Cognitive Psychology: A Student's Handbook - Problem Solving and Expertise

Flashcards covering problem-solving theories, empirical studies, brain regions, and transfer effects based on Cognitive Psychology: A Student's Handbook.

What are the three main aspects of problem solving identified in the text?

It is purposeful (goal-directed), involves cognitive rather than automatic processes, and exists only when someone lacks the relevant knowledge to produce an immediate solution.

How is a well-defined problem characterized?

All aspects are specified, including the initial state, range of possible moves/strategies, and the goal/solution, typically having an optimal strategy and one right answer.

Provide examples of well-defined problems.

Mazes, chess, and most lab-based tasks.

What defines an ill-defined problem?

Underspecified goals, which are common in most everyday problems.

Give an example of an ill-defined problem from the text.

A competitive job interview.

What distinguishes knowledge-rich problems from knowledge-lean problems?

Knowledge-rich problems require considerable specific knowledge to solve, whereas knowledge-lean problems do not require specific prior knowledge.

Which problem is cited as an example of a knowledge-lean problem?

The Monty Hall Problem.

According to Falk and Lann ($2008$), what is the uniformity fallacy?

The assumption that available options in a problem are equally likely.

Was the specific Monty Hall scenario ever actually on the game show that inspired it?

No, the scenario never happened on the game show that inspired the debate.

What concept did Thorndike ($1898$) describe involving trial-and-error learning and the re-use of previous experiences?

Reproductive thinking.

What was the Gestalt psychologists' main objection to Thorndike’s tasks?

They objected to the arbitrary nature of the tasks and focused instead on complex, productive thinking.

How do Gestaltists define productive thinking?

Novel restructuring of the problem.

What is the definition of insight in problem solving?

The sudden restructuring of a problem, often accompanied by an “ah-ha” experience.

What did Köhler ($1925$) claim regarding animals and problem solving?

Animals can engage in productive problem solving.

What did Birch ($1945$) find regarding apes raised in captivity?

They showed little evidence of insightful problem solving.

In Maier's ($1931$) pendulum problem, how could insight be facilitated?

By having the experimenter “accidentally” interact with the string.

How did Battersby et al. ($1953$) speed up solution times on the pendulum problem?

By highlighting relevant objects.

What were the two types of problems used in Metcalfe and Wiebe's ($1987$) study?

Insight problems (e.g., move three circles so the triangle points down) and non-insight problems (e.g., solve for $x$).

What are the two major camps or theories regarding the nature of insight?

The Special-Process camp and the Business-as-Usual camp.

Contrast the Special-Process and Business-as-Usual views on insight.

Special-Process involves distinct processes like productive thinking and restructuring, while Business-as-Usual views insight as resulting from typical processes like reproductive thinking and trial-and-error.

What specific brain region did Bowden et al. ($2005$) find was activated only with insight solutions?

The right anterior superior temporal gyrus ($\text{RH-aSTG}$).

What occurred centered over the $\text{RH-aSTG}$ just before an insight solution?

A burst of high-frequency brain activity.

What method did Ellis et al. ($2011$) use to examine the accumulation of partial knowledge before insight?

Eye tracking.

What is functional fixedness as defined by Duncker ($1945$)?

Failing to solve problems by assuming from past experience that an object has only a limited number of uses.

Name two classic experiments that demonstrate functional fixedness.

Maier’s ($1931$) pendulum problem and Duncker’s ($1945$) candle problem.

What concept did Luchins ($1942$) emphasize based on the water-jar problems?

Einstellung (mental set).

What is Einstellung or mental set?

The tendency to use a well-practiced strategy even when it is inappropriate or sub-optimal.

Who developed Representational Change Theory?

Ohlsson ($1992$).

According to Representational Change Theory, what serves as a memory probe for relevant knowledge in Long-Term Memory ($\text{LTM}$)?

The problem’s mental representation.

When does an impasse occur in Representational Change Theory?

When the problem representation doesn't permit retrieval of the necessary operators or possible actions.

What are the three ways an impasse is broken in Representational Change Theory?

Elaboration, constraint relaxation, and re-encoding.

Define elaboration in the context of Representational Change Theory.

The addition of new problem information.

Define constraint relaxation in Representational Change Theory.

Removing inhibitions on what is regarded as permissible.

Define re-encoding in Representational Change Theory.

Reinterpreting some aspect of the problem representation.

What was the outcome of the mutilated draughtboard problem study by Kaplan and Simon ($1990$)?

It was used to study how changing problem representation allows for solutions.

What type of problems did Knoblich et al. ($1999$) use to study Representational Change Theory?

Matchstick problems.

Name one strength of Representational Change Theory over the Gestalt approach.

It more precisely specifies the mechanisms underlying insight.

What limitation did Kershaw and Ohlsson ($2004$) point out regarding insight?

One flash of insight might not be enough because more than one factor is involved in making problems difficult.

Which individual differences are often de-emphasized in Representational Change Theory?

$\text{IQ}$ and working memory.

What is incubation as defined by Wallas ($1926$)?

The phenomenon where a problem is solved more easily by ignoring it for some time.

