chapter 11 Flashcards
3 aspects to problem solving
1) understanding the problem
2) problem solving strategies
3) factors that influence problem solving
creativity
what is problem solving based on? & 2 approaches
based on heuristics
1) analogy approach (solve problem based on experience with similar previous problems)
2) means-end heuristic (break problem into sub problems than solve individual sub problems)
experts benefit from using _____ (what skills)
well developed TOP DOWN skills
overactive top down processing can interfere with _____
its a problem when __
interfere with effective problem solving
problem with it encourages stereotype threat
when do you use problem solving
when want to reach specified goal
- solution not immediately obvious because missing information
- or not clear how to reach goal
3 components of problem solving
1) initial state
2) obstacles
3) goal state
what is the initial state of problem solving?
situation at beginning of problem
what are obstacles in problem solving
restrictions that make it difficult to proceed from initial state to goal state
when do you reach goal state?
when solve problem
what is thinking?
- requires you to go beyond the info you were given, so you can reach the goal
goal may be solution, belief or decision
2 aspects of creativity?
novel (new never seen before)
useful
3 steps to solve problem
1) pay attention
2) understand the problem
3) represent the problem
what is paying attention
in problem solving
- selecting relevant information then attend to that info
- ignore irrelevant information
- free of divided attention
example of way to assist yourself in paying attention
underlying key words (for exam)
challenge of paying attention
focusing on appropriate part
“understand”
have constricted a well-organized mental representation of the problem
- based on information provided in the problem and own previous experience
3 parts to understanding the problem
during problem solving
coherence
- problem must make sense
correspondence
- way of thinking must correspond to actual problem
knowledge
- need to know the information needed to solve the problem
- word knowledge, semantic, lexical knowledge, schemes
what is problem representation
way to translate the elements of the problem into a different format
more likely to reach effect solution in problem (during representing problem- problem solving)
more likely if choose appropriate representation
4 ways to represent the problem
symbols
matrices
diagrams
images
example of symbol while representing the problem
ex: there are 15 times as many students as profs at Dalhousie
s=15p
problem with symbols (representing the problem)
common error
- often make mistakes when try to translate words into symbols
- may over simplify the sentence so that they misrepresent the info
what are matrices
grid consisting of rows and columns that shows all possible combinations of items
- good way to track info
when to use matrices
suitable when info is stable (not changing over time)
benefit of matrices (to students)
- students who represented problem my matrices were likely to solve problem correctly
3 types of diagrams
1) schematic
2) hierarchical tree diagram
3) graphs
what are schematic diagrams
who uses them
- puts into symbolic from the different components that comprise a problem
- engineers and architects
what is a hierarchical tree diagram
- uses tree like structure to show various possible outcomes in a problem
when is hierarchical diagram useful?
- helpful in showing relationship between categorized items
- good for non-academical info (inc satisfaction in customer service)
which type of diagram is best at representing data
graphs
- represent how one thing is related to another
benefits to using graphs
- allow to represent abstract info in concrete fashion
- good when want to represent large amount of info
2 types of images (visual)
mental
drawings
when do we use situated cognitive approach
often use helpful information in our immediate environment to create spatial representations
- emphasizes the external situation
during situated cognitive approach how do you make dimensions quickly
Make decisions about up-down dimension more quickly than decisions about left-right dimension
what is embodied cognition approach?
often use our own body and own motor actions, in order to express our abstract thoughts and knowledge
3 problem solving approaches
1) trial and error
2) algorithms
3) heuristics
which problem solving approaches is least effective
trial and error
skinners way of training rats which problem solving approach was used
trial and error
what are algorithms
- rules (applied same way until solve problem)
- always produce a correct solution (not always efficient)
what is exhaustive search?
- example of algorithms
- try out all possible answers in specific system
approach used in heuristics
experience- based approach
- based on things you know about world
- like mental shortcuts, try to find efficient way to problem solve
what is a heuristic?
general rule that is usually correct
disadvantage of heuristic
not always efficient
- do not guarantee a correct solution
how to use heuristics in problem solving
Ignore some alternates and explore only those that seem especially likely to produce a solution
3 kinds of heuristics
1) hill-climbing
2) means-end analysis
3) analogical reasoning
what is hill-climbing
- keep moving directly towards solution/end point
when is hill climbing ineffective?
when need to move away from goal
(to solve problem)
- ex: rubix cube
how to use hill-climbing method?
You reach a choice point- you consistently choose the alternative that seems to lead most directly to goal
- fail to choose an indirect alternative (may have greater long term benefits)
when is hill-climbing method useful?
