Cognitive Psychology

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Cognitive Psychology Chapter 12 Problem Solving
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8/28/2020

• Outline
• Problem Solving Basics
• Problem Solving Strategies
• Neurocognition
• Brain systems
• Analogy and Insight
• The Resource Analogy
• Creativity
• Expertise
• Improving Problem Solving

Study Questions. Describe any of strategies
that can be applied to problem solving. Compare
and contrast creativity and expertise. How are
these qualities related to problem solving?
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Problem Solving

• Problem Solving Basics
• Strategies for solving problems
• Two boys and one man want to cross a river but
  the boat will only hold either the two boys or
  the one man. How many times must the boat cross
  the river to accomplish this goal? (a round trip
  counts as two crossings).
• Subgoals
• E.g., Try to get the man across with a boy there
  to take back the boat.

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Problem Solving

• Problem Solving Basics
• Strategies for solving problems
• Subgoals

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Problem Solving

• Problem Solving Basics
• Strategies for solving problems
• Subgoals
• The Hobbits and Orcs problem graph

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Problem Solving

• Problem Solving Basics
• Strategies for solving problems
• Subgoals
• The Hobbits and Orcs problem graph
• Hayes (1966)
• Presented a 5/5 boat transformation task
• Gave subjects a subgoal
• Three orcs on one side without the boat
• Control group 30 moves
• Experimental group 20 moves

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Problem Solving

• Problem Solving Basics
• Strategies for solving problems
• Brute Force
• Go through all possible states until solution is
  found
• Even in Computer science, it is a last result
• Hill Climbing
• Always move towards goal
• We often have to move away from the goal
• e.g., Hobbits and Orcs problem

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Problem Solving

• Problem Solving Basics
• Strategies for solving problems
• Means-Ends analysis
• Five Steps
• 1. Set up a goal or subgoal
• 2. Look at the difference between the current
  state and the goal/subgoal state
• 3. Look for an operator that will reduce or
  eliminate the difference
• 4. Apply the operator
• 5. Apply steps 2 to 4 repeatedly until all goals
  have been achieved

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Problem Solving

• Problem Solving Basics
• Strategies for solving problems
• Analogy
• The jealous husbands problem
• People tended not make use of the analogy
• Attack - dispersion, Radiation, Oil fire
  problem
• Students who read two stories and could describe
  the convergence schema were more likely to solve
  the third.
• One needs to know that the analogy exists

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Problem Solving

• Problem Solving Basics
• Strategies for solving problems
• Trial and Error
• Needs small problem graph/space
• Type of brute force
• C.f., The card game problem
• Working backwards
• The card game problem
• A B C
• Round 3 (8) 8 8
• Round 2 16 (4) 4
• Round 1 8 14 (2)
• Ante 4 7 13

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Problem Solving

• Neurocognition
• Problem solving involves multiple brain regions
• Nichelli et al. (1994)
• Used PET imaging while solving various chess
  problems

Task Identify chess piece Determine location of
piece Think about making a move Remembering a
move Planning and executing strategies
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Problem Solving

• Neurocognition
• Role of prefrontal cortex
• Incubation
• Allows us to return to a problem after
  interruption
• Branching
• Allows us to keep a goal in mind over time while
  allocating resources to other processes
• I.e., multitasking
• Correlate of intelligence tests
• Involved in solving Raven's Advanced Progressive
  Matrices
• Fluid intelligence (Spearmans inherited
  intelligence)

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Problem Solving

• Neurocognition
• Analogical reasoning
• Wharton et al. (2000)
• Used PET imaging while solving analogy problems
• Medial frontal cortex, left prefrontal/ inferior
  cortex

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Problem Solving

• Neurocognition
• Analogical reasoning
• Wharton et al. (2000)

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Problem Solving

• Neurocognition
• Insight (Bowden Beeman, 1998)
• Solved compound remote associates
• A.K.A. Trigrams
• E.g,
• Falling Actor Dust
• Broken Clear Eye
• Presented with a lateralized word to name 15s
  later
• Either the solution or an unrelated word

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Problem Solving

• Neurocognition
• Insight (Bowden Beeman, 1998)
• Results

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Problem Solving

• Creativity
• What is creativity?
• How much you know
• I.e., Problem solving ability and insight
• Intelligence does not seem to be a factor
• e.g., Fighter pilots in WWII
• Convergent versus divergent thinking
• Convergent a single correct solution to a
  problem
• IQ tests
• Divergent Ability to find paths to unusual
  solutions
• Leads to multiple answers
• Who you are
• Personality variable (Openness)
• Common personality traits associated with
  creative people

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Problem Solving

• Creativity
• What is creativity?
• Characteristics of creative people
• Ideational fluency number of ideas/sentences/asso
  ciations in response to a word
• Variety and flexibility Number of different
  solutions in response to listing possible uses
  (e.g, of a newspaper)
• Originality Obtain solutions others do not get.
• Problem sensitivity ability to recognize the
  central challenge and difficulties in solving a
  task.
• Redefinition Capacity to view a known problem in
  a different light.