What did Sio and Ormerod’s ($2009$) meta-analysis of $37$ articles conclude about incubation?

There is a fairly small, but highly significant incubation effect.

With which type of problems is the incubation effect stronger?

Creative problems having multiple solutions.

What condition leads to larger incubation effects according to Sio and Ormerod ($2009$)?

A relatively long preparation time prior to incubation.

Why does sleep aid incubation and memory?

It aids memory consolidation and can alter memory representation.

What task did Wagner et al. ($2004$) use to study sleep and insight?

The Number Reduction Task.

In Sio et al.’s ($2013$) sleep study, what problem type was used?

The Remote Associate Task (e.g., "lick, sprinkle, mine").

What was the solution to the Remote Associate Task "lick, sprinkle, mine"?

salt

What is Simon’s ($1966$) explanation for the incubation effect?

Control information related to failed strategies is forgotten, making it easier to adopt a new approach.

What did Vul and Pashler ($2007$) find regarding misleading cue words?

Participants only showed an incubation effect under interference conditions, presumably because incubation allowed them to forget the misleading cue.

Who created the General Problem Solver ($\text{GPS}$) in $1972$?

Newell and Simon.

What are the four assumptions of the General Problem Solver ($\text{GPS}$)?

Serial information-processing, limited short-term memory capacity, retrieval from long-term memory, and a defined problem space.

What are the three components of a problem space?

Initial state, goal state, and possible mental operators.

How many discs are in the Tower of Hanoi version shown in the text?

$\text{five-disc}$ version.

Define heuristics.

Rules of thumb.

What is the hill-climbing heuristic?

Changing the present state within a problem into one closer to the goal or solution.

What is an algorithm?

A method or procedure for solving a problem.

What are the steps of means–ends analysis?

Note the difference between current and goal states, form a subgoal to reduce that difference, and select a mental operator to reach the subgoal.

Describe the Progress Monitoring Heuristic proposed by MacGregor, Ormerod, and Chronicle ($2001$).

People assess progress rates and experience "criterion failure" if progress is too slow, prompting a strategy change.

What problem was used to test the Progress Monitoring Heuristic?

The nine-dot problem.

What is a specific strength of the General Problem Solver ($\text{GPS}$)?

It specifies the shortest sequence of moves, allowing researchers to see when humans deviate from the ideal.

How does the $\text{GPS}$ differ from humans in its planning approach?

It is inferior to humans at planning future moves because it focuses only on a single move at a time.

Which researchers emphasized that Newell and Simon’s approach ignores individual differences?

Handley et al. ($2002$).

What did Owen et al. ($1990$) find regarding Tower of Hanoi performance in frontal patients?

Frontal patients were slower to plan subsequent moves.

According to Goel and Grafman ($1995$), when do prefrontal patients perform worst?

When it is necessary to move away from the goal.

In Colvin et al.’s ($2001$) study, which patients performed the worst on water jar problems?

Left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex ($\text{DLPFC}$) patients.

What did Dagher et al. ($1999$) observe regarding task complexity and brain activation?

More complex tasks were associated with greater dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activation.

Which brain region is activated for strategy planning and performance execution according to Unterrainer et al. ($2004$)?

The right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

What is Far Transfer?

Positive transfer of training to a dissimilar context.

In Chen and Klahr’s ($1999$) study, what domain was the initial training in?

Physical science.

According to Chen et al. ($2004$), successful far transfer involves which three steps?

Accessing, Mapping, and Executing.

How does time interval affect far transfer according to Chen et al. ($2006$)?

More transfer occurs closer in time to the training.

What can enhance far transfer according to De Corte ($2003$)?

Metacognition.

In the Chen and Klahr ($1999$) transfer test, how many marks out of $15$ were required for "high level" performance?

$13$ or more.

How does performance on analogical problem solving correlate with intelligence?

It correlates $+0.7$ with intelligence according to Spearman ($1927$).

What cognitive systems does analogical reasoning depend on?

Working-memory components and frontal executive processes.

What are the three main types of similarity between problems identified by Chen ($2002$)?

Superficial similarity, structural similarity, and procedural similarity.

Define superficial similarity.

Commonalities in solution-irrelevant details.

Define structural similarity.

Commonalities in the causal relations among main components.

Define procedural similarity.

Commonalities in the procedures for turning a solution principle into concrete operations.

What problem did Gick and Holyoak ($1980$) use to study analogies?

Duncker’s radiation problem.

What percentage of subjects solved the radiation problem in Gick and Holyoak's ($1980$) control condition?

Approximately 10\text{%} (based on the provided chart).

What is a major strength of the research in analogical problem solving?

Evidence that superficial, structural, and procedural similarity are all important.

In real life, do people prefer structural or superficial similarities?

Structural similarities.

What is a researcher-identified weakness of current analogical problem solving studies?

Similarities in everyday life are less obvious than those in experiments.

Which textbook is recommended for further reading on problem solving?

Cognitive Psychology: A Student’s Handbook ($7\text{th}$ Edition) by Eysenck and Keane.

What is the answer to the Remote Associate Test links TANK, HILL, and SECRET?

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