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Psy 416: Reasoning and Problem Solving
Spring 2003
MWF  10:00-10:50 ;  337 Bell
Registration #: 384581
SYLLABUS

Dr. Erwin M. Segal
email: segal@acsu.buffalo.edu
Visit Home Page
Phone: 645 3650 ext. 361
Office: 361 Park; Office hours: Mon. 1-2, Thurs. 12:30-2, and by appointment
Text: Mayer , Richard E. (1992). Thinking, Problem Solving, Cognition. (Second edition).

   New York : Freeman. (M)   Other readings will be assigned.

    The Bibliography contains much information surrounding the topics of the course. The bibliography is presented for your benefit. It is likely to be expanded during the year. Some of the required readings will be drawn from this bibliography. Others are likely to be either generated by the instructor or newly discovered sources found on the internet.
Course Description

    This course will explore some of the principles underlying reasoning, problem solving, and associated topics in higher level cognition. We will also discuss some of the conceptual, personal and situational conditions that enhance or detract from clear thinking and performance. The course has two basic goals: 1) To give students theoretical and empirical information that extends and deepens their knowledge of the principles of Reasoning and Problem Solving in particular, and Cognitive Psychology in general.  2) To give students a set of analytic and conceptual tools which should be applicable to their own real life problems, actions, and decisions.

      Many of the topics of this course are currently very active research domains in cognitive psychology and cognitive science. There are many dimensions to their study. The approach that we take will be somewhat eclectic as we will look at these topics from various perspectives. Although the basic text (Mayer) seems to be better than any others that I have examined, it does not present a full view of the topics that will be covered. Some of these topics will be explored by readings, some of which are found at different URLs on the Internet. Others will be put on reserve, and will be accessible through BISON. In addition to assigning other readings, I will present, summarize, and have classroom discussions on ideas and concepts that I cannot find in a clear and concise form in the literature.

        Many of the ideas require considerable reflection for understanding. Readings and class discussion are to be considered core components of the class. That is, students will be responsible for the material from these sources as well as from the assigned textbook. This Syllabus is accessible from my base class URL: http://pluto.fss.buffalo.edu/classes/psy/segal/ . There are links from the on-line syllabus to some of my notes and to other sources. As the course progresses I will attach more links to the syllabus and my notes.  It is strongly recommended that you bring a copy of the relevant Web notes to class to help note taking.         

       The format of the class is primarily lecture and discussion. There will be new material presented in the class, but the class periods should also be thought of as opportunities to clarify the material and to put it into a more cogent and coherent framework. Since dialogue is an important source of understanding, I strongly recommend that you read the assigned readings prior to the class period, and be prepared to discuss them. I will also give you questions to answer and problems to solve for homework to help you focus on some relevant issues. It is also of value for you to get together with some of your classmates to discuss some of the ideas that are explored in this course. There is simply not time enough for every issue to be fully discussed in class.

        Your grades during the class will primarily be based on the four sources listed below, although meaningful class discussion may influence the grade slightly. The exams will cover both reading assignments and class material.
1. A small number of homework assignments based on class material and the readings.* (10%)
2. Two midterm exams. (40%, i.e., 20% each)
3. A short term-paper of 5-8 pages . (20%)
4. Final exam. (30%)

Homeworks can be found on the homework page

Topics and Approximate Class Periods

 

Jan. 13

Introduction: Description of course.
Problem approach to cognition 
Taxonomy of Problems

M Ch. 1

Jan. 15

History and overview
Read excerpt from Plato's Meno

M Ch. 1

Jan. 17

Associationistic theory
Classical Association theory: Read Chomsky's critique of Skinner's Verbal Behavior
Connectionism: Read Article in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

M Ch. 2

Jan. 22

Information and information processing
Read: Graham ; Computation and computer simulation, 

Problem analysis,  Effective Procedures,  Algorithms and Heuristics: Read: Church-Turing Thesis

