Problem Solving and Creativity

Newell & Simon (1972) defined a problem as

an instance where a person wants

something but doesn’t know how to get it

effortful, conscious, takes time

Four features of problems

Initial State-description of unsolved problem

Set of operations/actions that can be used

Goal State- description of solved problem

Solution is not immediately obvious

Well defined problems

If all 4 features are specified (crossword)

More studied, as it is easier to study

Crossword Example:

Initial state->empty boxes

Goal state->fill the boxes correctly

Set of operations-> strategies involved and use clues

The solution is not obvious

Erikson is good at problem-solving

Ill defined problem

If 1 or more features are unclear

Usually, the goal state lacks detail

Difficulty figuring out the goal and the steps associated with it

Legislature wants to improve performance and fund education, but what’s missing is the HOW

Algorithm

specific rules or procedures that guarantee an accurate solution

Computers use this (may not have the best this, inefficient, and

time-consuming)

Heuristic

educated guess; an informal strategy that works under some circumstances,

some of the time

Humans use this (quicker but susceptible to error)

Apartment search example

We dont often have the processing power so we rely on these

Anagrams

Mental set: problem-solving rigidity in the last one of these

Water Jar Problem (Luchins, 1942)

You have 3 jars that can hold different amounts of water. Your goal is to measure out a

certain amount of water using these 3 jars

People tend to stick to the tried and true strategy that they know works, then they get

used to it and are unable to switch their problem-solving approach

Rope problem

If you put people in a room and have them paint and then solve the problem, they are

much less likely to, as they are stuck thinking that the painting tools are only for painting

Great lakes problem

Boat goes down and now you use the following to float

Rope keg of butter, country crock, coat, and frying pan

Hobbits and orcs

Equal amount of hobbits and orcs come to the shore of a river

Everyone needs to get across, but if the orcs ever outnumber the hobbits, they will eat

them

Isomorphism: they have the same structured problem space by they may vary by content

Guilford (1950)-> alternate uses test

Resident of the APA recognized the importance of studying problem-solving

Was his mission to see how problem-solving relates to creativity

Says that you must engage in divergent thinking, and this is the same thing as creative

thinking, as you have to break out of the mental set and reconceptualize the problem

space

Had a relativity and frequency task

Relevant idea alternative uses test

One definition of creativity is that it is a heightened sense of

problem-solving solving

Adopting a mental set means you are engaging in convergent thinking

Frequency task alternative uses test

Show someone a brick and ask them to come up with as many examples as they

can of what the brick can be used for

Shows qualitatively different levels of creativity or divergent thinking (creativity)

Obstacles to problem solving

Mental or response set

repeat same procedures that were successful in the past

Functional Fixedness

tendency to adhere to a single approach in problem solving; might be due to

adoption of mental set

How to become a better problem solver

Restructuring or changing the representation of the problem

Analogies

Means end analysis

Incubation

Setting sub goals

Analogies

Search

Positive and Negative Transfer

Means end analysis

reducing the distance between initial state and goal state

Working Forward: initial to goal state (direct flight)

Working Backwards: goal state to initial (march madness starting with one winner

working backwards)

Incubation

2 periods of intense work separated by a break (get fed up, take a break and

come back), you get an aha moment/insight during the break

Suvera (1971)-> chain problem (explained later)

Setting sub goals

Monster sized problem into more manageable pieces/subgoals

Example of restructuring

Task is to memorize ‘581215192226’

Group 1 is taught to understand pattern- add 3 then add 4

5 8 12 15 19 22 26

Group 2 is taught to chunk into groups of 3

581 215 192 226

Results: Same number of letters recalled, but Group 1 remembered over longer time

Personal analogy

Place yourself in the situation (toddler and keys example)

A lot of couples therapy uses role reversal

Direct analogy

Information from one space directly to another

Alexander Graham Bell using his knowledge of how the human ear works

and transferring into technology, now we have the telephone

Symbolic analogy

Very odd, think about something symbolically and then solve a problem

Smaller cars->need to fit a jack in the car-> used a snake in a basket design to fit

one into the smaller car like a screw going up

Gick and Holyoak (1985)

Understanding of problem space in one area might help (POSITIVE TRANSFER) in

another area

Positive transfer: successfully take information from one problem space to the

other and it HELPS

Rental car you use drives well and you can use it

Negative transfer: information from a previous problem set doesnt work for a new

one

Rental car gas example

Chain Problem (effects of incubation by Silveira, 1971)

Great example of incubation

length of break doesn’t matter, its how you break up the 30 min time with variable

breaks, people who worked hard on it at first and then came back to work for a

shorter time solve the problem better

Break allows you time to restructure how you approach the problem

Given: o-o-o o-o-o o-o-o o-o-o

Costs $.02 to open $.03 to close

Make continuous chain for $.15

Control Group - worked for 30 minutes

55% solved problem

Group 1 - work 10; break 1/2 hr; work 20

Group 2 - work 10; break 4 hrs; work 20

App 65% of each group solved the problem - not much diff.