Useful when do not have enough information about alternatives, because can only see immediate next step (can lead astray)
- encourages short term goals (rather than long term solutions)
what is means-ends analysis
- divide into sub problems
- determine end of each and figure out the means for achieving
- keep decreasing distance between present and desired state
example of means ends anaylsis
tower of hanoi
- Blocks on pegs, rules can only move one block at a time, can never place larger block over smaller disk—many steps then think
means ends analysis requires you to…
to identify the “ends”/final result that you want, and then figure out what the “means”/methods that you will use to reach those ends
what is GPS?
general problem solver
- basic stategy is means-end analysis, goal is to mimic the process that normal humans use when tackle problem
what is the analogy approach
employ a solution to a similar, earlier problem to help solve a new problem
what is analogical reasoning
example
compare the target to known source
ex: compare computer virus to real virus
analogical reasoning uses?
problem isomorphs
what do people tend to do with analogical reasoning?
- tend to focus more on superficial content of the problem than on its abstract, underlying meaning
- pay attention to obvious surface features
- as result, they fail to emphasize the structural features (underlying the core that must understand in order to solve problem correctly)
problems with analogical reasoning
- often fail to see analogy between problem they have solved and new problem isomorph that has similar structural features
- often have problem solving same problem in new setting, fail to transfer their knowledge
(trouble solving same problem when it is “dressed up” with superficially different cover story)
4 sub processes of analogical reasoning
1) memory
- WM (target): LTM (source)
2) map and abstract
- extract similarities
3) evaluate
- evaluate effectiveness
4) predict
- new info about target
PET scan - analogical reasoning
2 conditions
- analogy and literal condition
analogy condition: shown a compare target, determine if analogous match or miss-match (not identical match)
literal condition: participants see source problem (symbols)
- looking for identical matches
part of the brain PET scan shows activity during analogical reasoning
looking at view of RH of analogy VS literal
- see activity in parietal and prefrontal areas (areas involved in allocation and attention and WM)
- analogy - literal (subtract)
3 ways to increase use of analogical reasoning
1) show similar problems
- if solve enough problems, can draw analogy- create isomorphs
2) instructed to compare problems
- hint, think about it, showing they are isomorphs
2) solved the old and new problems
4 factors that influence problem solving
1) expertise
2) mental set
3) functional fixedness
4) type of problem
benefits to expertise in problem solving
- more effective representation of problem
- more effective strategies (analogies, means-end)
- implementation fast and accurate (do tasks in parallel)
better metacognition
- better understanding if leads to good solution
- better monitoring problem solving
- better judging difficulty of problem, better at allocating time
what is knowledge base?
expertise
experts may solve problems especially well if they have had training of relevant settings
when experts encounter novel problem in area of expertise what do they do?
more likely to use means end heuristic effectively
- divide problems into sub problems which they solve in specified order
- more likely to approach problem systematically (novice have haphazard approach)
- more likely to emphasize the structural similarity between problems (novices- emphasize structural surface similarities)
what is a mental set
top down mental rut
- cant think of better way of thinking of problem
- impairs ability to solve, cannot expect different outcome if doing same thing
what is fixed mindset?
believe you possess a certain amount of intelligence and other skills, and no amount of effort can help you perform better
what is growth mind set?
believe you can cultivate your intelligence and other skills
- challenge yourself to perform better
what is functional fixedness?
- top down mental rut for use of objects
- top down processing is overactive (rely too heavily on previous concepts, expectations, memory)
how to solve functional fixedness
think outside the box
2 types of problems
1) non insight
2) insight
what are non-insight problems (in problem solving)?
- benefit from verbalization
- slow and steady progress
- solve problem gradually, using memory, reasoning skills, and routine set of strategies
what are insight problems (in problem solving)?
- immediate solution that arrives unexpectedly
- interference from verbalization (more we talk, less we solve)
how to solve insight problems
think outside the box
- abandoning customary top-down assumptions and looking for novel solution
people with large WM capacity solve what type of problems better?
