Psy 416: Reasoning and Problem Solving
SYLLABUS
Fall 2001
MWF  10:00-10:50;  337 Bell
Registration #: 476844


Dr. Erwin M. Segal
email: segal@acsu.buffalo.edu
Visit Home Page
Phone: 654 3650 ext. 361
Office: 361 Park; Office hours: Mon. 11-1, 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 requires 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/.  As the course progresses I will attach links to the on-line syllabus to topic outlines and specific sources, hopefully, before they are discussed in class. Bringing a copy of these notes to class to help note taking is strongly recommended.

         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 appropriate chapter in the text and any assignment prior to the class period and be prepared to discuss it. It is also of value for you to get together with some of your classmates to discuss some of the ideas that are covered in this course. There is simply not time enought in class for every issue to be fully explored.

        At times there may be specific short and focused homework assignments to be to be turned in and discussed in the following class period. Also I do not exclude giving short quizzes during regularly scheduled classes. If this can be done smoothly, it may become a regular part of the class. The class requirements include a short term-paper of 5-8 pages, three midterms, and a final exam. Grades will be based primarily on the four exams (about 70%), the quizzes, and the written assignments (about 30%), although discussion may be considered. The exams will cover bothreading assignments and class material.
Topics and Approximate Class Periods
  
Aug. 27 Introduction: Description of course. 
Problem approach to cognition  
Taxonomy of Problems		 M Ch. 1
Aug. 29 History and overview 
Read excerpt from Plato's Meno		 M Ch. 1
Aug. 31 Gestalt theory 
Read excerpt on Kohler and Wertheimer		 M Ch. 3
Sept. 10 Associationistic theory 
Classical Association theory, ReadChomsky's critique of Skinner's Verbal Behavior 
Connectionism: Read Best		 M Ch. 2
Sept. 14 Concept learning  
Read Kahneman & Tversky 
Kahneman and Tversky Problems		 M Ch. 4 
Oct. 1
Exam 1
 study questions
Sept. 26 Form, logic, logical reasoning, etc. 
ReadPrimer on Logic page 1 page 2 page 3 
Read Logic, Modern (on Reserve)		 M Ch. 5 
 Oct. 3 Information and information processing 
Read Graham		 M Ch. 6 
Computation and computer simulation  Problem analysis 
Turing machines Problem Space 
Effective Procedures  Means-ends analysis 
Algorithms and Heuristics  Production systems
Church-Turing Thesis  Recursion
Oct. 10 The mind as a computational device 
Computational analysis of problems 		 M Ch. 7 
Oct. 12 Semantic memory 
Search Problems 		 M Ch. 9
Oct. 26
Exam 2 Delayed to Oct. 26
  study guide 
Word      HTML
Oct. 19. Schema Theory  
READ: Naive theories and Causal Deduction		 M Ch. 8 
Oct. 24 Cognitive Development 
READ: Siegler, Conclusions for the present		 M Ch. 10 
Oct. 31 Expertise 
READ: Anzai, Learning and use of Representations		 M Ch. 13
Nov. 7 Creativity  
READ: Weisberg, Creativity 		 M Ch. 12 
Nov. 12
 Exam 3 delayed 'til further  notice
Nov. 14 Role of situation and context 
READ: Hutchins, How a Cockpit; Ceci, Effects of Context		 M. Ch. 16
Nov. 19  Analogical reasoning  
Using models		 M. Ch. 14
Nov. 28 Mathematical reasoning  
Understanding mathematical schemata		  M. Ch. 15
Dec. 5 Intelligence 
READ: Sternberg, Metaphors		 M. Ch. 11
 