M Ch. 6

Jan. 29

Gestalt theory
Read : excerpt by Wertheimer
Goulds on Kohler

M Ch. 3 

Jan. 31

Schema Theory 
READ: Naive theories and Causal Deduction

M Ch. 8 

Feb. 5

Form, logic, logical reasoning, etc.
Read Primer on Logic page 1 page 2 page 3
Read Suber

M Ch. 5

Feb. 14

Exam 1   study questions

 

Feb. 17

Cognitive Development
READ: Siegler, Conclusions for the present

M Ch. 10

Feb. 26

M Ch. 4 

Mar. 5

The mind as a computational device
Chronometric analysis of problems

M Ch. 7 

Mar. 17

Semantic memory
Search Problems 

M Ch. 9

Mar. 21

Intelligence
READ: Sternberg, Metaphors

M. Ch. 11

Mar. 28

Exam 2 study guide Word    HTML

 

Mar. 31

Expertise
READ: Anzai, Learning and use of Representations

M Ch. 13 

Apr. 7

Creativity READ: Weisberg, Creativity 

M Ch. 12 

Apr. 11

Role of situation and context
READ: Hutchins , How a Cockpit ; Ceci, Effects of Context

M. Ch. 16

Apr. 18

Mathematical reasoning 
Understanding mathematical schemata

M. Ch. 15

Apr. 25

Analogical reasoning Using models

M. Ch. 14

 

Final Exam: Final week
Study Guide for Final Exam

TH 05/08 0800 1100 A NSC 205

 

Note: "If you have a disability (physical or psychological) and require reasonable accommodations to enable you to participate in this course, such as note takers, readers, or extended time on exams and assignments, please contact the Office of Disability Services, 25 Capen Hall, 645-2608, and also me during the first two weeks of class. ODS will provide you with information and review appropriate arrangements for reasonable accommodations."

Selective Bibliography (back to Course description

1.       Ahn, W., Kalish, C. W. Medin , D. L., & Gelman, S. A. (1995). The role of covariation versus mechanism in causal attribution. Cognition, 54, 299-352.

2.       Ahn, W. & Bailenson, J. (1997). Causal attribution as a search for underlying mechanisms: An explanation of the conjunction fallacy and the discounting principle. Cognitive Psychology, .

3.       Anzai, Y. (1991). Learning and Use of Representations for Physics Expertise. In Ericsson & Smith (1992) pp. 64-92.

4.       Ballard, Dana H., Hayhoe, Mary M . , Pook, Polly K. and Rao, Rajesh P. N. Deictic
Codes for the Embodiment of Cognition.

5.       Best, J. B. (1999). Cognitive Psychology . (5th Ed.) Belmont, CA : Wadsworth . (pp. 207-235).

6.       Blumberg, A. E. (1967). Logic, Symbolic. In P. Edwards (Ed.) (1967) The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Vol 5, (pp. 12-34) New York : Macmillan.

7.       Brainerd, W. S. and Landweber, L. H. (1974). Theory of Computation . New York : Wiley. pp. 1-9.

8.       Ceci, S. J. & Roazzi, A. (1994). The effects of context on cognition: postcards from Brazil . In Sternberg (Ed.) (1994). (pp. 74-101)

9.       Cheng, P. W. & Holyoak, K. J. (1985). Pragmatic reasoning schemas. Cognitive Psychology, 17, 391-416.

10.   Cheng, P. W. & Novick, L. R. (1992). Covariation in natural causal induction. Psychological Review, 99, 365-382.

11.   Chomsky, N. (1959). A review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior. in Language, 35, 26-58.

12.   Clark, A. (1997). The dynamical challenge, Cognitive Science, 21 , 461-481.

13.   Cognitive Psychology Glossary by Dom Massaro

14.   Copi, I. M. (1982). Introduction to Logic . New York : Macmillan. pp. 277-386.

15.   Cummins, D. D. (1995). Naïve theories and causal deduction. Memory & Cognition, 24, 646-658.

16.   Cummins, D. D. (1996). Evidence of deontic reasoning in 3 and 4 year-old children . Memory & Cognition, 24, 823-829.

