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Thinking and Decision Making 1 - Problem Solving
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- 1What is a problem?- Has a goal, but do not know how to reach the goal (Dunker, 1945)
- Have 3 elements:
1) A starting state
2) A goal state
3) A set of processes (operators) that can transform one state into another - 2Two traditional approaches to problem solving1) Behaviorist approach
2) Gestalt approach - 3Behavorist approach- The focus of psychology should be objective, observable behavior - NOT mental processes
- The most appropriate unit of analysis is the simple stimulus-resoinse association
- Problem solving occurs through TRIAL & ERROR - 4Gestalt approach- Problem solving is MORE than repeating a learning response
- Occurs through a PROCESS of RESTRUCTURING & INSIGHT - 5Charles Darwin- Prior - animal and human minds were thought to be fundamentally different
- Argued that the basis of shared evolutionary ancestry - there is a continuity between human and animal brains - 6Edward Lee Thorndike (1874 -1949)- Concerned with problem solving and other complex cognitive functions in animals
- 7Thorndike - Behaviorist Approach - PUZZLE BOX Problem- Placed cats in a puzzle box with a clasp to hold the door shut
- The door could not be opened w/out the cat performing a sequence of actions
- Cats - repeatedly exposed to the problem
- Time taken to solve the problem was recorded and plotted - 8Thorndike - Findings- Insight DID NOT happen
- Cats learn to escape from the puzzle box by a process of TRIAL & ERROR - eventually pulling the correct string
- 9Thorndike Law of Effect- Learning occurs - response has some 'effect' upon the environment; Effect = pleasant = response is strengthened; Effect = unpleasant = response is weakened
- Although escape is initially by chance of behavior -- future escapes become progressively faster as the connection between the behavior and reward is learned
- Problem solving - INCREMENTAL - not insightful - 10IncrementalThe experience of trying out different ways to solve a problem - goes through steps to eventually get there
- Process of trial & error - 11Köhler - Gestalt Approach- Observed a colony of chimpanzees problem solving behavior
He believed that animal thought was more complex than most people imagine
- The puzzle box experiment was NOT ideal because the responses required by the cat were so unfamiliar - cat COULD NOT perceive a mechanism - 12Köhler - CHIMPANZEE Problem Solving 1- Devised a problem where a chimpanzee had to get some bananas that were beyond the reach of its arms
- If chimpanzee was given a stick that was long enough - would immediately use it to reach the bananas - 13Köhler - CHIMPANZEE Problem Solving 2- If given 2 sticks, neither long enough to reach the bananas - they would try and then give up and sulk for a while
- After a while - chimp would suddenly get up and put the ends together - creating a long enough stick to reach bananas
- Chimps developed INSIGHT - rather than learning through incremental trial and error
- 14InsightThe experience of suddenly realising how to solve a problem
- 15Why is there a difference between the cats and the chimps in Thorndike and Köhler's study?- Cats - hungry & trapped
- Chimps - well-fed, cared for, and free to roam
- Primates are evolutionarily closer to humans; more similar to us in many ways - including higher-order cognitive abilities
- Chimps - smarter than cats - 16Wallas (1926) CREATIVE THINKING- Formalised the importance of insight into stages of creative thinking
1) Preperation
2) Incubation
3) Illumination
4) Verification
(PIIV) - 17P (Preparation) IIVA problem is formulated and initial attempts are made to solve the problems
- 18PI(Incubation)IVThe problem is set aside and no conscious work is done on it
- 19PII(Illumination)VA sudden inspiration provides a new insight into the way in which the problem might be solved
- 20PIIV(Verification)Conscious work on the problem develops and tests the inspiration to provide a full solution to the problem
- 21Wallas - Stages of creative thinking- Supported by Helmholz - happy ideas come unexpectedly, no effort - inspiration
- Hadamard - Unconcious activity often plays a decisive part in discovery - ineffective efforts often followed - after rest/distractions - illumination start to occur - 22IncubationRefers to the unconscious processing of problems; when set aside in a long period of time - may LEAD to INSIGHTS
- 23Silveira (1971)- THE CHEAP NECKLACE Problem 1- Participants were given 4 separate pieces of chain that are each 3 links in length
- It costs 2 cents to open a link and 3 cents to close a link
- All links are closed at the beginning of the problem
- Goal: To join all 12 links into a single circle at a cost of NO MORE than 15 cents
- 24Silveira (1971)- THE CHEAP NECKLACE Problem 2- Participants were in 3 groups
1) Control group - worked on the problem for half an hour
2) Experimental group 1 - worked for half an hour - interrupted by a half hour break in which other activities were performed
3) Experimental group 2 - same as experimental group 1 but with a four hour break - 25Silveira (1971)- THE CHEAP NECKLACE Problem - Findings- Control group - 55% solved the problem
- Experimental group 1 - 64% solved the problem
- Experimental group 2 - 85% solved the problem - 26When is incubation necessary? (Murray & Denny, 1969) 1- Aim: To further find evidence for incubation and to explore when it is necessary for problem solving
- Procedure: Participants were DIVIDED into HIGH & LOW ability groups on the basis on their performance on a 'use of objects test' of creativity
1) Participants were given 20 min to solve a complex practical problem (moving steel balls into a metal cylinder w/out getting within 8 feet of the cylinder)
2) Half the participants had a 5 min break (BREAK/INCUBATION group) in the middle of the task
3) Half NO break (Control group) - 27(Murray & Denny, 1969) 2- Suggested that incubation was only USEFUL for problems that people find DIFFICULT
Findings:
1) High ability participants - problem was relatively simple - distracter task acted as a distraction from the problem at hand - lowered performance when there was incubation (break)
