Lecture 7 - Problem solving Flashcards
(25 cards)
What are the three aspects of problem solving?
- Goal-directed (purposeful)
- involves controlled (couscious) processing
- lack of knowledge for immediate solution
Define well-defined problems
All aspects of a problem are clearly specified
Define ill-defined problems
Aspects of the problem are imprecisely specified (lack of info, context. e.g. planning a party)
What does IGOR stand for in defining problems?
I - Initial state (desc of problem)
G - Goal state (end result of solved problem)
O - Operators (actions taken to achieve goal)
R - Restrictions (what/why you’re not allowed to?)
What are knowledge-rich problems?
Can only be solved with relevant knowledge and expertise
What are knowledge-lean problems?
Do not require knowledge; information available in the initial problem statement
What are the two types of thinking distinguished by the Gestalt approach?
- Reproductive thinking
* Systematic re-use of prev experience to solve current problem. - Productive thinking
* Novel reconstruction of a problem = have to come up w/ new ways to solve problem.
What is insight in problem solving?
Involves a sudden restructuring of a problem
(Experience a sudden realisation on how to solve a problem)
What is the effect of hints on insight problems?
Increase the number of solutions produced
E.g Thomas & Lleras (2009) = reach 2 strings:
* Given hints = 1. swing arms 2. stretch arms
* 1st was irrelevant but acted as an UNCONSCIOUS hint
What is incubation in problem solving?
Putting the problem aside for some time
1. Subconscious mind continues to work towards solution
2. Forget prev failured strategies & adopt new approaches
E.g. Sleeping
What is representational change theory?
Involves changing problem representation to facilitate insight:
1. Constraint relaxation= relax rules (widen the box of possible solutions)
2. Re-encoding = Think about it in a diff way (reinterpret aspects of the problem representation)
3. Elaboration = New info about problem is added to the representation
E.g. The Nine-dot Problem
What is functional fixedness?
Mistakenly assuming an object has a limited number of uses
E.g. Dunker (1945) Candle - Tackbox problem
What is a mental set?
Tendency to use a familiar problem-solving strategy that has proved successful
E.g. Luchins (1942) “water jugs”
* Prior solutions can slow down/disrupt current solutions
* They’re irrelevant so new strategies must be thought of
Problem-solving strategies (Newell & Simon ‘72)
- We have a limited STM capacity & processing is typically SERIAL (unhelpful if we had large capacity so we filter useful & not useful info)
- Used knowledge-lean problem = E.g. Tower of Hanoi
Heuristics
Rules-of-thumb.
Mental shortcuts — simple, fast rules your brain uses to make decisions or solve problems quickly, without needing to think through everything in detail.
Autopilot
What is means-end analysis?
Breaking problems down to its initial state & goal state
1. form sub-goals to reduce difference between current & states (e.g. goal is to be a psychologist. Break goal into managebale sub-goals like completing coursework)
2. Select a mental operator (e.g. a move or moves) that permits attainment of the sub-goal
What is a cognitive miser?
Someone who is economic w/ their time and effort on thinking tasks.
1. Cognitive Reflection Test = provides evidence of the extent to whoch people are cognitive misers
2. Overlap w/ use of heuristics = misers report to simplest strategy (are often incorrect)
* Unlike heuristics (turn to mental shortcuts due to limited capacity), misers are reluctant to do effortful processing despite them being able too (lazy brains). The path of least resistance.
What are the three main types of similarity in analogical problem solving?
- Superficial = DETAILS are similar regardless of what the solution was.
- Structural = STRUCTURALLY, the problems are the same. Causal relationship between them (similar causes)
- Procedural = Behaviours/actions taken to come to a solution are similar.
What did Gick & Holyoak (1980) find about analogy detection?
Participants solved problems better when told a relevant story
What is expertise in problem solving?
Considerable specialist knowledge leading to efficient problem solving
* High lvl of thinking as a result of practice (e.g. surgeons)
* Knowledge-rich problems = knowledge beyond that contained in the problem
Experts…Better visual memory?
- Difference in performance NOT due to better visual mem.
* Evi = When grandmasters were presented w/ positions unlikely to arise, experts were no better than novices.
E.g. Chess players possess more chess-related info in LTM
* Access rapidly
* Narrow-down possible moves
Eye-tracking & medical expertise?
Differences found between experts & novices?
- Technique provides info about the focus of attention
- > > >
- shorter fixations
- faster & more fixations on task-relevant info
- longer saccades (rapid eye-movement)
Eye-tracking evi consistent with…
1. Information-reduction hypothesis?
2. Hollistic model?
- Efficient and selective allocation of attention (experts know what to fixate on depending on its relevance to the task)
- Experts extract info from wioder area w/ each fixation (able to extract info quicker than a novice)
What is plasticity in the context of expertise?
Changes in brain structure/function related to experience (brain adapts depending on environment
* E.g. London Taxi Drivers - “The Knowledge” = more grey matter in posterior hippocampus (memory)
