ORG 3530 Problem Solving, Decision Making and Creativity
ORG 3530 Problem Solving, Decision Making and Creativity
This course provides knowledge about how humans think: the doctrine of cognition. Cognitive psychology deals with all senior mental processes like senses and perception, attention, memory, problem solving, creativity, affect and decision making. This field is one of the biggest within psychological research and is connected to behavioral economics and practical organizational psychology. By learning about how people think and feel, one can achieve a greater understanding of oneself. By doing this, one can learn to solve problems in a more innovative way and make better decisions. This type of knowledge can be crucial when trying to create effective processes in knowledge intensive organizations, where people deal with problem solving, strategic decisions and creativity on a regular basis. Research indicates that theoretical knowledge about human cognition alone is not sufficient when trying to achieve better results. Therefore, the course offers a theoretical introduction to affect and cognition, along with techniques and work methods that can be used to succeed when solving problems, being creative, and making decisions.
After finishing this course, students will have:
Acquired knowledge about cognitions, like:
- Senses, attention, and perception
- Different forms of memory
- Learning, and the basis of effective learning
- Prediction of the future
- Intuition and expertise
Been introduced to human problem solving, like:
- Different types of problem framing
- Different strategies in problem solving
- Factors that promote and hinder successful problem solving
- Problem solving in groups and teams
Been introduced to the topic of creativity, like:
- Which factors promote and hinder creativity both individually and in groups
- Different definitions and forms of creativity
Been introduced to the topic of decision making, like:
- Descriptive and normative decision-making theory
- Decision making traps caused by heuristics
- Techniques that foster better decisions, both at an individual and organizational level
- Individual and cultural differences in decision making styles
After taking this course, students will:
- Explain and analyze important traits of cognitive psychology
- Know about techniques and work methods that facilitate problem solving
- Know how work processes should be organized to solve problems in an optimal way
- Know about techniques and work methods that foster creativity
- Know how to organize exercises that foster creativity at both an individual and group level
- Know about techniques that facilitate their own creativity
- Recognize the most common decision traps across different contexts
- Know about different techniques and work methods that makes us avoid the most common decision traps:
- The devil’s advocate exercise
- Pre-mortem exercise
- Know about measures of “nudging” that can be implemented for individuals and organizations, to foster better decision making
- Know about the concept of behavioral intentions, and how formulating them can be useful to making better decisions.
After this course, students will:
- Have developed their ability to reflect on possibilities and limits of human thinking
- Realize the value of feedback regarding learning and achievement enhancement
- Develop sensitivity to the different decision traps that can hinder goal attainment
- Develop a humble metacognition; the attitude towards your own thinking and its limits
- Accept the importance of an open and non-judgmental attitude to foster the creativity of the people around you.
The course is divided into five topics, and each of them deals with a distinct part of cognitive psychology. The first topics are related to knowledge about basic cognitive structures, while the latter subjects are more practically oriented.
- Topic 1: What is a cognition – how does the mind work?
- What does the architecture of the mind look like, and what is its basic function?
- How do human beings perceive their surroundings: senses, attention, and perception?
- Topic 2: The mind that adapts to its experiences
- How humans store and retrieve knowledge and information
- How learning happens
- What is an intuition, and how does it work?
- Under which conditions does experience lead to genuine expertise
- How to become better at predicting
- Topic 3: Problem solving and creativity
- Different types of problem solving
- Work methods and techniques that foster problem solving at an individual and group/team level and organizational level
- What is creativity, why is it important, and how can it be measured?
- Work methods and techniques that foster creativity
- Topic 4: Decision making
- Normative and descriptive decision theory; why we should make decisions, and how we actually make decisions
- Common decision traps, and techniques to avoid them
- Topic 5: Application: Individual, organization and culture
- Measures to promote good decisions at an individual and organizational level
- Individual and cultural differences in decision style
The course is divided into five topics, each of them dealing with a distinct part of cognitive psychology. The first topics are related to knowledge about basic cognitive structures, while the latter subjects are more practically oriented. The five topics are explored over 13 lectures, each lasting 2 hours. Additionally, we will have an introductory lecture and a summarizing lecture before the exam. In total, there will be 30 hours of teaching.
The syllabus that needs to be read, and podcasts that needs to be listened to in relation to each topic, will be communicated.
In addition to required readings and lectures, there is a digital booklet of practice questions, available for purchase via the mobile application Pugg. The set of practice questions is a recommended but voluntary learning tool.
Students are invited to test themselves using several different tests in relation to the lectures. The tests will be available at the Clearer Thinking website: www.clearerthinking.org.
Continuation
Students who do not pass the written exam, or who wish to improve their grade, can take a new continuation exam when doing the exam at a later date.
Higher Education Entrance Qualification
Disclaimer
Deviations in teaching and exams may occur if external conditions or unforeseen events call for this.
None.
| Assessments |
|---|
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Invigilation Weight: 100 Grouping: Individual Support materials:
Duration: 3 Hour(s) Exam code: ORG 35301 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination every semester |
| Activity | Duration | Comment |
|---|---|---|
Teaching | 30 Hour(s) | |
Prepare for teaching | 82 Hour(s) | |
Student's own work with learning resources | 80 Hour(s) | |
Examination | 3 Hour(s) |
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 7,5 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of at least 200 hours.