Week 5: Problem Solving & Reasoning Flashcards
What is problem solving:
What does Dunker (1926) think problem solving is?
- Solving a problem doesnt come from memory
- Solving a problem comes from goal-directed behaviour
What is goal-directed behaviour?
Behaviour that is focused toward attaining a particular goal
What is problem solving:
What does Mayer (1992) think problem solving is?
- Solving a problem comes from behaviour due to cognitive processes
What methods are used to study how people problem solve?
- Protocol Analysis
- Computer stimulations
What is protocol analysis?
- This is where you ask people how they solve a problem
- Ask people to talk aloud when they are solving a problem
- Use this method mainly to explore why people did something
What are the types of problem solving?
- Well-defined
- Ill-defined
What does well-defined problem solving mean?
Problems that are precise, and well-structured.
They contain a clear specification of three elements:
- Clear start state
- Goal state
- Operators
Any problem in which the starting position, the allowable positions and the goal state are clearly specified, and a unique solution can be shown to exist.
Example : A maths soultion
3x = 6
What does ill-defined problem solving mean?
Ill-defined problems are those that DO NOT have clear goals, solution paths or expected solution
- More like real life problems
- Less-logical, no clear options to follow
Strategies for solving well-defined problems:
What is prune the state space strategy?
- This means we want the fewest possible stages to get to the end goal
- Apply heuristics = rely on less info, allows for faster decision-making that require more info
Strategies for solving well-defined problems:
What is Exploratory strategies?
- Exploratory activities are independent, unstructured activities that provide opportunities to explore ways of interacting with the material provided.
- Weak heuristics
Strategies for solving well-defined problems:
What is hill climbing?
- Pick a move that takes you closer to a goal
Strategies for solving well-defined problems:
What is means-ends analysis?
Most important strategy
- To solve a well-defined problem give yourself SUBGOALS :
- Evaluate task: How do start & goal differ?
- Apply operator to reduce difference
- If obstacle prevents this : re-evaluate
- Create subgoal: remove obstacle
- Solve subgoal
- Set/solve next subgoal if necessary
Evidence for this strategy:
- People identify subgoals – people do use this
- Humans may use this strategy BUT not all problems have clear sub-goals
What are isomorphic problems?
Problems that are presented differently but are the same.
- Surface details (how things are presented) can affect difficulty.
E.g.: a & b are the same problem, a is presented differently to b, however people have difficulty solving problem b because it is presented in a trickier way, even though it requires the same steps as problem a.
Strategies for solving ill-defined problems:
What is analogical reasoning?
Mayer states that to solve ill-defined problems we should use a previous problem to help solve a current problem
- If the specific details in the previous and current problem are similar then a good strategy may be figured out.
What does Analogy mean?
Analogy (comparison between one thing and another) is only useful if relevant features are identified in previous problems.
What does schema mean?
A framework/plan for solving a problem.
What are problem solving schemas?
Example:
In maths, students can use schemas to organise info from a word problem in ways that represent the obvious structure of a problem.
Is problem solving schemas domain-specific?
Yes
Gick & Holoyoak argue that are schema is =
An abstract description of common features & general principles
What does reasoning mean?
Reasoning is the action of thinking about something in a logical way.
What are the types of reasoning?
- Inductive
- Deductive
What is inductive reasoning?
Inductive reasoning is a type of logical thinking that involves:
- Forming generalisations based on specific incidents you’ve experienced
- Observations you’ve made
- Facts you know to be true or false
However conclusions could be invalid – NOT TRUE
What is deductive reasoning?
Deductive reasoning is logical thinking that begins with a premise and adding another premise to reach the final argument point.
E.g.:
Premise = All insects have exactly six legs Premise = Spiders have eight legs Conclusion = Therefore, spiders are not insects
So you take two true statements/premises to form a conclusions
- New information is NOT created
What is meant by conditional?
The rule for conditional is expressed as =
‘if p then q’ p –> q
E.g.: If you are thirsty there is tea in the pot
- There will be tea in the pot anyway
What is meany by biconditional?
The rule for biconditional is expressed as =
p = q
this means that both if p equals q THEN q equals p
E.g.: If I study hard, then I will pass
AND if I pass, then I studied hard
I will pass if and only if I study hard
So = p –> q
q –> p
