Reaction Paper: Problem solving and creativity
cognitive Psychology
Week 13
Sümeyra Tosun
1
For today
Problem solving
Creativity
Discussion
Problems
Well-structured problems
Problems
Well-structured problems
Problems
Well-structured problems
Problem space: all possible actions that can be applied to solve the problem
Algorithms: sequences of operations that repeated many time to solve the problem.
Heuristics: Informal, intuitive and speculative strategies to solve the problem, mental shortcuts.
Problems
Well-structured problems
Problems
Well-structured problems
Tower of London
Problems
Ill-structured problems
Problems
Ill-structured problems
Problems
Ill-structured problems
Problems
Ill-structured problems
Insight: a distinctive and sudden understanding of a problem or a solution.
Productive thinking: Thinking beyond the bounds of existing associations.
Accuracy to predict the success in solving a problem is lower for insight problems.
Hippocampus and frontal lobe are involved.
Problem solving cycle
Divergent thinking
Convergent thinking
Problem solving
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Mental sets
Functional fixedness
Stereotypes
Obstacles to problem solving
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Mental sets
Obstacles to problem solving
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Obstacles to problem solving
Functional fixedness
How would you mount the candle and light it if you had only a candle, a box of matches and a box of thumbtacks?
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Functional fixedness
Obstacles to problem solving
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Stereotypes
Create mental sets
Obstacles to problem solving
Negative transfer
Positive transfer
Analogies
Obstacles to problem solving
A general wishes to capture a fortress located in the center of a country. There are many
roads radiating outward from the fortress. All have been mined. Although small groups
of men can pass over the roads safely, any large force will detonate the mines. A fullscale
direct attack is therefore impossible. What should the general do?
Imagine that you are a doctor treating a patient with a malignant stomach tumor. You
cannot operate on the patient because of the severity of the cancer. But unless you destroy
the tumor somehow, the patient will die. You could use high-intensity X-rays to destroy
the tumor. Unfortunately, the intensity of X-rays needed to destroy the tumor also will
destroy healthy tissue through which the rays must pass. X-rays of lesser intensity will
spare the healthy tissue, but they will be insufficiently powerful to destroy the tumor.
What kind of procedure could you employ that will destroy the tumor without also destroying
the healthy tissue surrounding the tumor?
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Obstacles to problem solving
Positive transfer
Analogies
Negative transfer
Transparency
Aids to problem solving
Incubation
Putting the problem aside for a while without consciously thinking about it.
Planning in problem solving
Embodied cognition
Prefrontal cortex involves
Smart people spend more time in planning strategies.
Less smart people spend more time in action.
Expertise in problem solving
Experts have better organization of knowledge on their field.
Talent vs practice?
Artificial intelligence
Creativity
Process of producing something that is both original and worthwhile.
Creativity
Features of creative people
Motivated
Open to new experiences
Self-confident
Self-accepting
Impulsive
Ambitious
Dominant
Hostile
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Creativity
Tests
Guilford’s alternative uses test
Originality
Fluency
Flexibility
Elaboration
Remote associate test
Cottage – Cake - Blue
Originality – the novelty of the alternative use
Fluency – the number of uses the respondent was able to come up with
Flexibility – the categories with which the alternative uses fall into
Elaboration – the amount of detail the respondent provided with regards to the alternative use of the item.
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Creativity
Tests
Torrance test
imagine they have visted a planet in another galaxy, different from Earth. They are then asked to draw the alien they encountered on this planet.
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Creativity
Alien drawing test
Next week
Chapter 12