17.   Devlin, K. (2000). The language of mathematics . New York : Freeman.

18.   Duchan, J. F., Bruder, G. A., & Hewitt, L. E. (Eds.) (1995). Deixis in Narrative: A Cognitive Science Perspective. Hillsdale , NJ : Erlbaum.

19.   Ericsson, K. A. & Smith, J. (1991). Prospects and Limits of the Experimental Study of Expertise: an Introduction. In Ericsson & Smith (1991). pp. 1-38.

20.   Ericsson, K. A. & Smith, J. (Eds.) (1991). Toward a General Theory of Expertise . Cambridge , England : Cambridge University Press.

21.   Feldman, J. A. and Ballard, D. H. (1982). Connectionist models and their properties. Cognitive Science, 6, 205-254.

22.   Flavell, J. H., Miller, P. H., Miller, S. A. (1993). Cognitive Development , Third Edition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

23.   Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences . New York : Basic Books.

24.   Gardner, H. (1993). Creating Minds. New York : Basic Books. pp. 19-45.

25.   Gluck, M. A. & Bower, G. H. (1988) From conditioning to adaptive learning: An adaptive network model. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 117, 227-247.

26.   Goodwin, C. J. (1999a). A history of modern psychology. New York : Wiley

27.   Goodwin, C. J. (1999b). Kohler, Wertheimer, and Gestalt Psychology (pp. 266-281, 286-287) in Goodwin, (1999a).

28.   Gould, J. L. & Gould, C. G. The Animal Mind . Excerpt on Kohler

29.   Graham, N. (1979). Introduction to Computers, Information, and Algorithms. St. Paul, MN : West Publishing Co.

30.   Haugeland, J. (1985). Artificial Intelligence: The Very Idea. Cambridge MA : MIT Press. pp. 48-123.

31.   Haugeland, J. H. (Ed.) (1982). Mind design . Cambridge, MA : MIT Press.

32.   Herrnstein, R. J. & Murray, C. (1994). The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life . New York : Free Press.

33.   Hirschfeld, L. A. & Gelman, S. A. (Eds.) (1994). Mapping the Mind: Domain Specificity in Cognition and Culture . Cambridge, England : Cambridge University Press.

34.   Humphrey, G. (1963). Thinking: An Introduction to its Experimental Psychology. New York : Wiley. pp. 1-29.

35.   Hunt, E. (1999). What is a theory of thought? In Sternberg, (Ed.) (1999).

36.   Hutchins, E. (1995a). How a cockpit remembers its speed. Cognitive Science, 19 , 265-288.

37.   Hutchins, E. (1995b). Cognition in the wild. Cambridge, MA : MIT Press. Review by Shalizi 1998)

38.   Hutchins, E. (2000). Distributed Cognitions

39.   James, W. (1890). Principles of Psychology

40.   Johnson-Laird, P. N. (1999). Deductive reasoning Annual Review of Psychology, 50:109-135.

41.   Kahneman, D., Slovic, P., & Tversky, A. (Eds.) (1982). Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases. Cambridge, England : Cambridge University Press.

42.   Kahneman, D. & Tversky, A. (1973). On the psychology of prediction. Psychological Review, 80, 237-251. Also in Kahneman, Slovik & Tversky (Eds.) 1982.

43.   Karmiloff-Smith, Annette (1994) Precis of: BEYOND MODULARITY: A
DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVE ON COGNITIVE SCIENCE.

44.   Kohler, W. (1917). The mentality of apes. New York : Harcourt Brace. Excerpt on Thorndike

45.   Kohler, W. (1959). Gestalt Psychology Today, American Psychologist, 14 , 727-734.

46.   Kuhn, T. S. (1970). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Second Edition) Chicago : University of Chicago Press.

47.   Lakoff, G. & Nunez, R. E. (2000) Where mathematics comes from: How the embodied mind brings mathematics into being. Basic Books.

48.   Luria, A. R. (1976). Cognitive Development: Its Cultural and Social Foundations. Cambridge MA : Harvard University Press.

