CHAPTER 12 Problem Solving & Creativity

• A problem occurs when there is an obstacle between a present

  state and a goal and it is not immediately obvious how to get around the obstacle.
• A problem is a situation in which

  you need to accomplish a goal and the solution is not immediately obvious.
• Gestalt approach was about (1) how people represent a problem in

  their mind and (2) how solving a problem involves a reorganization or restructuring of this representation.
• The Gestalt psychologists called the process of changing the problem’s representation restructuring.
• Insight has been defined as any sudden comprehension, realization, or problem solution that involves a reorganization of a person’s mental representation of a stimulus, situation, or event to yield an interpretation that was not initially obvious.
• Two Insight Problems: Triangle Problem and Chain Problem
• Analytically based problems are solved by a process of systematic analysis, often using techniques based on past experience.
• Fixation is people’s tendency to focus on a specific characteristic of the

  problem that keeps them from arriving at a solution.
• One type of fixation that can work against solving a problem, focusing on familiar functions or uses of an object, is called functional fixedness.
• Examples of functional fixedness: candle problem and two string problem.
• Mental set is a preconceived notion about how to approach a problem, which is determined by a person’s experience of what has worked in the past.
• The Information Processing Approach is computer program that was designed to simulate human problem solving.
• The Tower of Hanoi problem, the operators are moving the disc to another peg.
• Initial state, conditions at the beginning of the problem.
• Goal state, the solution of the problem.
• The idea of operators, actions that take the problem from one state to another.
• Problem space, all possible states that could occur when solving a problem.
• Means end analysis is to reduce the difference between the initial and goal states.
• Means end analysis is achieved by creating subgoals, intermediate states that are closer to the goal.
• Two states of Newell and Simon’s approach by describing the Tower of Hanoi problem: initial state and goal state.
• The Mutilated Checkerboard Problem is a checkerboard consists of 64 squares, which can be completely covered by placing 32 dominos on the board so that each domino covers two squares.
• Kaplan and Simon used a technique introduced by Simon called the think aloud protocol, where participants are asked to say out loud what

  they are thinking while solving a problem.
• Using the solution to a similar problem to guide solution of a new problem is called analogical problem solving.
• The contingency strategy refers to a negotiating strategy in which a person gets what he or she wants if something else happens.
• Analogical encoding is the process by which two problems are compared and similarities between them are determined.
• The trade off strategy refers to a negotiating strategy in which one person says to another.
• This transfer from one problem to another is called analogical transfer.
• Target problem, which is the problem the participant is trying to solve.
• Source problem, which is another problem that shares some similarities with the target problem and that illustrates a way to solve the target problem.
• Karl Duncker’s problem that has been widely used in research on analogical problem solving is the radiation problem.
• While it is difficult to apply analogies in laboratory research, people routinely use analogies in real-world settings. This is called the analogical paradox.
• The vivo problem solving research involves observing people to determine how they solve problems in real-world situations.
• Experts are people who, by devoting a large amount of time to learning about a field and practicing and applying that learning, have become acknowledged as being extremely knowledgeable or skilled in that particular field.
• Divergent thinking is thinking that is open-ended, involving a large number of potential “solutions”.
• The purpose of the group brainstorming technique is to encourage people to freely express ideas that might be useful in solving a particular problem.
• Ronald Finke developed a technique called creative cognition to train people to think creatively.
• Preinventive forms are ideas that precede the creation of a finished creative product.
• Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (TDCS) is a procedure for stimulating the brain in which two electrodes are placed on a person’s head.
• The two electrodes in Transcranial Direct Current Simulation: cathodal electrode and anodal electrode.
• Electroencephalography (EEG) is a method to record an electrogram of the spontaneous electrical activity of the brain.