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47 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
problem
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occurs when there is an obstacle between a present state and a goal and it is not immediately obvious how to get around the obstacle
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well-defined problems
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usually have a correct answer, and certain procedures that will lead to a solution
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ill-defined problem
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occur frequently in everyday life, do not necessarily have a correct answer, and the path to their solution is unclear
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problem solving for Gesalt psychologists was about...
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(1) how ppl represent a problem in their mind
(2) how solving a problem involves a reorganization or restructuring of this representation |
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restructuring
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the process of changing the problem's representation
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insight
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the sudden realization of a problem's solution
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experiment designed to distinguish between insight problems and non-insight problems
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procedure: gave participants insight problems (link chains) and non-insight problems (algebra) and asked them to make "warmth" (1-far, 7-close) judgements every 15s as they were working on the problem
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results: for insight problems warmth remained low until just before the problem is solved, while with on-insight problems warmth gradually increased
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what is the key difference between insight and non-insight problems?
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with insight problems ppl should not be good at predicting how near they are to the solution, while the opposite is true for non-insight problems
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fixation
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ppl's tendency to focus on a specific characteristic of the problem that keeps them from arriving at a solution (one of the major obstacles to problem solving)
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(e.g) focusing on the familiar uses of an object
(i.e.) the candle problem. two-string problem |
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functional fixedness
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restricting the use of an object to its familiar functions
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the candle problem
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procedure: gave participants a cork board, some candles, a matchbox with or without matches, and tacks. The task was to mount candle on wall without dripping wax on the floor
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results: the group that had been presented the box with matches found the problem more difficult than without matches (twice as likely to solve problem)
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two-string problem
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procedure: participants task was to tie together two strings hanging from the ceiling, but this was difficult because they were separated. To solve they needed to tie one string to pliers so they could swing it and get both strings within reach
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results: 60% did not solve problem, when experimenter set sting swinging by accidentally bumping into it 23 to 37% who hadn't solved it figured it out in 60 s
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mental set
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a preconceived notion about how to approach a problem, which is determined by a person's experience or what has worked in the past
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water-jug problem
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participants given 3 jugs of diff capacities and are required to use these jugs to measure out a specific quantity of water
Procedure: had one group do a set of 8 problems, the last two could be solved in a quicker way the other group only did the last 2 problems |
results: the mental set group used the shorter solution significantly less than the no mental set group
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Newell and Simon's approach to problem solving
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problem solving as a search process where instead of just considering the initial structure and the new structure, a search occurs between the posing of the problem and its solution
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initial state
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conditions at the beginning of the problem
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goal state
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the solution of the problem
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tower of Hanoi problem
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move discs
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operators
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actions that take the problem from one state to another
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intermediate state
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each step creates these states in between the initial and goal states
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problem space
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the initial state, the goal state, and all the possible intermediate states of a particular problem
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means-end analysis
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strategy for problem solving in which the primary goal is to reduce the difference between the initial and goal states
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how a problem is stated can affect its difficulty as demonstrated by which problems?
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acrobat and reverse acrobat problems, the mutilated checkerboard problem
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acrobat problem
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3 acrobats of diff sizes on three poles, there are rules as to how and where acrobats can jump. There is a initial and goal state
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reverse acrobat problem
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one of the rules was changed so that the small acrobat cannot stand on the large acrobat
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this one took longer because the information that a large acrobat standing on a small acrobat is not consistent with our knowledge of the real world
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mutilated checkerboard problem
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a checkerboard has 64 squares which can be covered by 32 dominos, if two corners are removed can it be covered by 31 dominos? there were four conditions (1) blank board, (2) alternating color board (3) black and pink with word colors written on the board and (4) bread and butter written on the board
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the solution is no because a domino has to cover two colors and two squares of the same color were removed. Those presented with boards that emphasized the difference between adjoining squares were easier to solve
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think-aloud protocol
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participants are asked to say out loud what they are thinking while doing the problem. not to describe what they are doing but to verbalize new thoughts as they happen. The goal of this is to determine what info the person is attending to while solving a problem
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it reveals a shift in how the person perceives elements of a problem
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analogy
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the process of noticing connections between similar problems and applying the solution for one problem to the other problems
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analogical problem solving
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the technique of using the solution to a similar problem to guide the solution of a new problem
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e.g. using solution of Russian marriage problem to solve mutilated checkerboard problem
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analogical transfer
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how ppl transfer their experience from solving one problem to solving another
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target problem
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a problem to be solved. Solutions of this problem can become easier when the problem-solver is exposed to an analogous source problem or story
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source problem/source story
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a problem or story that is analogous tot he target problem and which therefore provides info that can lead to a solution to the target problem
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radiation problem
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patient has tumor, radiation can kill it but can kill healthy tissue too if too high, but too low wont do anything. Solution is to kill tumor with multiple low beam rays that intersect
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very few ppl figure this out
after reading analogous fortress story there was still only a 20% increase in the ppl who could solve. this shows that many ppl still do not make connection between source and target problems. But when told to connect them success rate more than doubled. |
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the process of analogical problem solving involves 3 steps
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(1) noticing that there is an analogous relationship
(2) mapping the correspondence (3) applying the mapping to generate a parallel solution |
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surface features
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specific elements that make up the problem
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because surface features of analogous problems can be very different noticing the parallel characteristics can be difficult
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structural features
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the underlying principle that governs the solution
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i.e. weak rays are used to avoid damaging healthy tissue or avoid breaking glass bulb
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effect of varying structural features
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kept structural features constant by using light bulb problem as source and radiation problem as target. The varied structure was presenting two different versions of light bulb problem. The fragile-glass version was same as original but in insufficient intensity version the lasers generate only low intensity and a higher power laser is needed.
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the insufficient-intensity problem, less ppl were able to solve radiation problem because structural feature diff
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study page 344
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and 345
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analogical encoding
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participants compare two cases to illustrate a principle to help ppl discover similar structural features
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analogical paradox
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participants in psychological experiments tend to focus on surface features in analogy problems, whereas ppl in the real world frequently use deeper, more structural features
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in vivo problem-solving research
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involves observing ppl to determine how they solve problems in real-world situations by recording ppl in a number of diff settings
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experts
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extremely skilled or knowledgeable in a field
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solve problems faster and with higher success rates than novices
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experiment that shows the difference in organization between experts and novices
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procedure: presented 24 physics problems to a group of experts and a group of novices and asked them to sort the problems into groups based on their similarities
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the expert sorted problems based on structural features (deep structure, the underlying principles involved) while the novice sorted based on surface characteristics (surface features). Experts spend more time analyzing problems
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divergent thinking
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thinking that is open-ended, involving a large number of potential "solutions" and no "correct" answer
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convergent thinking
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thinking that works toward finding a solution to a specific problem that usually has a correct answer
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design fixation
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presenting a sample design influences the creation of new designs
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creative cognition
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a technique used to train ppl to think creatively
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