Problem Solving Flashcards
what is problem solving according to Mayer 1990
cognitive processing directed at transforming a given situation into a goal situation when no obvious method of solution is available to the problem-solver
what type of processing does problem solving involve
cognitive not automatic
what type of activity does problem solving involve
directed or purposeful
how is problem solving personal
only exists when someone lacks the relevant knowledge to produce an immediate solution
how is problem solving studied
using simple laboratory based problems
- find basic principles
- generalise to more complex settings
what is a well-defined problem
all necessary information available
- have an optimal strategy and one right answer - used in most lab based tasks
what info is provided in a well-defined problem
- initial state of problem
- goal-state
- permissible moves (legal operators)
- operator restrictions (constraints)
whats an ill-defined problem
lack of clarity at outset
-know what the goal is, but nothing in the problem describes how to accomplish the goal
what are knowledge-rich problems
can only be solved by individuals possessing a considerable amount of specific knowledge
- most research on expertise involves these types of problems
eg of knowledge-rich problems
medics
what are knowledge-lean problems
doesnt require the possession of specific knowledge
-most traditional research requires these types of problems
eg of knowledge-lean problems
the monty hall problem
fallibility as problem solvers - the monty hall problem
85% make wrong decision (stick) - why?
de nays & verschueren 2006 - the monty hall problem
- demands made on the central executive
* 22% correct fell to 8% when performed with concurrent CE task
burns & weith 2004 - Problem representation - the monty hall problem
assume hosts choice randon (it isnt - he always choses a goat)
Thorndike 1898 - early approaches to PS
behaviourist approach
operant conditioning - law of effect - Thorndike
- hungry cat in cage
- food outside cage
- initially ran around cage, attacked bard, only slowly increased speed of escape
how was the law of effect termed - thorndike - operant conditioning - hungry cats in cage
trial and error learning
- reproduction of previously learning responses
Kohler 1925 - Gestalt Approach - apes - reproductive vs productive thinking
- apes show productive thinking
- cage sticks too short to reach banana outside
- eventually restructure: join 2 sticks together to form longer one and obtain banana
what is the reproductive vs productive thinking - gestalt approach
applying existing strategy vs restructuring problem to come up with novel solution
what are insight problems - gestalt approach
require problem to be seen in a novel way, different to how seen initially
-restructure your initial problem representation to solve
how can restructuring be aided
by highlighting relevant objects
Battersby, Teuber & Bender 1953 - insight
- restricted group - told to use certain objects
- unrestricted group - use any object in room
- restricted average 2.5 mins - unrestricted 15 mins
why was Ollinger et als nine-dot problem difficult
perceptual organisation of problem causes people to make inappropriate assumptions
what is the assumption that people make in Ollinger et als nine-dot problem
the 4 lines must lie within the square
whats the first stage of Opportunistic Assimilation - insight
fail to solve problem, ‘failure indices’ stored in LTM
whats the second stage of opportunistic assimilation - insight
enter incubation stage - not consciously worked on
whats the third stage of opportunistic assimilation - insight
‘failure indices’ lead to unconscious processing
whats the fourth stage of opportunistic assimilation - insight
previously ignored information now receives attention
whats the fifth stage of opportunistic assimilation - insight
potential for solution found? - move from incubation to insight stage
whats the items and order of items in opportunistic assimilation
- Fail to solve problem, ‘failure indices’ stored in LTM
- Enter incubation stage – not consciously worked on
- ‘Failure indices’ lead to unconscious processing
- Previously ignored information now receives attention
- Potential solution found?
move from incubation to insight stage
whats incubation important for
insightful problem solving
Wallas 1926 - incubation
problem often solved more easily by simply leaving it alone for some time
penaloza & calvillo 2012- incubation
time away allows one to forget misleading information
whats the first finding form sio & ormeod 2009 meta analysis - incubation
incubation effects were reported in 73% of the studies
whats the second finding from sio & ormeod 2009 meta analysis - incubation
incubation effects were stronger with creative problems (those having multiple solution) than with linguistic/verbal problems (those having a single solution)
whats the third finding from sio & ormeod 2009 meta-analysis - incubation
sleep enhanced performance in difficult but not easy problems
whats metcalfe and weibe’s 1979 first point about the differences insightful/non-insightful problem solving
our ability to predict problem solving success
what are the routine problems to metcalfe and weibes first point - insight in PS
we can often predict our ability to solve routine problems prior to attempting to solve them
what are the insight problems to metcalfe and weibes first point - insight in PS
we are poor at predicting our success on these types of problems
whats metcalfe and weibe’s 1979 second point about the differences insightful/non-insightful problem solving
15 sec intervals - predict how close vs far we feel to solution
what are the routine problems with metcalfe and weibes second point - insight in PS
incremental increase in feelings of warmth as solution gets closer
what are the insight problems with metcalfe and weibes second point - insight in PS
sudden increase in warmth moments before abruptly realising solution
what do metcalfe and weibe say about the solvers in insight problems
they do not have an accurate ‘feeling of knowing’ when solving insight problems
what do Gestaltists say about past experience being beneficial to PS
can be beneficial or disruptive
Dunker 1945 - matchbox problem - past experience - always beneficial?
