1
Q
Problem
A
- A situation in which you need to accomplish a goal and the solution is not immediately obvious
2
Q
What was problem-solving about for Gestalt psychologists?
A
- How people represent a problem in their mind
- How solving a problem involves a reorganization or restructuring of this representation.
3
Q
Restructuring
A
- Often the outcome of insight
- Changing the problem’s representation
4
Q
Insight
A
- Any sudden comprehension, realization, or problem solution that involves a reorganization of a person’s mental representation of a stimulus, situation, or event to yield an interpretation that was not initially obvious.
5
Q
What did Metcalfe and Wiebe discover?
A
- Solutions for problems that have been called insight problems (not algebra problems), occur suddenly.
6
Q
Fixation
A
- People’s tendency to focus on a specific characteristic of the problem that keeps them from arriving at a solution.
7
Q
Functional Fixedness
A
- When you are fixated on one solution.
8
Q
What are some types of functional fixedness problems?
A
- The candle problem
- The two-string problem
9
Q
When do Gestalt psychologists consider the solution to the problem has occurred?
A
- Once the participants restructured their representation of how to achieve the solution.
10
Q
Mental Set
A
- A preconceived notion about how to approach a problem, which is determined by a person’s experience of what has worked in the past.
11
Q
Luchins Water Jug Problem
A
- Participants were told that their task was to figure out on paper how to obtain a required volume of water, given three empty jars for measures.
- Demonstrates that mental set can influence problem-solving both because of preconceptions about the functions of an object and about the way to solve a problem.
12
Q
Initial state and an example from the tower of hanoi
A
- Conditions at the beginning of a problem.
- All three discs are on the left peg.
13
Q
Goal state and an example from the tower of hanoi
A
- Solution to the problem.
- All three discs are on the right peg.
14
Q
Intermediate state and an example from the tower of hanoi
A
- Conditions after each step is made toward solving a problem.
- After the smallest disc is moved to the right peg, the lower larger discs are on the left peg and the smallest one is on the right.
15
Q
Operators and an example from the tower of hanoi
A
- Actions that take the problem from one state to another. Usually governed by rules.
- Rule: A larger disc can’t be placed on a smaller one.
16
Q
Problem Space
A
- All possible states that could occur when solving a problem.
17
Q
Means-end analysis and an example from the tower of hanoi
A
- A way of solving a problem in which the goal is to reduce the difference between the initial and goal states.
- Establish subgoals, each of which moves the solution closer to the goal state.
18
Q
Subgoals and an example from the tower of hanoi
A
- Small goals to help reach the bigger goal.
- To free up the medium-sized disc.
19
Q
What can the way a problem is stated influence? What is an example of this?
A
- It can affect its difficulty.
- The mutilated checkerboard problem where people are asked if we eliminate two corners of a checkerboard, can we cover the remaining squares with 31 dominos?
20
Q
What is the think-aloud protocol procedure? Why did Kaplan and Simon use this technique?
A
- Participants are asked to say out loud what they are thinking while solving a problem.
- They started using this technique to get a better understanding of a person’s thought process as they were solving problems.
21
Q
Analogical Transfer
A
- Process of noticing connections between similar problems and applying the solution for one problem to another problem.
- Transfer from one problem to another
22
Q
Analogical Problem Solving
A
- Using the solution to a similar problem to guide the solution of a new problem.
23
Q
Target Problem
A
- The problem a participant is trying to solve.
24
Q
Source Problem
A
- Another problem that shares some similarities with the target problem and that illustrates a way to solve the target problem.
25
What is the radiation problem an example of?
- Analogical problem solving
- Fits Gestalt's idea of representation and restructuring.
26
What is the process of analogical problem solving according to Gick and Holyoak?
- Noticing: That there is an analogous relationship between the source problem and the target problem.
- Mapping: The correspondence between the source problem and the target problem.
- Applying: The mapping to generate a parallel solution to the target problem.
27
Analogical Encoding
- The process by which two problems are compared and similarities between them are determined.
28
Trade-off strategy of negotiating vs the contingency strategy.
- Trade-off: One person says "I'll give you A, if you'll give me B".
- Contingency: A person gets something if something else happens.
29
What did Gentner conclude about analogical encoding?
- Having people compare source stories is an effective way to achieve analogical encoding because it forces them to pay attention to problem features that enhance their ability to solve other problems.
30
Analogical Paradox
- Participants in psychological experiments tend to focus on surface features in analogy problems, whereas people in the real world frequently use deeper, more structural features.
31
In Vivo Problem-Solving Research
- Involves observing people to determine how they solve problems in real-world situations.
32
What happened when normal chest players played experts?
- When the board was set up normally the experts demolished the average people.
- When the board was messed up there was an equal playing field.
- Realized that they are only experts because they have practiced the same pattern so many times and focus on the principles involved.
33
What's a disadvantage of being an expert?
- They may have a less open way of looking at new problems.
34
Divergent Thinking
- Thinking that is open-ended involving a large number of potential solutions.
35
How do people explain the creative problem-solving process?
- Generate ideas
- Evaluate ideas
36
What is one idea that can inhibit creativity?
- Preconceptions
37
What is group brainstorming and does it work well for creativity?
- A technique used to encourage people to freely express ideas that might be useful in problem-solving.
- Participants say whatever comes to mind without being critical of their own or other's ideas.
- May result in fewer ideas than adding up ideas that may be generated by the same number of people.
38
Creative Cognition
- Trains people to think creatively.
39
Preinventive Forms
- Ideas that precede the creation of a finished creative product.
40
What did Finke demonstrate?
- That many processes of creative cognition are similar to the ones of cognitive psychology.
41
What did Chi and Snyder determine based on their work using ATL?
- Deactivating an area of the brain that causes us to interpret the world in certain ways can help us think outside the box.
42
What did Kounios conclude using EEG and the compound remote association problem?
- The status of your brain before you begin a problem can influence the approach you take to solving the problem.
43
Is there a relationship between the default mode network activity and creativity?
- Yes it has been confirmed by many studies.
44
Executive Control Network (ECN)
- Involved in directing attention as a person is carrying out a task.
- Plays a crucial role in creativity.
45
What did Ellamil find?
- Activity of the DMN and ECN was coordinated during live evaluation.
- The ECN plays a traffic cop role in creativity.
46
Volitional Daydreaming
- The act of choosing to disengage from external tasks in order to pursue an internal stream of thought that might have positive outcomes.
47
What are some effects of solitude?
- Enhance daydreaming
- Enhance analytical thinking that requires focused attention
- Can help avoid distractions
48
Mindfulness
- Paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally, to the unfolding of experience moment to moment.
49
What works best focused attention meditation or open monitoring meditation?
- FA meditation is when we focus on one thing and OM meditation is when we focus on whatever comes to mind.
- Both FA and OM are better than traditional meditation, but OM discovered more original ideas.
50
What makes something creative?
- New
- Surprising
- Useful
51
What are the types of inventions?
- Combinational: Seeing links between things.
- Exploratory: Within the same domain like a new song.
- Transformational: Nothing has ever existed like this before.
PSY3377 - Cognition
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