Problem Solving Flashcards
What are Syllogisms?
- logical reasoning task often used in
philosophy - Organize steps (premises) that represent
“truth” in a given order - Use those truths to determine if a
conclusion is valid (logical)
What is the belief bias in syllogisms?
people are more likely to judge a plausible situation as valid than something strange.
Ex. it is hard to imagine students as millionaires
What is Conditional Reasoning?
If some condition is true, then we will observe X
* Hypothesis testing
* “If P then Q” statements
* P is the antecedent and Q is the consequence
* “If it is raining, I will get wet”
* To test conditional statements
* What happens if Q is true? If I am wet, is it raining?
* What happens if P is false? If it isn’t raining, am I wet?
* What happens if Q is false? If I am not wet, is it raining?
Explain Wason’s task in Conditional reasoning:
- If a card has a vowel on one side, then it has an even number onthe other side, which cards should you flip?
- Conditional statement: If ‘vowel’ then ‘even’
People often fall for the confirmation bias
* A tendency to seek confirmatory evidence for a hypothesis
What is the confirmation Bias?
Seek information to confirm what we already belief
What is the Falsification principle in the Wason’s task?
Look for situations that would falsify a rule
Ppl don’t really look for things that falsify the rule.
Tend to just look for confirmation
How does Familiarity affect judgement?
- It even affects our judgment of time …. people are more likely to gravitate toward the option they are familiar with, or at least more familiar with, than the other alternatives.
What is the The return trip effect?
Time judged returning on a route
(now familiar) is rated as shorter than initial route
How do we problem solve?
Going from a problem to goal state
* Problem solving is a multi-step cognitive process that involves three aspect
- Recognizing and representing problem
Focus on relevant information - Analyzing and solving it
Problem solving cycle - Assessing the solution’s effectiveness
and store it in an appropriate form
What is Recursive in the problem solving cycle?
Repeat this cycle as many times as
necessary to find a solution
What is Applicable in the problem solving cycle?
Apply successful cycles (solutions)
to new problems (must be able to
generalize)
How does generalization Ensure a solution’s effectiveness?
Generalization is important for adaptive behaviour
* For problem solving, it involves storing specific solutions
without detail to apply to new scenarios
* Memory for solutions should include ‘essence’ and not specific
details for generalization to occur
Ex. Learn vaguely how to fix a dishwasher, and apply it in future situations
What are Well defined problems?
Requirements are unambiguous
All information needed to solve the
problem is present
Applying Algorithms
Puzzles
What are Ill defined problems?
How to overcome problem / the goal
is ambiguous
Requires added information
Situational
My laptop is broken
- Ambiguous situations
Or Social problem solving
When do we see Greater activity in the right lateral prefrontal cortex?
ill-defined anagrams
Do ill defined problems carry more cognitive load then well defined problems?
Solving ill-defined problems carries a greater ‘cognitive load’
-Cognitive load: the amount of information held in mind at one time
What is the Moravec’s paradox
Artificial intelligence (AI) can solve well-defined problems
well, but not ill-defined problems and simple skills
* “Everything that’s easy is hard, and everything that’s hard is
easy”
* AI defined by the use of algorithms, deep neural networks,
that work well with certainty but not with uncertainty
Is the The Tower of Hanoi a well defined problem?
Yes
What are task constraints in problem solving?
Task constraints are usually defined as those specified by the task to be performed(e.g., ball size and shape, specific goals to be achieved, boundary lines, playing field length, number of opponents and teammates involved, situational characteristics of opponents such as players’ relative position, and approach speed)
What is the Brute force method to problem solving?
Systematic algorithm that represents all the possible steps from the problem to goal state
* Guaranteed to find a solution, but
inefficient
What is Combinatorial explosion?
computing too many alternatives
What is the Trial and Error method to problem solving?
Considered “lower-level thinking”
* Try out a number of solutions, rule out what doesn’t work
* Good for limited outcome problems
* What color of my shirt matches these pants?
* Not good for multi-outcome problems
* Solving a Rubik Cube
via trial and error doesn’t work!
What is the Hill climbing strategy method to problem solving?
Select the operation that brings you closer to the goal without
examining the whole problem space
* This strategy can lead to a false outcome, a ‘local maxima’
(subgoal) is mistaken as the final goal
* Does not always work because some problems require you to
move away from the goal in order to solve it
What is the Means end analysis method to problem solving?
- More flexible approach than hill-climbing
- What “means” do I have to make the current state look like the
goal state I want to be in? - Identifying sub-problems to complete the goal
- Includes forward and backward movements and constantly
evaluating the difference between current and goal states
What is the best way to solve Rubik cube?
algorithms or steps, not trial and error