Final Exam: Study questions
December 17, 11:45-2:45 pm
NSC 216

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. Best, J. B. (1999). Cognitive Psychology. (5th Ed.) Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. (pp. 207-235).
  5. Blumberg, A. E. (1967). Logic, Symbolic. In P. Edwards (Ed.) (1967) The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Vol 5, (pp. 12-34) New York: Macmillan.
  6. Brainerd, W. S. and Landweber, L. H. (1974). Theory of Computation. New York: Wiley. pp. 1-9.
  7. Ceci, S. J. & Roazzi, A. (1994). The effects of context on cognition: postcards from Brazil. In Sternberg (Ed.) (1994). (pp. 74-101)
  8. Cheng, P. W. & Holyoak, K. J. (1985). Pragmatic reasoning schemas. Cognitive Psychology, 17, 391-416.
  9. Cheng, P. W. & Novick, L. R. (1992). Covariation in natural causal induction. Psychological Review, 99, 365-382.
  10. Chomsky, N. (1959). A review of Skinner's Verbal Behavior. in Language, 35, 26-58.
  11. Clark, A. (1997). The dynamical challenge, Cognitive Science, 21, 461-481.
  12. Cognitive Psychology Glossary by Dom Massaro
  13. Copi, I. M. (1982). Introduction to Logic. New York: Macmillan. pp. 277-386.
  14. Cummins, D. D. (1995). Naïve theories and causal deduction. Memory & Cognition, 24, 646-658.
  15. Cummins, D. D. (1996). Evidence of deontic reasoning in 3 and 4 year-old children. Memory & Cognition, 24, 823-829.
  16. Devlin, K. (2000). The language of mathematics. New York: Freeman.
  17. Duchan, J. F., Bruder, G. A., & Hewitt, L. E. (Eds.) (1995). Deixis in Narrative: A Cognitive Science Perspective. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
  18. Ericsson, K. A. & Smith, J. (1991). Prospects and Limits of the Experimental Study of Expertise: an Introduction. In Ericsson & Smith (1991). pp. 1-38.
  19. Ericsson, K. A. & Smith, J. (Eds.) (1991). Toward a General Theory of Expertise. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
  20. Feldman, J. A. and Ballard, D. H. (1982). Connectionist models and their properties. Cognitive Science, 6, 205-254.
  21. Flavell, J. H., Miller, P. H., Miller, S. A. (1993). Cognitive Development, Third Edition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
  22. Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. New York: Basic Books.
  23. Gardner, H. (1993). Creating Minds. New York: Basic Books. pp. 19-45.
  24. Gluck, M. A. & Bower, G. H. (1988) From conditioning to adaptive learning: An adaptive network model. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 117, 227-247.
  25. Goodwin, C. J. (1999a). A history of modern psychology. New York: Wiley
  26. Goodwin, C. J. (1999b). Kohler, Wertheimer, and Gestalt Psychology (pp. 266-281, 286-287) in Goodwin, (1999a).
  27. Graham, N. (1979). Introduction to Computers, Information, and Algorithms. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co.
  28. Haugeland, J. (1985). Artificial Intelligence: The Very Idea. Cambridge MA: MIT Press. pp. 48-123.
  29. Haugeland, J. H. (Ed.) (1982). Mind design. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  30. Herrnstein, R. J. & Murray, C. (1994). The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life. New York: Free Press.
  31. Hirschfeld, L. A. & Gelman, S. A. (Eds.) (1994). Mapping the Mind: Domain Specificity in Cognition and Culture. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
  32. Humphrey, G. (1963). Thinking: An Introduction to its Experimental Psychology. New York: Wiley. pp. 1-29.
  33. Hunt, E. (1999). What is a theory of thought? In Sternberg, (Ed.) (1999).
  34. Hutchins, E. (1995a). How a cockpit remembers its speed. Cognitive Science, 19, 265-288.
  35. Hutchins, E. (1995b). Cognition in the wild. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  36. James, W. (1890). Principles of Psychology
  37. Johnson-Laird, P. N. (1999). Deductive reasoning Annual Review of Psychology, 50:109-135.
  38. Kahneman, D., Slovic, P., & Tversky, A. (Eds.) (1982). Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
  39. Kahneman, D. & Tversky, A. (1973). On the psychology of prediction. Psychological Review, 80, 237-251. Also in Kahneman, Slovik & Tversky (Eds.) 1982.
  40. Kohler, W. (1917). The mentality of apes. New York: Harcourt Brace.
  41. Kuhn, T. S. (1970). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Second Edition) Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  42. Lakoff, G. & Nunez, R. E. (2000) Where mathematics comes from: How the embodied mind brings mathematics into being. Basic Books.
  43. Luria, A. R. (1976). Cognitive Development: Its Cultural and Social Foundations. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.
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  46. Miller, G. A. (1956). The magic number seven plus or minus two. Psychological review, 63, 81-97.
  47. Minsky, M. (1981). A framework for representing knowledge. In Haugeland (1982) pp. 95-128.
  48. Newell, A. (1981). Physical Symbol Systems. In Norman (1981)
  49. Newell, A. and Simon, H. A. (1972). Human Problem Solving. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
  50. Norman, D. A. (Ed.) (1981). Perspectives on Cognitive Science. Norwood, NJ: Ablex
  51. Pinker, S. (1997). How the mind works. New York: Norton.
  52. Plato, (ca 380 BCE/1966).  Meno. Translated by Benjamin Jowett. In Allen, R. (Ed.) Greek Philosophy: Thales to Aristotle. New York: Free Press.
  53. Posner, M. I. (Ed.) (1989). Foundations of Cognitive Science. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  54. Rumelhart, D. E. (1989) The architecture of mind: A connectionist approach. In Posner (1989) pp. 133-159.
  55. 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.
  56. Segal, E. M. (1995). Narrative Comprehension and the Role of Deictic Shift Theory. In Duchan, Bruder & Hewitt (1995)
  57. Segal, E. M., & Lachman, R. (1972). Complex behavior or higher mental processes: Is there a paradigm shift. American Psychologist, 27, 46-55.
  58. Segal, E. M., & Stacy, E. W., Jr. (1975). Rule governed behavior as a psychological process. American Psychologist, 30, 54l-552.
  59. Siegler, R. S. (1991). Children's Thinking. (2nd Ed.) Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
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  66. Suber, P. Notes on Symbolic Logic. Course notes from a course at Earlham College.
  67. Tversky, A. & Kahneman, D. (1982). Judgments of and by Representativeness. In Kahneman, Slovik, & Tversky (1982) pp 84-98.
  68. VanLehn, K. (1989). Problem solving and cognitive skill. In Posner (1989), pp. 527-579.
  69. Weisberg, Robert W. (1993). Creativity: Beyond the Myth of Genius. New York: Freeman
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