10. Problem Solving

Question 1

What are the 3 main aspects of problem solving?

Answer 1

1) Goal-directed
2) Involves deliberate controlled processes
3) Problem exists when the solver lacks relevant knowledge to produce an immediate solution.

Question 2

What are 4 main types of problems?

Answer 2

Well-defined vs Ill defined problems

Knowledge-rich vs knowledge lean problems

Question 3

What is the difference between well-defined and ill-defined problems?

Answer 3

Well-defined problems are clearly specified

• initial state
• possible strategies and steps
• goal (clear when goal is reached)

Ill defined problems are underspecified

• infinite strategies
• hard to know which strategy is more effective
• not clear if goal is reached

Question 4

What is the difference between knowledge-rich vs knowledge-lean problems? Cognitive research is usually done on which type of problem and why?

Answer 4

knowledge-rich: need relevant knowledge to solve.
Knowledge-lean: don’t need relevant knowledge because all the information required to solve the problem is already in the question.
knowledge-lean problems because this minimizes individual differences in relevant knowledge.

Question 5

The Monty hall problem is an example of a _____ problem.

Answer 5

Well-defined

Question 6

What is the optimal solution to the Monty Hall problem?

Answer 6

Switch your choice! You have a 2/3 chance of being correct if you switch your choice. Raise accuracy from 50% –> 66.6%

Question 7

What heuristic do people use when solving the Monty Hall problem?

Answer 7

Uniformity fallacy - the assumption that all available options are equally likely, whether true or not.

Question 8

The Monty Hall problem places substantial demands on which part of WM?

Answer 8

Central executive (Attention-like component)
Most people find it hard to think about causality and mistakenly believe that the host’s actions are random. But actually it is not! The host opens the door containing the goat! Not just any door.

Question 9

What is functional fixedness? (Duncker)

Answer 9

Observed when we fail to solve problems because we assume from past experience that an object has only a limited number of uses.

Question 10

Participants were given a candle, a match box containing matches, some tacks, and some other objects. Participants’ task was to attach the candle to a wall by a table so it didn’t drip onto the table below. What is the correct answer? What do the results of this study show?

Answer 10

Stick the candle onto the match box then light the candle. The match box will function as a candle holder. Use the tacks to nail the box to the wall. Dripping wax will drip into the box. Shows functional fixedness as most participants cannot see the function of the matchbox as a platform.

Question 11

When people have very limited experience with an object, does this change their level of functional fixedness?

Answer 11

No. People still show significant functional fixedness despite limited experience with the object.

Question 12

In the candle functional fixedness experiment, why is the success rate much higher when the items given are underlined?

Answer 12

the underlinings led participants to pay more attention to the objects, and thus focused more directly on the key objects involved in the problem solution.

Question 13

Participants were asked to decide whether each of 9 objects could be used for a given function. Immediately after, they decided whether the same objects could be used for a different function. Some objects could be used for both functions. What were the findings of this study?

Answer 13

Deciding that an possessed the first function significantly reduced the probability of detecting that it also possessed the second function. Suggests functional fixedness.

Question 14

What is a mental set?

Answer 14

A tendency to approach problems in a way that proved successful in the past

Question 15

Why is it useful to form a mental set?

Answer 15

So that successive problems can be solved faster with fewer processing demands.

Question 16

Briefly describe Luchin’s Water Jar problems and how does it demonstrate the persistence of the mental set?

Answer 16

Jar A - 28 quarts
Jar B - 76 quarts
Jar C - 3 quarts
Must end up with exactly 25 quarts in one of the jars. Simple solution. (A-C)
The next few problems also require the same solution, just different numbers. So participants develop a mental set. When there was an easier solution in one of the new problems, many participants didn’t see the solution, The successive, repetitious use of the same method mechanised many subjects, and blinded them to the possibility of a more direct and simple solution.

Question 17

Describe Levine’s AB task.

Answer 17

Task was to work out the experimenter’s hypothesis.
On each trial, participant said “A” or “B”. Experimenter will indicate whether this was correct.
First few problems, the solution involved a position sequence (eg. 1st trial – letter on the left was correct; 2nd trial – letter on the right was correct)
After several problems, the pattern changed to a simple one not involving a position sequence:
‘A’ was always correct and ‘B’ was always incorrect.
about 80% of university students failed to solve this problem within 100 trials!!

Question 18

Are experts immune from the damaging effects of mental set?

