Problem-solving 2

1st benefit of approaches that involve subgoal

Subgoals allow you to temporarily move away from your main goal, avoiding local maxima

this is when the ape was pursuing the subgoal

allowed it to temporarily stop pursuing the main goal

after the subgoal has been reach (peanut lifted high enough in the tube),

the ape returned to the main goal (reaching for it)

Formulating subgoal is mainly a characteristic of problem-solving in

adult humans and primates

chicken and 2 years old human can’t

form subgoals

chicken and 2 years old human would preferred

hillclimbing

2 years old human ex

• accidentally put the yellow and orange cogs slightly next to the pegs

• This prevented her from pushing the red cog down

• She, instead of allowing herself to move away from the main goal (pushing red cog) and pursuing a subgoal (rearrange the yellow and orange cogs), kept pushing down on the red cog to make it fit (hillclimbing)pursuing a

second benefit of subgoals

subgoals can be nested

subgoals can be nested means

you can create many subgoals when encountering with obstacles (each subgoal is nested inside another subgoal, which is nested inside the overall goal)

EX of nested subgoals

Overall goal: I want to drive to Detroit, obstacle: my car battery is dead

Subgoal 1: I want to replace my car battery, obstacle: I don’t have the expertise

Subgoal 2: I want to get the repair shop to do it, obstacle: I don’t have the repair shop’s phone number

Subgoal 3: I want to get their phone number

There is a link between problem solving and some basic cognitive functions, like

working memory and attention

need working memory to remember

The current context, like which problem are you solving rn (goals and subgoals)

failure of working memory can lead to

while working on subgoal, you would ask yourself “what was the point of this again?“

need attention to get back

to the higher goal after having solved a subgoal

failure of attention can lead to

getting distracted by some other job while working on subgoal x

FMRI experiment

support this idea

FMRI experiment measured activity in

the frontal cortex during problem solving

frontal cortex is

important for both working memory and attention

critical manipulation of the experiment: keep track of the

number of subgoals that had to be simultaneously kept in mind

Result of the FMRI experiment: as cognitive demand increase (managing multiple steps),

so does the activation (oxygen in blood flow) occurred in frontal cortex