Chapter 12: Problem-solving and Creativity

Question 1

Occurs when there is an obstacle between a present state and a goal and it is not immediately obvious how to get around that obstacle

Answer 1

Problem

Question 2

What two things does problem solving involve according to the Gestalt psychologists?

Answer 2

How people represent a problem in their mind

How solving a problem involves a reorganization or restructuring of this representation (in the mind)

Question 3

Changing the representation of a problem to have better chances of solving it

Answer 3

Restructuring

Question 4

Sudden comprehension, realization, or problem solution that involves a reorganization (restructuring) of a person’s mental representation of a stimulus, situation, or event to yield an interpretation that was not initially obvious

Answer 4

Insight

Question 5

Describe the experiment aiming to distinguish between insight problems and non-insight problems

Answer 5

Used algebra problems for non insight and triangle/chain problems for insight participants

After every 15 seconds , participants needed to rate how close they think they were to solving the problem

Found that people doing insight problems would have a sudden jump in ratings when they were close to solving the problem and eventually did (therefore insights occur suddenly aka and “aha” experience)

Question 6

People’s tendency to focus on a specific characteristic of the problem that keeps them from arriving at a solution

Answer 6

Fixation

Question 7

Type of fixation that works against solving a problem

Answer 7

Functional fixedness

Question 8

Describe the candle problem

Answer 8

When participants were given a couple of objects and were asked how they would mount a candle on the corkboard so it would burn without dripping wax on the floor

Had 2 groups ; one were given a matchbox that was empty and the other was given a matchbox that was full

Those who had empty matchboxes solved the problem quicker because they realized that it could be used as a stand on the corkboard (other group saw boxes as containers so they had a functional fixedness that did not allow them to solve the problem as easily)

Question 9

Describe the two-string problem

Answer 9

Participants’ task was to tie together two strings that were hanging from the ceiling. This was difficult because the strings were so far apart that it was impossible to reach one of them while holding the other

There were pliers that were used to create a pendulum to solve the problem in order for the person to reach the other string

Question 10

Preconceived notion about how to approach a problem, which is determined by a person’s experience of what has worked in the past

Answer 10

Mental set

Question 11

Describe the water jug problem

Answer 11

Task was to figure out on paper how to obtain a required volume of water, given three empty jars for measures, three jugs had the following capacities: A=21 quarts, B=127 quarts,C= 3 quarts, and the desired volume was 100 quarts. A solution was given which allowed the participants to do a couple of problems easily.

Mental set grp ; problem 1 presented first with solution where problems 7 – 8 were worked up to

No mental set grp; presented with problems 7 – 8 where they worked towards problem 1

Found that the no mental set group found simpler solutions than those in the mental set group .

Question 12

Explain how mental sets influence problem solving

Answer 12

Mental set can influence problem solving both because of preconceptions about the functions of an object (candle and two-string problems) and because of preconceptions about the way to solve a problem (water jug problem)

Question 13

What did Newell and Simon demonstrate to be the case with problem-solving?

Answer 13

People solve problems stepwise rather than using subgoals

Question 14

Actions that take the problem from one state to another

Answer 14

Operators

Question 15

Sequences of choices of steps

Answer 15

Intermediate state

Question 16

All possible states that could occur when solving the problem

Answer 16

Problem space

Question 17

A way of solving the problem where the goal is to reduce the difference between initial and goal states, assisted with subgoals

Answer 17

Means end analysis

Question 18

Small goals that help create intermediate states that are closer to the goal.

Answer 18

Subgoals

Question 19

Describe the Tower of Hanoi problem

Answer 19

Initial state: 3 discs stacked on the left peg

Intermediate states: since there are numerous ways to move the disks, you chose moving the disks in an order that makes it more efficient to get to the goal state

Goal state: 3 discs stacked on the right peg

Operators: moving the disc to another peg

Problem state: all possible combinations of moving the disks that can lead to the goal state

Question 20

Why is the Tower of Hanoi problem important?

Answer 20

Shows means end analysis where we need to set subgoals

Question 21

Explain the results of Kaplan and Simon’s version of the mutilated chessboard problem

Answer 21

Boards that emphasized the difference between the adjoining squares were easier to solve for participants

Solving a problem becomes easier when information is provided helps people towards the correct representation of the problem

Note this chess board has no solution, participants were just able to come to that conclusion more quickly when the chess board gave that description

Question 22

Helps to better understand thought processes, where the verbalization of new thoughts are done while they are trying to solve a problem (similar to gestalts restructuring)

Answer 22

Think aloud protocol

Question 23

Noticing connections between similar problems and applying the solution for one problem to other problems, this leads to analogical problem solving

Answer 23

Analogical transfer

Question 24

Problem participant is trying to solve

Answer 24

Target problem

Question 25

Another problem that shares some similarities with the target problem and illustrates a way to solve the target problem

Answer 25

Source problem

Question 26

Describe Karl Dunckers’ findings regarding the radiation problem and the fortress story

Answer 26

Participants who were presented with the fortress story then the radiation problem has a 30% more chance to solve the radiation problem due to analogous transfer

Question 27

Describe the three steps for analogous problem solving that Gick and Holyoak proposed

Answer 27

Noticing: there is an analogous relationship between source and target problems (most difficult as you most likely need prompting before noticing a connection)

Mapping: mapping corresponding parts of the source problem and target problem by connecting elements.

