PSY 305 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Metacognition, Functional Fixedness, Confirmation Bias
29 Jun 2018
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28 November Notes
Thinking: Problem Solving
● Sheerer’s Nine-Dot Problem
○ The task is to connect the dots by using at most four straight lines. Most
participants consider only solutions that fit within the square formed by the dots
○ One solution is to extend the lines beyond the boundary formed by the dots
Problem Solving Achieves Goals
● A mental process that involves discovering, analyzing, and solving problems
● Problem solving explores how people use knowledge to achieve goals
● How we think about problems can help or hinder our ability to find solutions
Problem solving
● Identifying and defining the problem: a man walking into a bar and asks for a drink. The
bartender pulls out a gun and points it at him. The man says “thank you” and walks out
● Forming a strategy: depends on the problem
○ Trial and error -try, try, try
○ Setting sub-goals - how to get an A in class
○ Working backwards
● Breaking problems into sub goals:
○ Tower of Hanoi problem
● Sudden insight:
○ Comes suddenly, when we see elements of a problem in new ways
○ The ‘aha’ moment
● Restructuring
○ Formulating a solvable problem
○ Aids solutions
● A cowboys rode into town on Friday, stayed three days, and rode out again on Friday.
How did he do that?
Artifacts in problem solving
● Insight:
○ Sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem
○ Contrasts with strategy-based solutions
● Confirmation bias
○ Tendency to search for info that confirms one’s preconceptions
● Fixation
○ Inability to see a problem from a new perspective
○ Change representations to overcome fixedness in thinking
● Functional fixedness
○ Tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions
○ Impediment to problem solving
● Mental set
○ Tendency to approach a problem in a particular way
Document Summary
The task is to connect the dots by using at most four straight lines. Most participants consider only solutions that fit within the square formed by the dots. One solution is to extend the lines beyond the boundary formed by the dots. A mental process that involves discovering, analyzing, and solving problems. Identifying and defining the problem: a man walking into a bar and asks for a drink. The bartender pulls out a gun and points it at him. The man says thank you and walks out. Forming a strategy: depends on the problem. Setting sub-goals - how to get an a in class. Comes suddenly, when we see elements of a problem in new ways. A cowboys rode into town on friday, stayed three days, and rode out again on friday. Sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem. Tendency to search for info that confirms one"s preconceptions.
