Chapter Twelve - Problem-Solving and Reasoning Flashcards
What is a problem?
- an obstacle between present state and a goal
- not immediately obvious how to get around the obstacle
- solution not immediately obvious
What was problem solving like for Gestalt psychologists?
-representing a problem in the mind
What is restructuring?
reorganization or restructuring the problem’s representation
EX: Kohler’s “circle” problem
What did Gestalt psychologists relate restructuring with?
insight
What is insight?
- sudden realization of a problem’s solution
- discovering a crucial element
- Aha experience
What was Metcalfe + Wiebe’s experiment?
-designed an experiment to distinguish between insight + non insight problems
Example of insight vs noninsight problem
insight: triangle problem, chain problem
noninsight: algebra
What is the hypothesis to the Metcalfe and Wiebe experiment?
- in insight problems S should not be very good at predicting how near they are to a solution
- in non insight problems, S should know how close they are to a solution
What were the results to the Metcalfe and Wiebe study?
- insight problems solved suddenly
- noninsight problems solved gradually
According to Gestalt psychologists, what is one of the major obstacles to problem solving?
fixation
What is fixation
tendency to focus on a specific characteristic of the problem that keeps peole from arriving at a solution
What is functional fixedness?
restricting use of an object to its familiar functions
What are examples showing functional fixedness?
- two-string problem
- candle problem
What is a mental set?
-preconceived notion about how to approach a problem
-based on person’s past experiences with the problem (or similar problems)
EX: water-jug problem
How did the given mental set affect the water jug problem
given mental set inhibited participants from using simpler solution
Who were Newell and Simon?
- logic theorists
- described problem solving as a process that involves search
How did Newell and Simon view problem solving?
(Information-Processing Approach)
as a search that occurs between the posing of the problem and its solution
What are 2 types of problem space?
initial state: conditions at the beginning of the problem
goal state: solution of the problem
What are operators?
rules specify which moves are allowed and which are not
EX: Tower of Hanoi
What is means-end analysis?
reduce differences between initial and goal states
What are subgoals?
create intermediate states closer to goal
What is one of the main contributions of Newell and Simon’s approach?
provided a way to specify the possible pathways from the initial to goal states
What else can affect problem solving besides specifying the problem state?
how a problem is stated can affect its difficulty
EX: mutilated checkerobard
What is think-aloud protocol?
- say aloud what one is thinking when solving a problem
- instructed not to describe what you are doing, but verbalize new thoughts
What is the result of think-aloud protocol?
- shift in how one perceives elements of a problem
- similar to idea of reconstruction
How can analogies be used to solve a problem?
using a solution to a similar problem guides solution to a new problem
What is analogical problem solving?
using a solution to a similar problem guides solution to a new problem
What is analogical transfer?
- the transfer from one problem to another
- source problem to target problem
What is the target problem?
problem that S is trying to solve
What is the source problem
another problem that shares some similarities with target problem
What are Gick and Holyoak’s 3 steps to using analogies in problem solving?
- noticing an analogous relationship (crucial most difficult)
- mapping correspondence between source and target
- applying mapping
What is one reason that noticing the analogous relationship is difficult?
people often focus on surface features
What is the relationship between the Radiation problem and the lightbulb problem?
- 81% of S that knew about the radiation problem solved the lightbult problem
- 10% of S in control group were able to solve problem
- surface similarity helped in solving the problem
What does the lightbulb problem demonstrate?
high surface similarities aid in analogical problem solving
what are surface features?
specific elements of a given problem
How do structural features play into problem solving?
-underlying principal that governs the solution
EX: strong ray destroys tissue, strong laser breaks lightbulb
What is analogical encoding?
- process by which two problems are compared
- similarities between them are determined
What is a benefit of analogical encoding?
-effective way to get participants to pay attention to structural features that aid problem-solving
What is a method of analogical encoding?
having people compare source stories may force S to focus on strutural features
what is the analogical paradox?
-can be difficult to apply analogies in lab, but people use them in real-world
What is in vivo problem solving research?
-people are observed to determined how tyey solve problems in the real world
advantages + disadvantages of in vivo problem solving research
advantage: naturalistic setting
disadvantage: time consuming, cannot isolate + control variables
What is an expert?
-a person who is extremely knowledgeable/skilled in a certain field due to devoting a large amount of time to learning/applying that learning
What did Chase and Simon learn about experts?
-experts were better able to reproduce the positions of chess pieces when arranged in actual game positions
What did Chi research?
presented 24 physics problems to a group of experts + novices
What were the results of Chi’s physics experiment?
- novices sorted problems based on surface features
- experts sorted problems based on structural features
Are experts better at problems than novices outside of their field?
no
Are experts more or less likely to be open to new ways of looking at problems
- less likely
- disadvantaged at flexible thinking
What is creativity?
- innovative thinking
- novel ideas
- new connections between existing ideas
- divergent thinking: open-ended; large number of potential solutions
What is problem solving as a creative process?
- most creative problem solving includes far more than just getting an idea
- lengthy period of trial and error
4 stages of creative problem solving
- problem generation: finding, fact finding
- problem formulation: definition, finding
- problem solving: evaluation, planning
- solution implementation: selling idea, taking action
How might too much knowledge hinder creative problem solving?
-oftentimes problems require thinking flexibility + rejecting accepted procedures