solve insight problems relatively quickly
creativity requires solutions that are (2)
novel
useful
3 components to creativity
1) divergent production
2) incubation
3) investment theory
what is divergent production
- mental fluency
creative people able to produce more words starting with specific letter on task
divergent thinking vs convergent
divergent- come up with all possible solutions (one stimulus, many responses)
convergent- come up with right answer
convergent production
asks the test-taker to supply a single, best response, and the researchers measure the quality of that response (many solutions require 1 creative silution, rather than several less useful solutions)
what is incubation (creativitY)
- mixed evidence
- insight problems will incubate when turn attention away and to something else
(when change thoughts, it will come back to you- ah ha moment)
what is investment theory
- suggested that creativity you are not born with
- everyone has ability to be creative but it comes with investment
6 things needed for investment theory
1) intellect
2) knowledge
3) thinking style
4) personality
5) motivation
6) envirnonment
intellect in investment theory
- invest time in developing intellect
- creative people, have good metacognitive awareness
- have desire and willingness to think about problems
knowledge in investment theory
- invest time in accumulating knowledge
- creative people invest time in learning, knowledge
thinking style in investment theory
Invest in right thinking style
- creative people like thinking (enjoy puzzle, like challenge, don’t back down because difficult, don’t look for easy way out- push themselves to find new info)
personality in investment theory
- foster aspects of personality that support creativity
- must have open mind to be creative, willing to try new things
what type of motivation is needed in investment theory
intrinisic
motivation in investment theory
- intrinsically motivated, creative people faster enjoyment, look for things to motivate them and be interesting
- motivation to work on tasks for own sake (because find it interesting)
what is extrinsic motivation
motivation to work on task (not because its enjoyable)
- but in order to receive promised reward or to win competition
(often produce less creative projects)
environment in investment theory
- have environment that supports creativity (friends)
- invest in people who are supportive of creativity will help foster it
what is self-efficacy
belief you have the ability to organize and carry out specific task
- correlated with creativity
people with self efficacy tend to
- have high intrinsic motivation (which encourages their creativity)
what is preservance
ability to keep working on tasks (even when encounter obstacles)
- not consistently correlated with creativity
what are gender stereotypes
- beliefs and opinions we associated with females and males
what is a stereotype threat
if you belong to a group that is hampered by negative stereotype- and you think about your membership in that group- your performance may suffer
- can produce high arousal (likely to interfere with WM)
Cognitive psychologists distinguish problem solving from other kinds of thinking because the study of problem solving focuses on how people
encounter and remove obstacles between an initial state and a goal state.
The first step in problem solving is to
understand the problem
The first step in problem solving involves:
constructing a mental representation of the problem.
Using symbols, matrices, diagrams, and visual images are among the most effective methods of
representing a problem.
Supporters of a situated-cognition approach argue that a person’s ability to solve a problem is closely linked to the:
specific context in which he or she learned to solve that kind of problem.
A method that is guaranteed to produce a solution to a problem (although the process may be inefficient) is called:
algorithm
A problem-solving strategy in which a person ignores some alternatives and only explores those that are most likely to produce a solution is called:
heuristic
A barrier to the use of an analogy approach to problem solving is that people tend to
focus more on the superficial content of a problem than on its abstract, underlying meanings.
A problem-solver divided a problem into several subproblems, and then he tried to reduce the difference between the initial state and the goal state for each of the subproblems. Which strategy he use?
means-end analysis
A recent (2007) study of university students in the United States, Brazil, and India revealed that the students:
typically chose the analogy strategy for solving problems
Compared with novices, experts generally have
greater probability of using parallel processing
Research suggests that a person’s performance on a test requiring problem solving, such as the mathematics portion of the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) might:
suffer if the person is a member of a group that is hampered by a negative stereotype, such as women.
Concerning problem-solving performance, recent research reveals that the stereotype threat:
may be heightened (and performance made worse) if a person is made aware of a link between group membership and poor performance.
A distinction can be made between problems that are usually solved gradually and problems that are usually solved suddenly. This distinction is between
noninsight problems and insight problems, respectively.
In the process of arriving at a solution to a problem that initially seems difficult, but results in a rather sudden discovery of the correct solution:
metacognitive judgments of confidence increase dramatically when the correct solution is discovered.
the requirements, or essential criteria, for calling a problem solution creative are that it:
is novel, high quality, and useful
One early researcher (Guilford, 1967) proposed that creativity should be measured in terms of divergent production, and he proposed several tests in which a person had to:
make a number of varied responses to a test item.
On one test of divergent production, people are asked to
list as many words as possible that begin with the letter L and end with the letter N
Which personality trait is associated with greater creativity?
intrinsic motivation
according to the research on visual images and problem solving
visual images often allow problem solvers to select non traditional solutions for problems
imagine you are currently trying to solve a problem
what would be relevant in this situation
you may experience divided attention because of distracting ideas
supposed that a friend has given you several dozen plastic bottles. You immediately try to think of a variety of creative uses for the bottles. The task you are currently working on is most similar to …
divergent production task
understanding requires..
a close correspondance between situation you need to understand and your own internal representation
what is difference between functional fixedness and mental set
functional fixedness emphasizes the objects involved in solving the problem
mental set emphasizes the problem solvers strategies
one way that functional fixedness and mental set are similar is..
both show that we rely too heavily on a strategy that is typically useful
computer stimulation called general Problem Solver does..
solves problems using means-ends analyisis
