Chapter 12 - I couldn't "decide" what to say!

1. Yes, this chapter was a challenge for me! I procrastinated in getting this posted because I couldn't decide what to say. Needless to say, making decisions is a challenge for me. This chapter talked about deductive reasoning (which does make sense to me) and decision making. If something is common sense, I can handle making a decision. However, with all of the different types of heuristics (general strategies that typically produce a correct solution) of decision making, I was led into confusion. There is the representativeness heuristic where we make decisions based on whether a sample looks similar in important characteristics to the population from which it is selected, (p. 413). There is the availability heuristic where you estimate frequency or probability in terms of how easy it is to think of relevant examples of something. Then there is the anchoring and adjustment heuristic where you begin with a first approximation (an anchor) and then make adjustments on the basis of additional information. When it comes to big decisions, I learned that I am a maximizer since I agonize over my decisions more so than a satisficer who makes decisions quickly.

2. Although I have learned a lot during the course of this class, this chapter still hasn't helped me in being a better decision maker. In fact, I think it confused me even more, especially after reading about all the different types of heuristics. I think if the book gave more examples on each type of heuristic, I might understand it better.

3. I was very clear on the framing effect, though, and I think I'll use this to help in teaching students about decision making through their wording. This would go along with language arts teaching very well. I would also have students read a debatable article in a magazine or newspaper and have them do some thinking, deductive reasoning, decision making, and debating, in addition to having them frame their own questions for discussion.