- task - mount candle on vertical screen
- objects available - pins &box of matches
- solution - use box as candle holder, pin to wall
- difficult: we perceive box as container not a platform
what is functional fixedness
assumption from experience objects have only a small no. of possible functions & uses
- prevents insightful PS
mental set - Einstellung
people tend to use a well-practiced strategy on problems even when it is inappropriate or sub-optimal
- mental set so strong that final problem is not solved - fixation on previous solution
what do Gestaltists say about mental sets
habituation creates a mechanised state of mind, a blind attitude towards problems, one does not look at the problem on its own merits but is led by a mechanical application of a used method
what are the successes of the Gestalt Approach
- demonstrated Productive vs Reproductive thinking
- previous experience - adverse or beneficial
- role of restructuring and insight
what are the problems with the Gestalt Approach
- studies poorly designed and hard to replicate
- past experience usually beneficial - functional fixedness uncommon in everyday life
- theoretical: processes behind restructuring and insight not specified
Ohlsson 1992 - Representational Change Theory
- we encounter an impasse when solving a problem because we have represented it wrongly and cant solve it
- in order to break to the impasse we need to change how the problem is represented
what are the 3 ways we can change the way a problem is represented - representational change theory
- constraint relaxation
- Re-encoding
- Elaboration
whats constraint relaxation - representational change theory
inhibitions on what is regarded as permissible are removed
what is re-encoding - representational change theory
some aspect of the problem representation is reinterpreted
what is elaboration - representational change theory
new problem information is added to the representation
when does insight occur according to the representational change theory
when impasse is broken and the retrieved knowledge is sufficient to solve the problem
what is the problem space theory - Newell and Simon 1972
think aloud procedures to abstract general problem solving strategies
whats the first assumption of the problem space theory
information-processing is serial
whats the second assumption of the problem space theory
we possess a limited short-term memory capacity
whats the third assumption of the problem space theory
we can retrieve relevant info from long-term memory
what did newell and simons problem space theory create
a general problem solver
whats a general problem solver
computer program designed to solve numerous well-define problems
what are mental operators - problem space theory
tools used to transform initial state into goal state
what are constraints - problem save theory
restrict the options available
what are mental operators - problem space theory
encode legal moves and restrictions that explicitly dissallow moves under certain conditions
how do processes occur - problem space theory
within limitations of cognitive system
path from initial to goal state - problem space theory
there are lots of alternative paths
what is basic problem space - problem space theory
total set of such states (restricted by legal operators)
how do you solve a problem - problem space theory
by navigating problem space from initial state to goal state
where is the problem space theory applied
- tower of Hanoi
* missionaries and cannibals problem
what are heuristics - navigating the problem space
rules of thumb - means-ends analysis
- not difference between current and goals states
- create sub-goal to reduce this difference
- select mental operator that will permit attainment of subgoal
what are algorithms - navigating the problem space
methods or procedures for solving a problem
what makes a problem difficult to solve
we try to move from initial to goal state - hence problems requiring a move away from gaol state thereby increasing difference between current and goal state should be problematic
advantages of computational approach - cog processes
human cognitive processes stimulated by computer
- revolutionary view 1960/70s
advantages of computational approach - heuristics
emphasised over algorithmic methods broadly consistent with our knowledge of human info processing
- limited capacity helps explain why we use heuristics
limitations of computational method - types of problems
- suited to well-defined problems
- well-defined problems - rely on heuristics
-ill-defined problems - require appropriate knowledge
limitations of computational method - individual differences
ignores individual differences in problem solving
what type of problems does research into expertise typically use
knowledge-rich problems
De Groot 1966 - expertise in chess
- shown chess positions that asked to reconstruct them
- experts accurary - 91%
- novices accurace - 41%
what did De Groot find - experts in chess
- when positions were in random arrangements (not real chess) experts were no better than novices
- therefore chess experts dont have better memory just more efficient encoding
