CHAPTER 12 - PROBLEM SOLVING AND CREATIVITY Flashcards
define a problem
occurs when there is an obstacle between a present state and a goal where it is not obvious how to get around the problem
define a problem how a psychologist would
a situation in which you need to accomplish a goal and the solution is not immediately obvious
according to the Gestalt psychologists, what 2 things are involved in problem solving?
- how people represent the problem in their mind
2. how solving a problem involves a reorganization or reconstructing of this representation
what is restructuring?
changing the problem’s representation
what is insight?
any sudden comprehension or realization that involves reorganization of a person’s mental representation of a stimulus to interpret what was not initially obvious
who distinguished between insight and non-insight problems?
Janet Metcalfe and David Wiebe
what did Metcalfe and Wiebe hypothesize about those working on insight and non-insight problems?
insight: should not be good at predicting how near they are to a solution
non-insight: would be more likely to know when they are near a solution
what were the insight problems used in Metcalfe and Wiebe’s insight experiment?
triangle problem
chain problem
what is the triangle problem?
moving 3 dots on a triangle pointing upwards to make it point downwards
what is the chain problem?
given 4 pieces of chain with 3 links and the goal is to join the pieces into a closed loop only having 15cents when it costs 2 cents to open a link and 3 cents to close
what were the non-insight problems used in Metcalfe and Wiebe’s experiment?
analytically based problems
what are analytically based problems?
problems solved by a process of systematic analysis and using techniques based on past experience
those who were working on insight problems had ___ ratings until the end and then a ___ increase in warmth ratings?
cold, sudden
those who were working on non-insight problems had both ___ and ___ ratings that _____ increased over time
cold, warm, gradual
what is fixation?
people’s tendency to focus on specific characteristics of the problem that keeps them from arriving at the solution
what is functional fixedness?
focusing on familiar functions of uses of an object
who used the candle problem?
Karl Dunker
what is the candle problem?
given a vertical corkboard on the wall, candles, matches, a match box, and tacks; one must mount the candle on the corkboard so it can burn without dripping wax on the floor
what were the 2 groups that Dunker introduced the problem to?
- box containing materials
2. materials not inside the box
which group found the problem more difficult?
the group that had a box as a container to the other materials
what could Dunker conclude about the box and fixation?
the boxes were only seen as containers thus they did not think to use it as a mount
what is the two-string problem
task is to tie together 2 strings that were hanging from the ceiling given a chair and pliers
what was the hard part of the two-sting problem?
the strings were too far away from each other
what is the applied functional fixedness in the two-string problem?
thinking the pliers are a set of tools rather than a weight
what is a mental set?
a preconceived notion about how to approach a problem
what is the water jug problem?
task is to determine on paper how to obtain a required volume of water given 3 empty jars as measures
who studied how participants solve with and without mental sets?
Luchins
what were Luchin’s 2 groups in his water jug experiment?
- mental set group: those who solved more problems before target problems thus were exposed to a mental set formula
- non-mental set group: were only solving the target problems thus were not exposed to a mental set formula
what did Luchins observe?
23% of the mental set group used a simpler solution and everyone in the non-mental set group used simpler solutions
what did Luchin’s conclude about mental set and the water jug problem?
mental set can influence problem solving because of preconceptions about the functions of an object and the way to solve a problem
who invented their Logic Theorist computer program designed to simulate human problem solving?
Alan Newell and Herbart Simon
according to Newell and Simon, what is problem solving?
a search that occurs between the posing of the problem and its solution
what is Newell and Simon’s initial state?
conditions at the beginning at the problem
what is Newell and Simon’s goal state?
the solution to the problem
what is the Tower of Hanoi problem?
given 3 pegs with 3 rings that increase in size must all be placed on the right peg based on a set of rules
what are Newell and Simon’s operators?
actions that take the problem from one state to another
what is Newell and Simon’s intermediate state?
conditions after each step is made toward the solving a problem
what is a problem space?
all possible states that can occur when solving a problem
what is means-end analysis?
a way of solving a problem in which the goal is to reduce the difference between the initial and goal states
what are subgoals?
small goals that help create intermediate states that are closer to the goal
what is the multilated checkerboard problem?
asks if a board loses 2 corners, can one cover the remaining squares with 31 dominos if a domino covers 2 squares of the opposite colour
what is the principle behind the multilated checkerboard problem?
if the 2 squares that are removed are the same colours, it is not possible to cover the board with 31 dominos
who tested that more versions of the multilated checkerboard problem were more likely to lead to the principle
Craig Kaplan and Herbart Simon
what were their 4 versions of the multilated checkerboard problem?
- blank squares
- coloured: black and pink
- words black and pink
- words bread and butter
which group solved the modified mulilated checkerboard problem faster?
the bread and butter group
what is the think-aloud protocol?
participants are asked to say out loud what they are thinking while solving a problem
what is the goal of the think-aloud protocol?
determine what information the person is attending to while solving a problem
how did Kaplan and Simon modify their multilated checkerboard problem?
using a story regarding Russian marriage
what is analogical problem solving?
using the solution to another similar problem to guide a solution to a new problem
what is analogical transfer?
transferring an experience from solving one problem to solving another
what is a target problem?
the problem the participant is trying to solve
what is the source problem?
another problem that shares some similarities with the target problem and illustrates a way to solve the target problem
what was Karl Dunker’s radiation problem?
tumor that can only be destroyed with a high intensity ray but that ray will damage surrounding tissue, low intensities of the ray can be used to prevent tissue damage but will not affect the tumor
who made participants read and memorize a fortress story giving them the impression they were being tested for memory
Gick and Holyoak
what did Gick and Holyoak observe?