Answer 18

Nope. Expert chess players were asked to find the shortest way to win. Familiar strategy (5 moves) vs less common strategy (3 moves). Many couldn’t find the shorter solution. Eye movements showed they were still looking at the positions related to the first familiar solution. First solution still directed their attentional processes.

Question 19

What is the difference between “grind-out-the-answer” problems and insight problems?

Answer 19

“grind-out-the-answer” – Work structurally through the problem until we reach a solution
insight problems – “Aha” experience involving a sudden transformation of the problem; Eureka effect

Question 20

What are rebus problems and what are the 2 types of rebus problems?

Answer 20

eg. BIG bad wolf.
Contain visual and verbal cues to solve a familiar phrase. 2 types: depend on 1 principle vs depend on 2 principles. Most people take longer to solve rebus problems that depend on two principles as they require 2 separate insights.

Question 21

Board is initially covered by 32 dominoes occupying 2 squares each (black + white). Then two (black) squares from diagonally opposite corners are removed. Can the remaining 61 squares be filled by 31 dominoes? What is the solution for this mutilated checkerboard problem?

Answer 21

Each domino covers 1 white and 1 black square. The 2 squares removed are both black! So the 31 dominoes can’t cover the mutilated board!

Question 22

A sudden restructuring of the problem (insight) allows us to form the __________.

Answer 22

correct problem representation

Question 23

What is the difference between insight and non-insight problems?

Answer 23

Non-Insight problems: Progressive increase of “warmth” (closeness to solution). Involve sequence of processes.
Insight-problems: Warmth remains at low level until just before a solution is reached then it dramatically increases.

Question 24

When solving remote association problems, the anterior superior temporal gyrus was activated when the answers involved ________.

Answer 24

insight

Question 25

The right anterior superior temporal gyrus was vital to producing insight because?

Answer 25

it is involved in processing general semantic (meaning) relationships

Question 26

What did event-related potentials (ERPs) show just before participants reached an insightful solution?

Answer 26

Burst of high-frequency brain activity ⅓ second before participants indicated they had achieved an insightful solution.

Question 27

What is one evidence to show the role of the right hemisphere in insight?

Answer 27

Before solving the remote associate problems, participants were shown either the solution or an unrelated word presented to left or right hemisphere. Participants responded much faster when word was presented to right hemisphere. Integration of weakly active and distant associations occurs mostly in right hemisphere. Such processing is very relevant for producing insight. In contrast, strong activation of closely related associations occurs mostly in the left hemisphere.

Question 28

Working memory is more important for _____ problems than _____ ones

Answer 28

analytic

insight

Question 29

When partial information was available, then the time needed to produce an insight solution ______ .

Answer 29

decreases

Question 30

Underlying processes involved in insight are typically ______ and involve ________.

Answer 30

unconscious

recombining different representations

Question 31

What is representational change theory in aiding insight?

Answer 31

Changing the problem representation for insight to occur in 3 ways:
1) constraint relaxation - Inhibitions on what is regarded as permissible are removed
2) re-encoding - Some aspect of problem representation is reinterpreted
(required in the mutilated checkerboard problem)
3) elaboration - New information is added to the representation

Question 32

Provide one example of how constraint relaxation can help us gain insight to the solution.

Answer 32

IV = III - I (4 = 3 -1) –> IV - III = I (4 - 3 = 1)
Participants found this problem hard.
Our experience with arithmetic tells us that many operations change the numbers in an equation. In contrast, relatively few operations change the operators. Thus, insight on problems of the second type requires us to relax the normal constraints of arithmetic.

Question 33

For successive problems requiring similar insights, there will be a _______ effect. For successive problems requiring different insights, there will be a ______ effect.

Answer 33

facilitation

interference

Question 34

Which brain area is involved in constraints imposition?>

Answer 34

lateral frontal cortex
Brain-damaged patients with damage to this area solved 82% of the hardest matchstick arithmetic problems, compared to only 43% of healthy controls.

Question 35

Name 4 ways to enhance insight.

Answer 35

1) Provide training
2) Use of subtle cues
3) Positive mood
4) Exposure to illuminating light bulb

Question 36

Providing training enhances performance on which sort of insight problems?

Answer 36

problems with an artificial representation (as opposed to those with realistic representation)

Question 37

How can use of subtle cues enhance insight?

Answer 37

Duncker’s radiation problem. Participants who were given an additional task which shifted their attention in a pattern relevant to solving the problem, were better at solving the radiation problem. They were unaware of any relationship between their shifts in attention and the problem.

Question 38

How does a positive mood help promote insight?