49.   Markman, A.B. &Gentner, D. (2001). Thinking, Annual Review of Psychology     52:223-247.

50.   Marr, D. (1982). Vision. San Francisco : W. H. Freeman. pp. 8-38.

51.   McClelland, D. Interview

52.   Miller, G. A. (1956). The magic number seven plus or minus two. Psychological review , 63, 81-97.

53.   Minsky, M. (1981). A framework for representing knowledge. In Haugeland (1982) pp. 95-128.

54.   Newell, A. (1981). Physical Symbol Systems. In Norman (1981)

55.   Newell, A. and Simon, H. A. (1972). Human Problem Solving. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

56.   Norman, D. A. (Ed.) (1981). Perspectives on Cognitive Science. Norwood , NJ : Ablex

57.   Pinker, S. (1997). How the mind works. New York : Norton.

58.   Plato, (ca 380 BCE/1966).  Meno. Translated by Benjamin Jowett. In Allen, R. (Ed.) Greek Philosophy: Thales to Aristotle. New York : Free Press.

59.   Posner, M. I. (Ed.) (1989). Foundations of Cognitive Science. Cambridge , MA : MIT Press.

60.   Posner, Michael I. and Raichle, Marcus E. (1995) Precis of: IMAGES OF MIND.

61.   Rumelhart, D. E. (1989) The architecture of mind: A connectionist approach. In Posner (1989) pp. 133-159.

62.   Segal, E. M. (1994) Archaeology and Cognitive Science. In C. Renfrew and E. Zubrow (Eds.) The Ancient Mind: Elements of Cognitive Archaeology, Cambridge, England : Cambridge University Press. pp 22-28.

63.   Segal, E. M. (1995). Narrative Comprehension and the Role of Deictic Shift Theory. In Duchan, Bruder & Hewitt (1995)

64.   Segal, E. M., & Lachman, R. (1972). Complex behavior or higher mental processes: Is there a paradigm shift. American Psychologist, 27, 46-55.

65.   Segal, E. M., & Stacy, E. W., Jr. (1975). Rule governed behavior as a psychological process. American Psychologist, 30 , 54l-552.

66.   Siegler, R. S. (1991). Children's Thinking. (2nd Ed.) Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

67.   Simon, H. A. (1969). The Sciences of the Artificial. Cambridge : MIT Press.

68.   Simon, H. A. (1994). Interview by Doug Stewart in Omni Magazine

69.   Spelke, E. S. (1990). Principles of Object Perception. Cognitive Science, 14, 29-56.

70.   Stanovich , Keith E. and West, Richard F. (2000) Individual Differences in Reasoning:
Implications for the Rationality Debate?.

71.   Sternberg, R. J. (1990). Metaphors of mind: Conceptions of the nature of intelligence. Cambridge University Press.

72.   Sternberg, R. J. (Ed.)(1999). The Nature of Cognition. Cambridge : MIT Press.

73.   Sternberg, R. J., & Wagner, R. K. (Eds.) (1994). Mind in Context: Interactionist Perspectives on Human Intelligence. Cambridge, England : Cambridge University Press.

74.   Sternberg, R. J. (1995). An interview with Robert Sternberg: On the Bell Curve. Skeptic Magazine

75.   Suber, P. Notes on Symbolic Logic. Course notes from a course at Earlham College .

76.   Todd , Peter M. and Gigerenzer, Gerd (1999) Simple Heuristics That Make Us Smart.

77.   Tversky, A. & Kahneman, D. (1982). Judgments of and by Representativeness . In Kahneman, Slovik, & Tversky (1982) pp 84-98.

78.   VanLehn, K. (1989). Problem solving and cognitive skill. In Posner (1989), pp. 527-579.

79.   Weisberg, Robert W. (1993). Creativity: Beyond the Myth of Genius . New York : Freeman

80.   Wertheimer, M. (1924) Gestalt Theory.

81.   Wertheimer, M. (1959) Productive Thinking. New York : Harper.

82.   Wertsch, J. V., Del Rio , P., & Alvarez, A. (Eds.) (1995). Sociocultural Studies of Mind. Cambridge, England : Cambridge University Press.