Chapter 10: Thinking, Problem Solving, & Reasoning

Question 1

Thinking

Answer 1

Going beyond the info give, a complex/high level skill that fills gaps in evidence
Refers to more than one specific activity

Question 2

Focused Thinking

Answer 2

Clear starting point and has a specific goal

Question 3

Unfocused Thinking

Answer 3

Character of daydreaming, or unintentionally calling to mind a number of loosely related ideas
Not sure if creative thinking falls under focused or unfocused thinking (mixed research, might be a combination)

Question 4

Reasoning

Answer 4

Cognitive processes we use when we draw inferences from info

Question 5

Introspection

Answer 5

Detailed, concurrent, non judgemental observation of contents of consciousness

Question 6

Well-Defined Problems

Answer 6

Clear goal, present a small set of info to start from, often present set of rules to abide by while working to solution

Question 7

Ill-Defined Problems

Answer 7

Don’t have goals, starting info, or steps clearly spelled out

Question 8

Generate & Test Technique

Answer 8

Generating numerous possible solutions and testing them
Useful when there aren’t a lot of possibilities

Question 9

Classic Problems/Methods of Solution

Answer 9

Generate and test
Means-ends analysis
Working backward
Reasoning by analogy

Question 10

Problems With Generate & Test Technique

Answer 10

Doesn’t work well when;
Too many possibilities
No guidance over generation
Can’t keep track of possibilities tested

Question 11

Means-Ends Analysis Steps

Answer 11

Initial state: conditions at beginning of problem
Goals state: condition at the end of problem
Intermediate states: various conditions that exist along pathways between the initial and goal state
Operators: permissible moves that can be made towards the problem’s solution

Question 12

Means-Ends Analysis Downfalls

Answer 12

However, sometimes the optimal way to reach solution is to take a temporary step backward from the goal
Can make it more difficult to see that most efficient path to a goal isn’t always the most direct one

Question 13

Means-Ends Analysis

Answer 13

Reduce the difference between initial state and goal state
Involves generating a goal and sub goals
Any sequence of moves beginning at initial state and ending at final goal constitutes a solution path

Question 14

Working Backward

Answer 14

Analyze goal to determine the last step needed to achieve it, then next to last step, etc
Involves creating sub goals and reducing differences between the current state and the goal state
Sub goals are created working backwards from the goal state

Question 15

Backtracking

Answer 15

Problem solving involves making working assumptions
To correct mistakes in problem solving, we need to;
Remember assumptions
Assess which assumptions failed
Correct the assumption

Question 16

Reasoning By Analogy

Answer 16

Find comparisons between two situations and apply the solution from one situation to another
Involves a deep understanding of elements of problem and their relationships
Map a solution from one problem to a different problem

Question 17

Risk of Reasoning by Analogy

Answer 17

Can be taken too far if one assumes that the links map on too directly between the two domains

Question 18

Blocks To Problem Solving

Answer 18

Mental sets
Lack of problem specific knowledge/expertise
Finding creative solutions
Unconscious processing/incubation
Everyday mechanisms

Question 19

Mental Set

Answer 19

Tendency to adopt a certain framework, strategy, or procedure based on your initial assumption instead of other equally plausible ways
Induced by short amounts of practice
Often cause people to make unwarranted assumptions without awareness

Question 20

Perceptual Set

Answer 20

Tendency to perceive an object or pattern in a certain way on the basis of your immediate perceptual experience

Question 21

Functional Fixedness

Answer 21

Adopting a rigid mental set toward an object
E.g. using screwdriver as a weighted pendulum on a string to reach two far apart strings at once

Question 22

Expertise

Answer 22

Expertise alone is not always enough for problem solving
Brain damage can disrupt the role of expertise

Question 23

Chess Players & Expertise

Answer 23

Examined chess masters and novices
Both considered the same number of possible moves
But masters somehow chose the best move more easily

Experts can recall more items from a 5 second exposure of a chessboard
But only when the pieces are configured to depict a possible chess game

Question 24

Why Are Experts Better

Answer 24

More domain specific categorization skills (draw form more exemplars)
Represent problems at a deeper more conceptual level
Better chunking

Question 25

Insight

Answer 25

Change in frame of reference or in way elements of problem are interpreted/organized

Question 26

Creativity

Answer 26

Appropriate novelty
Originality that suits a purpose

Question 27

Unconscious Processing/Incubation

Answer 27

While mind is actively running other cognitive process, some other sort of processing was happening in background
Unconscious processes can help us find answers to problems

Question 28

Rebus Puzzles

Answer 28

Participants solve 15 word puzzles, 16th has a misleading cue inducing a fixation on incorrect interpretation
Participants given filled interval breaks (e.g. playing music during break between tasks) were more likely to forget misleading cue and solve the rebus later

Question 29

Creative Processes

Answer 29

Directed remembering
Noticing
Contrary recognition

Question 30

Directed Remembering

Answer 30

Ability to channel your memory to make conscious some past experience or knowledge that meets various constraints

Question 31

Noticing

Answer 31

Noticing where problems are
Plays a role in noticing similarities between one problem and another

Question 32

Contrary Recognition

Answer 32

Ability to recognize objects not for what they are but as something else
E.g. see a cloud as a castle

Question 33

Reasoning

Answer 33

Typically have one or more particular goals in mind
Focused thinking
Involves inferences or conclusions drawn from other info

Question 34

Deductive Reasoning

Answer 34

From general to specific/particular
No new information added
Drawn conclusions represent info that was already implicit in the premises
E.g. all uni students like pizza, terry is uni student, therefore he likes pizza

Question 35

Inductive Reasoning

Answer 35

From specific to general
Can result in conclusions that contain new info
Deals with probable truth, not guaranteed truth
E.g. Brian is a uni student, he lives in a dorm, therefore all uni students live in dorms

Question 36

Deductive Validity

Answer 36

Arguments are deductively valid if and only if it is impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion to be false
Provides reasoner with guarantee that if start with true premises and reason according to logic, conclusion must be true
Only holds for deductive reasoning

Question 37

Inductive Strength

Answer 37

Arguments have inductive strength if it is improbable (not impossible) for the premises to be true and the conclusion false
If has begun with true premises and followed acceptable principles

Question 38

Type 1 Process

Answer 38

Intuitive
Autonomous, intuitive, do not require working memory

Question 39

Type 2 Process

Answer 39

Analytic
Deliberative, analytic, require working memory, different thinking styles
Biases observed in reasoning tasks thought to be due to failure to engage analytic thinking

Question 40

Willingness To Engage in Type 2 Process

Answer 40

When reasoning depends on efficiency of metacognitive monitoring of type 1 outputs
Confidence in type 1 response determines chance of engaging in type 2 processes (lower confidence = more type 2)
Explicit instructions to use logic increases type 2 thinking

Question 41

Thinking/Problem Solving & Prefrontal Damage

Answer 41

Catastrophically hampered in ability to reason with problems requiring integration of multiple propositions when premises were not in order permitting easy integration
Did not show deficits in IQs or semantic memory