9. The Psychology of planning

Question 1

Fill in the gaps about “What is planning?”
1. Determining a____ plans
2. D____ a problem into c____
3. S____ through the problem s____
4. Search guided by h____
5. C____
6. T____ environment

Answer 1

1. alternative
2. Decomposing, chunks
3. Search, Space
4. Heuristics
5. Constraints
6. Task

Question 2

What are four problem components (learnt in year 1)

Answer 2

1. Initial state
2. Goal state
3. Operators
4. Constraints

Question 3

What is meant by initial state?

Answer 3

The problem as presented

Question 4

What is meant by goal state?

Answer 4

The aim/intention/desired outcome

Question 5

What is meant by operators?

Answer 5

Things you can do/try/execute

Question 6

What is meant by constraints?

Answer 6

Limitations on what you can do/try/execute

Question 7

What are the filling in the analog: the cards problem?
1. Initial state
2. Goal state
3. Constraints
4. Operator
5. Task environment
6. Heuristics

Answer 7

1. 3 sets of 4 cards + grid
2. unknown
3. Only one in each row or column
4. Lay a card on the grid
5. Online vs physical grid
   Card in one vs many piles
6. Lay cards randomly
   lay cards to maximise progress
   Lay one denomination then another

Question 8

In terms of decomposition orders, what is meant by the following?
1. Breath-first
2. Depth-first
3. Opportunistic

Answer 8

1. Minimal commitment
2. Immediate feedback: lower cognitive load
3. Capitalising on current state

Question 9

What is meant by the problem space?
What does it include?

Answer 9

The mental representation of a problem
- state space
- task environment
- information processing system

Question 10

Define state space

Answer 10

All possible paths between initial and goal states
larger state space is, the harder a problem will be

Question 11

What is meant by the task environment? What three things does it include?

Answer 11

The way a problem is presented to the solver
1. Format (display type)
2. Thematic content (familiarity)
3. Conditions (criticality, risk)

Question 12

What does the information processing system include?

Answer 12

Working memory
Long-term memory

Question 13

What does search using heuristics involve?

Answer 13

Means-ends analysis
Operator selection

Question 14

What is meant by operator selection?

Answer 14

Maximise reduction of distance between initial and goal states
Set a ‘sub-goal’ to apply to operator

Question 15

What are three other heuristics?
1. M____-e____ analysis
2. T____ and e____
3. Heuristics for s____

Answer 15

1. Means-ends
2. Trial and error
3. Sampling

Question 16

What are two examples of heuristics for sampling?

Answer 16

1. Anchoring
2. Representativeness