Answer 38

Positive mood was associated with increased activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, which is associated with conflict resolution. Suggests that positive mood allowed people to approach insight problems more flexibly.

Question 39

How does exposure to an illuminated light bulb help to promote insight?

Answer 39

Via the process of priming
A light bulb is often used as an image representing insight. An illuminating light bulb may activate concepts associated with insight and thereby enhance insight problem solving.

Question 40

What is incubation in relation to problem solving?

Answer 40

introducing a period of time away from an unsolved problem

Question 41

How effective is the incubation effect with regard to problem solving? It is most effective for which type of problems?

Answer 41

small but highly significant

more effective for problems requiring many creative solutions than those with only one simple solution.

Question 42

How to maximize incubation effects?

Answer 42

Effects were greater when there was a relatively long preparation time prior to incubation

Question 43

Argued that incubation involves a special type of forgetting. What kind of information is forgotten?

Answer 43

Control information for the tried strategies are forgotten

Makes it easier to adopt alternative approaches.

Question 44

Since we have very limited STM capacity, what do we tend to do for complex problem solving?

Answer 44

Rely on heuristics as it doesn’t require extensive information processing.

Question 45

What is means-end analysis? What are the 3 steps involved in means-end analysis?

Answer 45

The most important heuristic in problem solving
1) Difference between current state and goal state
2) Form subgoal to reduce difference between current and goal states
3) Select a mental operator that helps you attain the subgoal
Generally a very useful heuristic

Question 46

What is hill climbing?

Answer 46

Involves changing the present state within the problem into one closer to the goal. Simpler strategy than means-end analysis.
Mostly used when solver has no clear understanding of the structure of the problem. Involves a focus on short-term goals. Hence, it often fails to lead to problem solution.

Question 47

What is progress monitoring?

Answer 47

Involves assessing rate of progress towards the goal. If progress is too slow to solve the problem within the maximum number of moves allowed, a different strategy is adopted.

Question 48

What are the benefits of planning? Why do we always choose not to play and instead rely on simple heuristics?

Answer 48

Helps us reduce the amount of steps to get to the goal

Incurs time and effort, and often unnecessary

Question 49

Amount if forward planning is often dependent on?

Answer 49

level of expertise
Expert chess players worked out the implications of possible moves about 3 plies further ahead in a game than non-expert ones.

Question 50

What does analogical problem solving entail?

Answer 50

Requires people to detect similarities between 2 problems

Question 51

What are 3 types of similarities between different problems?

Answer 51

1) Superficial similarity - solution-irrelevant details (eg. specific objects) are common
2) Structural similarity - causal relations among some main components are common
3) Procedural similarity - Procedures/steps for turning the solution principle into concrete operations are common

Question 52

Even though people may be aware of a relevant analogy, why are people not likely to use it to solve the problem?

Answer 52

Participants were more likely to spontaneously recall analogies with superficial similarities

Question 53

When people generate their own analogies, what sort of analogies do they tend to generate?

Answer 53

Analogies that involve structural similarities rather than superficial ones.

Question 54

Participants received verbal analogies (eg. BLACK: WHITE :: NOISY: QUIET) and picture-based analogies involving cartoon characters.
These analogies were solved on their own or while participants performed a secondary task.
What were the findings and what do the findings show?

Answer 54

When asked to perform a secondary task, performance on these analogies were impaired. Shows that analogical problem solving requires central executive of working memory.

Question 55

Verbal analogies require which part of working memory? Picture-based analogies require which part of working memory?

Answer 55

1) phonological loop

2) visuo-spatial sketchpad

Question 56

How do we improve analogical problem solving?

Answer 56

We find it easier to grasp the underlying structure of a problem if we compare it directly with another problem sharing the same structure.

Question 57

What is the difference between high context vs low context cultures?

Answer 57

High context cultures (non western) – people’s behavior is strongly influenced by the immediate social and physical context. Less planning.
Low-context cultures (western) – people’s behavior is less influenced by the immediate context and more by perceptions of personal control.

Question 58

How does problem-solving behavior differ between high-context vs low-context cultures?

Answer 58

High context cultures – gathered more information about the microworld situation. Even though they gathered much information, they failed to use this information to enhance planning.
Low context cultures – engaged in more planning because perceived ability to control situations is greater among those in low-context cultures.

Question 59

How does hypothesis testing solve problems?

Answer 59

Involves forming a hypothesis (potential explanation) and then test it. If that hypothesis proves to be incorrect, another hypothesis is formed. This continues until the problem is solved.