Applying the mapping to the general parallel solution to the target problem

Question 28

Process by which two problems are compared and similarities between them are determined

Answer 28

Analogical encoding

Question 29

Describe Getner and Goldin-meadow’s analogical encoding experiment

Answer 29

Showed analogical encoding where participants were taught about negotiation strategies of trade-off and contingency

Trade off strategy : negotiating strategy in which one person says to another, “I’ll give you A, if you’ll give me B.”

Contingency strategy : negotiating strategy in which a person gets what he or she wants if something else happens.

Participants were given a couple of situations where they had to determine which strategy was best fit, what they found was that participants tended to use neg. strategies that had been emphasized in sample cases (sample cases used mostly trade off strategy)

Having people compare stories is effective in analogical coding

Question 30

What are the three main differences between problem-solving as an expert as opposed to a novice?

Answer 30

Experts possess more knowledge in their fields

Experts’ knowledge is more organized than novices’

Experts spend more time analyzing problems

Question 31

Why is being an expert not always an advantage?

Answer 31

Being so established in a field may encourage a expert to not look for new ways to solve a problem but instead methods that they always used (discourages creativity)

Question 32

Technique for people to express ideas that might be useful in solving a problem

Answer 32

Group brainstorming

Question 33

Why can group brainstorming sometimes lead to fewer ideas being generated?

Answer 33

Some people dominate discussions and don’t allow others to participate

Paying too much attention on other ideas may prevent idea generation

Question 34

A type of divergent thinking where we can find a number of potential solutions (they must be useful in the context of problem solving)

Answer 34

Creativity

Question 35

Describe the problem process according to Basadur

Answer 35

Problem generation: problem finding and fact finding

Problem formulation: problem definition and idea finding

Problem solving: evaluation and selection, planning

Solution implementation: selling idea, taking action

Question 36

Ideas that preceded the creation of a finished and creative product

Answer 36

Pre-inventive forms

Question 37

Describe the nine-dot problem and its relationship with the brain

Answer 37

Draw four straight lines that pass through all nine dots without lifting your pen from the paper or retracing a line. People don’t consider the possibility of extending the lines outside of the square

Due to perceiving elements as grouped together (gestalt principle)

Grouping involves the left anterior temporal lobe

Question 38

What did Chi and Snyder find with respect to transcranial direct current stimulation and the nine-dot problem?

Answer 38

40% of participants solved the problem with deactivation of ATL (anterior temporal lobe), therefore deactivating certain areas will allow us to think outside the box

Question 39

Describe the relationship between tasks and the default mode network (DMN)

Answer 39

Decreases when a person is involved in a task and increases when a person is not paying attention to a task

Activity is associated with mind wandering and associated with a decrease in performance on tasks that require attention

Question 40

Describe Baird’s findings on mind wandering and creative problem solving

Answer 40

Discovered that mind wandering can lead to creative problem solving

He told participants that they had 2 minutes to think of unusual uses for common items given. This task was then followed by a incubation period, where for 12 minutes participants carried a difficult task

Those who did the hard task showed no creativity when the alternate use task was re-done, while those who did an easy task during incubation period had more creativity in the alternate use task

Question 41

Involved in directing attention as person carries a task

Answer 41

Executive control network (ECN)

Question 42

How are the DCM and ECN connected?

Answer 42

The spontaneous nature of mind wandering (DMN) creates a flow of thoughts and ideas (ECN)

ECN guides thinking in original directions (directs attention from unoriginal response)

Question 43

A type of mind wandering where allowing this to occur can increase creativity

Answer 43

Daydreaming

Question 44

Act of choosing to disengage from external tasks to daydream.

Answer 44

Volitional daydreaming

Question 45

What is the relationship between solitude and analytical thinking?

Answer 45

Enhances analytical thinking that requires focused attention

Avoids distractions and giving the mind the space it needs to reflect

Question 46

Simple process of actively noticing new things

Answer 46

Mindfulness

Question 47

Describe two ways to increase mindfulness

Answer 47

Focused attention meditation: focusing on the breath even when mind wandering occurs, used to reduce stress

Open monitoring meditation: paying attention to whatever comes into the mind, and to follow this thought until something else comes along, does not decrease mind wandering.

Question 48

What were Colzato et al,’s findings regarding meditation?

Answer 48

Found that people who use OM meditation had more original ideas and that it caused more activation of DMN