PSY 308 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Necker Cube, Functional Fixedness, Drawing Pin

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 308
• Professor: Paolo Ammirante

Document Summary

Anatomy of a problem: problem: a gap or an obstacle between where you are and where you want to be. Not immediately obvious how to get around the obstacle: newell and simon (1972) conceptualized all problems as having the same basic structure. Problem space (cid:862)where (cid:455)ou are(cid:863) (cid:862)where (cid:455)ou (cid:449)a(cid:374)t to (cid:271)e(cid:863) Borrow, to get a job, get a second job, steal, etc: well-defined problems are those that have a single correct solution. Increasing sales for a business, choosing a career: (cid:862)dail(cid:455) life(cid:863) p(cid:396)o(cid:271)le(cid:373)s a(cid:396)e usuall(cid:455) ill-defined. Ill-defined problems are those with many possible solutions. Obstacles: there are different obstacles to solving a problem, generating solution paths in the first place. In such cases, you can start by restating the goal in multiple ways: too many solutions to choose from. Some kind of expertise involve knowing to avoid paths that wont lead to the goal: the way a problem is represented can influence how or whether you solve it.