“Problem Solving” PDF

Preview

Summary

These are the full lecture notes from both the textbook and the lectures in class....

Description

Psych 111 “Problem Solving” I. Problem Types a. Problems of inducing structure i. Complete the series ii. Complete the analogy b. Problems of arrangements i. Arranging to fit an expected outcome c. Problems of transformation II. Decision making a. Similar to problem solving b. Problems not well defined i. More than one valued outcome ii. Alternative weighted rather than absolute iii. Judgment under uncertainty III. Representing the problem a. Problem space i. Every possible move you can make in every possible sequence b. More and less effective representations c. Expert knowledge i. Structural features of the problem ii. Coding (better representations coded more efficiently) IV. Methods a. Weak (not very efficient) i. Difference-reduction ii. Means-ends analysis 1. looking at the end to achieve and the means you have to achieve that iii. Trial and error iv. Working backward b. Domain-specific/strong (suited to solutions of certain problems) i. Algorithms 1. series of steps to solve a problem 2. guaranteed to solve the problem (Psychologists) ii. Heuristics 1. simple procedures that generate an approximate solution or a solution most of the time 2. example: rounding to the nearest number iii. Analogies c. Stumbling points i. Theory of bounded rationality 1. our rationality is limited: ii. Problems of representation 1. irrelevant info 2. functional fixedness a. screwdriver and string issue 3. mental set

1

a. using the same formula to solve a problem because it works but there is a different formula that works better for some problems 4. unnecessarily constraints a. the dots problem and staying in the invisible box iii. problems of inference 1. available heuristic a. overly affected by the ease of which it comes to mind b. overestimate the number of people who die by plane crash because we hear about plane crashes frequently 2. representative heuristic a. given a quarter which sequence is more probable b. TTTTTT or THHTHT? Are equally probable c. But after a sequence of TTTTTT people think the next one is sure to be H 3. conjunction fallacy a. saying that someone is more likely to be a college student and politician rather than just a college student because of how their described 4. alternative outcomes effect a. chances of winning are equal in either case but you estimate that if other people have fewer tickets than you, you think you’ll win and if someone has more tickets than you ,you think they’ll win even though you all have equal chances 5. confirmation bias a. tendency to see evidence that confirms what we already think rather than evidence that goes against what we think 6. tendency to ignore the base rate a. probability of a shy person being a salesperson instead of librarian even though we tend to think librarians are shy people iv. conclusion 1. comparison to a probability machine 2. but consider a. the availability bias and adaptation b. the confirmation bias and empathy c. beyond mere efficiency

2...