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Problem Solving

• Creativity
• Neurocognition of creativity
• Synethesia
• Metaphor/analogy
• Fronto-temperal dementia
• A symptom is increased creativity
• Left Hemisphere- Convergent thinking
• Right Hemisphere- Divergent thinking
• Does our educational system stifle the right
  hemisphere?
• FTD is usually associated with more left
  hemisphere dysfunction
• The left brain keeps the right brain in check,
  creativity takes the entire brain.

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Problem Solving

• Creativity
• Neurocognition of creativity
• Van Goghs later work

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Problem Solving

• Expertise
• Characteristics of experts
• More declarative knowledge
• Rich Schemas
• Focus on deep vs. surface structure
• More time on representation
• More sophisticated representation/ use of analogy
• Automated sequence of steps with solving
  strategies
• More time efficient (can work under speed
  pressure)
• Careful monitoring
• More flexibility

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Problem Solving

• Expertise
• Characteristics of experts
• Talent or practice?
• Gladwells Outliers
• To become an expert is to become an outlier in
  ability
• The 10,000 hr, 10 year rule -gt 20 year old
  violinists

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Problem Solving

• Expertise
• Characteristics of experts

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Problem Solving

• Neurocognition
• The resource analogy
• Reichle, et al. (2000)
• Used sentence-picture verification task
• e.g., It is not true that the star is above the
  plus
• Negative statements slower than affirmative
• Polarity interacts with truth value
• Unless you have high spatial abilities
• Manipulated verbal and visual strategies
• Increased activity in expected places
• Measured verbal and spatial abilities
• Negative correlations between activity level and
  ability for active hemispheres

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Problem Solving

• Improving your problem solving skills
• Increase your domain of knowledge
• Automate components
• Follow a systematic plan
• Draw inferences
• Develop subgoals
• Work Backwards
• Search for contradictions
• Search for relations between problems
• Find a different representation
• Practice

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Review

• Chapter 11 Decisions, Judgements, Reasoning
• Formal logic and reasoning
• Syllogisms
• Conditional reasoning
• Hypothesis testing
• Judgement
• Psychophysics
• Symbolic distance
• Cognitive maps

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Review

• Chapter 11 Decisions, Judgements, Reasoning
• Decisions
• Algorithms Heuristics
• Representiveness
• The law of small numbers
• Ignoring Base Rates
• The hot hand debate
• Availability
• Contributing factors
• The simulation heuristic
• The hindsight bias
• Anchoring and adjustment
• Framing Effects
• Loss aversion
• Sunk-cost effect
• Limitations in reasoning

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Review

• Chapter 11 Decisions, Judgements, Reasoning
• Study questions
• Describe the Wasson selection task. What common
  type of logical errors are made by people
  attempting this task?
• What is the symbolic distance effect and why is
  it important in understanding the notion of
  representation?
• Compare and contrast the representativeness and
  the availability heuristics.
• What is loss aversion. Describe the effect of
  combining framing effects with loss aversion.

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Review

• Chapter 11 Decisions, Judgements, Reasoning
• Key Terms
• Deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning,
  syllogism, validity, truth, soundness, set
  unions, mental model theory, mental logic theory,
  dual mechanism theory, conditional reasoning,
  modus tollens, modus ponens, affirming the
  consequence, denying the antecedent, Wasson
  selection test, bi-conditional reasoning,
  confirmation bias, the null hypothesis,
  psychophysics, just noticeable difference, Weber
  fraction, absolute threshold, signal detection
  theory, d (d-prime), memory operating
  characteristic, the distance or discriminability
  effect, the sybollic distance or discriminability
  effect, semantic congruency effect, algorithms,
  heuristics, the representativeness heuristic, the
  law of small numbers, base rate information,
  gamblers fallacy, the hot hand theory,
  availability heuristic, simulation heuristic,
  counter-factual thinking, the undoing heuristic,
  hindsight bias, anchoring and adjustment, the
  framing effect, the sunk-cost effect, loss
  aversion, domain knowledge, conjunction fallacy.

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Review

• Chapter 12 Problem solving
• The Gestaltist approach
• Stages of thinking
• Representation
• Incubation
• Insight
• Problems in problem solving
• Analogy
• Multiconstraint theory
• Problem Solving Basics
• Characteristics of problem solving
• Well-defined and ill-defined problems
• Typologies
• Problem Solving Strategies
• Neurocognition
• Brain systems
• Analogy and Insight
• The Resource Analogy
• Creativity and Expertise

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Review

• Chapter 12 Problem Solving
• Study questions
• Describe Wallas stages of thinking during
  problem solving.
• When do analogies work best in problem solving?
  Describe the multicontraint theory.
• Compare and contrast creativity and expertise.
  How are these qualities related to problem
  solving?

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Review

• Chapter 12 Problem Solving
• Key Terms
• Gestalt, insight, preparation, incubation,
  illumination, verification, representation,
  verbal protocol, functional fixedness, cognitive
  set, elaboration, constraint relaxation,
  re-encoding, analogy, convergence schema,
  multiconstraint theory, initial state, goal
  state, operators, problem space, well-defined and
  ill-defined problems, problems of inducing
  structure, problems of transformation, problems
  of arrangement, subgoals, brute force,
  hill-climbing, means-ends analysis, branching,
  pre-frontal cortex, the resource analogy,
  creativity, expertise,