2) Low ability participants - problem was relatively difficult - were aided by the distacter task - needed the period of incubation - increased performance - 28Barriers to success1) Functional fixedness
2) Mental set - 29Functional fixednessPeople fixate on a SPECIFIC property of the problem & CANNOT THINK about it in a DIFFERENT WAY
- 30Mental SetPeople LEARN a PARTICULAR WAY of solving a problem that OFTEN produces success but CONTINUE TO USE IT even when it is INAPPROPRIATE
- 31Dunker (1945) - Functional Fixedness- Participants were presented with a depicted situation - asked to support the candle on the wall so that it does not drip on the table below
- Findings: Participants often tried to nail the candle to the all or glue the candle with wax
- 32Dunker (1945) - Functional Fixedness - conclusion- Participants were FIXATED on the box's normal function of holding nails - were UNABLE to re-conceptualize it as a candle holder
- Re-conceptualization was EASIER - if pins were EMPTIED out of the box before the participants arrived
- 33Mental set and Einstellung- People may become biased by experience to prefer certain approaches - which may block the solution
- The Einstellung Effect - the mechanization of thought - 34Luchins (1942) - WATER JUG Problem 1- Each problem specifies the capacities of jugs A, B & C, and a final desired quantity
- The task - to use the jugs to measure out the final quantity
- Subtraction - can be the solution to get to the desired final value; most cases - most efficient method
- All problems can be solved using the same method, except problem 7 - addition - more efficient solution
- 35Luchins (1942) - WATER JUG Problem 2- Experimental condition (SET) - Participants received a set of problems which all had similar method of solution - difficult to figure out
- Control condition - Participants received a set of problems that could be solved using simple, but different methods
- All participants were then given a set of critical problems that could be solved either by the difficult or easy method of solving - 36Luchins (1942) - WATER JUG Problem 3 - findings- SET participants persistently tried to apply the difficult method that they had been applying to the previous problems
- They were SET on using the difficult solution, could NOT see the possible easy solution
- Control participants readily applied the EASY method - 37Overcoming Fixedness Scheerer (1963) - THE NINE-DOT problem- Participants are told to draw 4 continuous lines connecting all dots without lifting the pen from the papers
- Findings: Most people CANNOT SOLVE the problem because they are FIXATED on the assumption that they must stay WITHIN the square
- Think outside the box - numerous solutions are possible
- 38Weisberg & Alba (1981)- Not all insight problems are instantly solved when fixedness is overcome - Nine-dot problem - many participants REQUIRE MORE THAN ONE hint to arrive at the solution
- In the nine-dots problem - 20% can solve when TOLD to draw outside the box - 39Weisberg & Alba (1981) - conclusion- Past experience plays an important role when problems similar to the one currently being faced are recalled
- Restructuring of the solution from memory, NOT insight - 40The Feeling of KNOWING- Even if a problem cannot be solved immediately, there is a sense of feeling closer to the solution - "tip of the tongue phenomenon"
- 41Brown & McNeill (1966)- Asked "What the word for a navigational instrument used in measuring angular distances, especially the altitude of the sun, mood, and stars at sea?"
- Findings: When people said that the answer was at the "tip of their tongue" - 57% correct in identifying the first letter of the word
- But feelings of knowing the answer may NOT always be ACCURATE
- 42Metcalfe (1986)Compared 'feelings-of-KNOWING' for general knowledge questions with 'feelings-of-WARMTH' for INSIGHT problem
- 43Difference of 'feeling-of-KNOWING' & 'feeling-of -WARMTH'- Feelings of KNOWING - appeared to PREDICT subsequent recognition of the answers
- Feelings of WARMTH - DID NOT predict subsequent solution - 44Feelings of WARMTHCan sometimes predict how close to the solution you are, PARTICULARLY when INCREMENTAL solutions are REQUIRED rather than INSIGHTFUL ones
- 45Metcalfe & Weibe (1987)- Studied the relation between prospective intuitive feelings and objective performance
- Asked participants to provide warmth ratings at regular intervals whilst the person was working on each problem
- AIM:
wanted to see whether warmth ratings would predict problem solving differently depending on whether the problems were multistep problems (eg. Tower of Hanoi task) or descriptive insight solutions (Eg. reversing triangle)
- FINDINGS:
- Warmth ratings INCREASED GRADUALLY before people produced the correct solutions to INCREMENTAL problems
- DID NOT INCREASE MUCH before people gave the correct solution to INSIGHT problems
- Conclusion: Allows for an experimental way of measuring the phenomenon of insight - 46Tower of Hanoi / Lucas' Tower - INCREMENTAL- Mathematical game / puzzle
- Consists of 3 rods and a number of disks of different sized - can slide onto any rod
- Starts with: neat stack in ascending order (conical shape)
- Objective: to MOVE the entire stack to ANOTHER rod; only one disk at a time can be moved; no larger disk can be placed on top of a smaller disk
Solution: 3 disk = can be solved in 7 moves; minimal number of moved required to solve is 2n - 1
- n = number of disk
- 47Reversing Triangle - INSIGHT- To solve - flip the triangle by moving only 3 coins
- 48Summary- Behaviorist approach proposes that we solve problem through TRIAL & ERROR
- Gestalt approach proposes that some problems are solved via INSIGHT
- One barrier to problem solving is functional fixedness; another is mental set
- Feelings of warmth - close to a solution may predict success under some circumstances
- Feelings of knowing - can predict solution its by the tip of the tongue
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- undergraduate Cognitive psychology Fichas sobre Thinking and Decision Making 1 - Problem Solving, creado por Izati Saim el 09/01/2022.
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- Izati Saim
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