Question 60

What is the confirmation bias?

Answer 60

Involves the attempt to obtain evidence confirming the correctness of one’s hypothesis

Question 61

What is falsification?

Answer 61

Involves the attempt to falsify hypotheses by experimental tests

Question 62

Popper argues that it is impossible to achieve confirmation via hypothesis testing. Why?

Answer 62

Even if all evidence accumulated so far supports a hypothesis, future evidence may still disprove it. Hence falsification is a more useful strategy than confirmation.

Question 63

Why was performance so poor on Wason’s 2-4-6 hypothesis testing task?
Rule: Ascending order

Answer 63

People exhibited confirmation bias, where they focused on gathering evidence that confirms their hypothesis rather than trying to falsify it. Failure to try hypothesis disconfirmation prevented participants from replacing their initial hypothesis (which was too narrow and specific) with the correct general rule.

Question 64

How do we encourage people to falsify the hypothesis and try to disconfirm it? (2)

Answer 64

Tell the participants that the hypothesis was someone else’s.
Get them to use external representations (eg. represent their hypothesis in terms of graphs or diagrams)

Question 65

In the dual-space search by Klahr and Dunbar, what are the 2 spaces called?

Answer 65

1) Hypothesis space

2) Experiment space

Question 66

What are the 2 states found in the hypothesis space?

Answer 66

Contains possible hypotheses.
Initial state is some knowledge of the domain or specific area
Goal state is a hypothesis accounting for that knowledge in a more concise, universal form.
Hypothesis generation in this space may involve various mechanisms (Eg. memory search; analogical mapping; reminding)

Question 67

What occurs in the experiment space?

Answer 67

Contains all experiments that one can design. Directed towards experiments that will discriminate between rival hypotheses and yield interpretable outcomes.

Question 68

Why do we distinguish participants who prefer to search the space of hypotheses and those who prefer to search the space of experiments? What does this show?

Answer 68

Show that there are individual differenes amongst people. For eg. among students, there will some students who are more interested in coming up with hypotheses to test, and some who will be more interested in designing the experiments to test these hypotheses.

Question 69

Schunn & Klarr identified 4 problem spaces in science. What are they?

Answer 69

1) Hypothesis space - generate hypothesis to test
2) Experiment space - Discriminate between rival hypotheses
3) Paradigm space - Offshoot of the experiment space and consists of various classes of experiment
4) Representation space - Offshoot of hypothesis space and consists of ways of representing phenomena

Question 70

What constitutes strong methods and what is its strength and limitation?

Answer 70

Strong methods

• lengthy process of acquiring huge amounts of detailed domain-specific knowledge about scientific phenomena, theories, procedures, experimental paradigms etc
• often sufficient to solve simple scientific problems, but insufficient to permit creative scientific discoveries

Question 71

What constitutes weak methods and what is its strength and limitation?

Answer 71

Very general methods and can be applied to almost any scientific problem
Also used in most everyday problem solving
Eg. trial and error, hill climbing, means-ends analysis, planning, use of analogies

Question 72

What is the unusualness heuristic that scientists like to make use of?

Answer 72

Involves focusing on unusual or unexpected findings and then using these findings to guide the search through the space of hypotheses and the space of experiments

Question 73

Name 5 heuristics used by leading scientists.

Answer 73

1) Challenge conventional wishdom
2) Step-by-step approach
3) Trial and error
4) “What if” reasoning
5) Inductive reasoning

Question 74

What is the “what if” reasoning and what are the advantages and limitations?

Answer 74

Work out what would happen in certain imaginary circumstances
Can be used even when we possess only partial knowledge and it doesn’t require an experiment

Question 75

What is inductive reasoning? What is a limitation of inductive reasoning?

Answer 75

Forming generalizations based on a set of observations

Limited approach because future observations might differ from those found so far and disprove the generalisation

Question 76

What are the 2 kinds of reasoning used by doctors when making diagnoses?

Answer 76

Explicit reasoning – fairly slow, deliberate, associated with conscious awareness
Implicit reasoning – fast, automatic, not associated with conscious awareness

Question 77

Medical novices engage mainly in _____ reasoning; medical experts engage mainly in _____ reasoning

Answer 77

explicit

implicit

Question 78

What are the 4 aspects of deliberate practice?

Answer 78

1) Task is at appropriate level of difficulty
2) Learner is given informative feedback about his/her performance
3) Learner has adequate chances to repeat the task
4) Learner has chance to correct his/her errors