomes.
Insight: We are usually unaware when hindsight bias is occuring.
Insight: Poor outcomes can be the result of good decisions, or poor decisions.
Principle: Ask if the outcome could have reasonably been predicted given what was known at the time of the decision.
Example: The belief that selecting lottery numbers will give you a higher chance of success. People prefer to select their own numbers.
Insight: People tend to be confident in uncertain situations when they believe they have control over events they cannot control.
Insight: The illusion of control can breed overconfidence, a disaster for financial investors.
Insight: Most people underestimate the role that chance or events that could not have been predicted plays in the outcome.
Definition: Exposure to something increases your liking for it.
Insight: Exposure leads to familiarity which can enhance liking more the stimulus.
Definition: Searching for alternatives that are good enough.
Insight: When satisficing we can terminate decision making when any alternative that is good enough to satisfy the important considerations.
Insight: The process of making a decision cannot go on forever, the important decision is when to stop searching for alternatives.