Group 3 - work 20; break 1/2 hr; work 10

Group 4 - work 20; break 4 hrs; work 10

App. 85% of each group solved the problem

General creativity definition

Creativity is the process of creating something that is worthwhile and original

(Csikszentmihalyi, 1999)-> studies psychology of flow and happiness

(Guilford, 1950) creativity definition

Generation of products

(Cattell 1971) creativity definition

Cognitive process associated with problem solving and insight

Problem solving is an advanced state of cognition (thisperson/APA president)

(MacKinnon, 1962) creativity definition

Attribute of personality or response style being associated with creativity

(Simonton, 1975) creativity definition

Climate of development, particularly when you are younger being associated with

creativity

Categories for Criterion Measures of Creativity

Overt production of innovative products: frequency (numbers game) of accomplishment

(e.g., patents, pubs)

Professional recognition: number of awards given within an occupational field (e.g., NSF

presidential award)

Social recognition criteria: judgments of knowledgeable others in a field

Age and Achievement (Lehman, 1953) summary

Different factors associated with creativity-> archival data analysis (preexisting material)

-> wanted to utilize standard references to identify creative individuals who made

significant contributions across time and different cultures (historical view of what

creative individuals have in common)-> specifically interested in age and achievement

Major versus minor contributions to science

Major:When you are in school, education is constraining creativity-> younger adulthood

and everything is for the first time/good health/lack of social committments

Minor: Social advantage hypothesis-> professional expectations and contacts->

opportunities come to you

Major: idea that is new and can be applied to a large variety of problems

Prospect theory

Relativity

electricity

Minor: limited extension of that major idea

Printing

Twin paradox

television

Age and Achievement (Lehman, 1953) results

Major contributions most likely to occur in young adulthood whereas minor contributions

and net productivity occur in middle age.

Major contributions curve falls sharply while minor curve remains flat before gradually

declining in 60’s

Peak shifts downward for fields reliant on natural ability and upwards for fields

dependent on life experience

Natural ability: sports, math, music

Life experience: psychology

Findings stable across limited range of cultures and historical periods

Nature vs Nurture (Sir Francis Dalton in 1850s, Darwin’s cousin)

creativity born with and creativity developed

Nature: looked for Creative Personality Attributes (Barron & Harrington, 1981)-> survey based

Wide breadth of interest-> associated with creativity

You are curious at first!

Issues with academia as you become specialized

Attraction to complexity

High energy: willing to apply hard work

Independence of judgment

Autonomy & rejection of convention

Self-confidence

Ability to tolerate and resolve conflict

Mozart Effect Rauscher (1993)-> played classical music for newborns

Only a very small effect for spatial performance

Increases intelligence, but only a small bit

Related to policy (every set of parents would receive a this artist cd at the hospital)

Nurture: Environmental Influences on Creativity in Early and Later Life

Early influences:

Homes that provide intellectual stimulation and foster intellectual values

Non-controlling parental styles that allow development of independence and autonomy

Berry (1981): religious values component (Jewish & Protestant faiths); 30% of Nobel

laureates experienced loss of parent or family financial crisis (SELECTION BIAS)

Later influences:

Availability of mentors--gender differences (Tammy Allen from florida)

male-male-> not supportive at all

female-female-> more supportive

Challenging work environment

Creativity Syndrome (Mumford & Gustafson, 1988)

Creative behavior is determined by complex interactions of the individual and the

environment. These elements include:

An individual’s capacity to generate new ideas

Translation of ideas into action (gumption)

Attributes of the situation--incentives

Situational evaluation of the individual (incentivized to be creative versus being

judged when you are)

Study 1:

Give solutions for the parking problem, get people to only report what THEY

contributed to the conversation, often ripped off others

Study 2:

Boggle game-> you think of a word, the computer thinks of a word, then you

remember which words you contributed and you often rip off the computer

Discussion of Marsh, Landau, & Hicks (1996) experiment 1

Attempt to quantify creativity (one of several solutions)

Creativity tasks: “structured imagination task”

DV: conformity (ripping off attributes of examples)

Imagine a planet just like earth existing somewhere else in the universe that is

uninhabited and your job is to design new creatures to inhabit the planet (20 minutes to

draw your own creatures)

The more examples you provide, the more convergent thinking becomes (you are

reducing creativity by providing examples)

Discussion of Marsh, Landau, & Hicks (1996) experiment 2

Were they were actually stealing from the examples or are they just stealing from their

understanding of animals on Earth?

Artificial combination of examples

Conformity-tail and legs-> natural

Antennae/claws-> nobody in natural did that, only in artificial group

Discussion of Marsh, Landau, & Hicks (1996) experiment 3

They looked at conformity by immediate generation in the images versus one day delay

of the images.

Conformity was highest in delay

Crytomnesia is occurring because of source memory confusion

Evaluate the idea that there are no truly novel solutions…we only modify prior solutions.

Define cryptomnesia: unconscious plagiarism

Think about participant responses to the “silliness” of the generative task….comments?

Undergrads didnt care

Older adults thought the researchers thought they were crazy and wasting their

time

Inter-rater reliability issues? Only can look at qualitative data if it is above 0.8