reading the fortress story enabled 30% of participants to solve the radiation problem because the situations were similar
what do Gick and Holyoak propose are the 3 steps to problem solving
- noticing
- mapping
- applying
what is noticing?
seeing the analogous relationship between the source of the problem and the target problem
what is mapping?
the correspondence between the source problem elements and the target problem elements
what is applying?
using the mapping to generate a parallel situation to the target problem
what is analogical encoding?
process by which 2 problems are compared and similarities between them are determined
who demonstrated that it is possible to get participants to notice by having them compare 2 cases that illustrate a principle
Dedre Genter and Susan Goldin-Meadow
what were the 2 negotiation strategies Genter and Goldin-Meadow taught their paritcipants?
trade off and contingency
what is a trade off strategy?
where one person says to another ill give you A if you give me B
what is a contingency stratgey?
where a person gets what they want if something else happens
after receiving 2 cases and coming up with a negotiation for both and then given a new test problem, what strategy did they tend to use
the same one they were exposed to in the sample cases
what did Genter and Goldin-Meadow conclude about analogical encoding?
comparing source stories in an effective way gets people to pay attention to problem features that enhance their ability to solve other problems
Kevin Dunbar coined the term ____?
analogical paradox
what is analogical paradox?
real-world examples of analogical problem solving
what is in-vivo problem solving research?
involves observing people to determine how they solve problems in real-world situaitons
define expert
people who devote a large number of time to learning about a field and practicing/applying that learning
experts solve problems __ and with ___ success rates than novices
faster, higher
what are 3 differences between experts and novices?
- possess more knowledge about their fields
- their knowledge is organized differently
- spend more time analyzing problems
who demonstrated that expertise is only an advantage in an expert’s specialty
James Voss
what is divergent thinking
thinking that is open-ended involving a large number of potential solutions
what is James Kaufman’s viewpoint on divergent thinkning?
it is the cornerstone of creativity but is not all that creativity can be
according to Kaufman, what else can creativity be?
- a creative response must be useful
2. creativity is anything made by people that is in someway novel and has potential value or utility
what is practical creativity?
involves a lengthy trial-and-error development to turn the idea into something useful
who showed that providing examples to people before they solve a problem can influence the nature of their solutions
Steven Smith
what is Alex Osborn’s group brainstorming?
encourages people to freely express their ideas that might be useful in solving a particular problem
why does group brainstorming result in fewer ideas?
many people dominate the discussion so others are not able to participate
paying attention to others ideas keeps them from coming up with their own
what is Ronald Finke’s creative cognition?
training people to think creatively
what are pre-inventive forms?
ideas that precede the creation of a finished creative product
what is the nine-dot problem?
draw 4 straight lines that pass through all 9 dots without lifting the pen from the paper or retracting the line
why is the nine-dot problem difficult?
people’s tendency to perceive elements as grouped together
who demonstrated that the left anterior temporal lobe is associated with grouping lower-level information into meaningful problems?
Richard Chi and Alan Snyder
what did Chi and Snyder use in their experiement?
transcranial direct current stimulation
how did Chi and Snyder use transcranial direct current stimulation?
to deactivate the left anterior temporal lobe and activate the right anterior temporal lobe
what is transcranial direct current stimulation?
procedure to stimulate the brain using 2 kinds of electrodes
what are the 2 electrodes used in transcranial direct current stimulation?
cathodal electrode
anodal electrode
what does a cathodal electrode do??
is it negatively charged and decreases the excitability of neurons under the electrode
what does an anodal electrode do?
it is positively charged and increases the excitability of neurons under the electrode
what did Chi and Snyder observe and conclude?
40% could solve the nine-dot problem
deactivating the brain that causes people to interpret the world in certain ways can help someone think outside the box
who showed whether a problem is solved by an insight-driven or analytic process is associated with the state the brain is in just before the problem is presented
John Kounios
what kind of problem did Kounios use in his brain state experiment?
compound remote-associate problem
what is the compound remote-associate problem?
when 3 words are presented and the task is to determine one word that when combined with each of these words forms a new word or phrase
EEG activity was increased in the ___ just before insight solutions
frontal lobe
EEG activity was increased in the ___ before non-sight solutions
occipital
what did Kounios conclude?
the status of you brain before you begin a problem can influence the approach you take in solving it
what is the default mode network?
brain network that decreases when a person is involved in a specific task and increases when a person is not focused on a specific task
who connected mind wandering and creativity based on the observation that when a person is working on a problem but cannot solve it - the solution will appear when they put the problem aside
Benjamin Baird
what is incubation?
getting ideas after taking a time out from working on a problem
what is alternate-use task?
when participants have 2 minutes to come up with unusual cues for common objects
who studied if there was a connection between creativity and DMN?
Naama Mayseless
describe Maysless’ experiment
participants were presented with an object and had to come up with one possible use for it
what was the key variable in Mayseless’ experiment?
the originality of the proposed cues
___ originality was associated with higher activity in DMN structures
higher
what is the executive control network?
network involved win directing attention as a person is carrying out a tasks
who demonstrated a link between ECN and creativity?
Melissa Ellamil
describe Ellamil’s experiment
had participants design a book cover in an fMRI to determine brain activity areas
instructed to design in 2 phases
what were the 2 phases Ellamil has her participants design a book cover
- after reading what the book was about
2. re-evaluating what they originally designed
what did Ellamil observe?
ECN and DMN activity were higher in idea evaluation than generating
what did Ellamil conclude?
the ECN is associated with creative evaluation
