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PSYB57 Final Exam Ch 10-11

Monday, August 10, 2020 7:37 PM

Chapter 10
Summary
• In this chapter we have discussed how cognitive psychologists approach problem-solving and looked at contemporary
research in the field.
○ First we considered how Gestalt psychologists conceptualize insight: as the sudden, often involuntary,
understanding of a complex situation.
○ The Gestalt approach to solving insight problems stresses the importance of understanding how the parts of a
situation are related to the whole.
○ Productive thinking requires us to move beyond structurally blind (reproductive) thinking and functional
fixedness.
• We also considered two approaches to the study of insight problems: progress monitoring and representational
change.
○ Although these theories stand in contrast to one another, they both reflect the idea that solving an insight
problem requires a change in the way a problem is represented.
• After a brief look at research into the involvement of the anterior cingulate cortex and the hippocampus in the insight
process, we considered the evidence that sleep promotes insight.
○ Research on functional fixedness suggests that after the age of about six, people tend to become less flexible in
their approaches to problem-solving: for example, to perceive tools only in terms of their intended functions.
○ This tendency towards rigidity, which is found in primitive as well as technologically advanced societies, leads us
to repeatedly take the same approach to solving a problem, rather than to consider alternative approaches.
• We also looked at the use of computer programs to model human problem-solving behaviour, focusing on Newell and
Simon's General Problem Solver as an example.
○ Gestalt psychologists have criticized computer simulations of problem-solving for failing to address the
experience of insight.
○ However, Simon and colleagues have pointed to the mutilated checkerboard problem as an example of an insight
problem that can in fact be analyzed in ways that are compatible with an artificial intelligence approach.
○ They have also thrown the problem back to the Gestalt psychologists, suggesting that they need to redefine their
conceptualization of insight in terms that are more conducive to empirical research.
• Finally, we considered four complementary approaches to studying problem-solving in science: historical accounts,
observation of ongoing scientific investigation, laboratory studies, and computational models.
○ All these methods are valuable because they highlight different aspects of the problem-solving process.
Key Terms
Insight Problems and the Gestalt Theory of Thinking
• Gestalt switch: a sudden change in the way information is organized

• Insight problem: a problem that we must look at from a different angle before we can see how to solve it

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Wertheimer and Productive Thinking

• Productive thinking (Wertheimer): thinking based on a grasp of the general principles that apply in the situation at
hand
• Structurally blind/reproductive thinking: the tendency to use familiar or routine procedures, reproducing thinking that
was appropriate for other situations, but is not appropriate for other situations, but is not appropriate for the current
situation

Dunker and Functional Fixedness

• Analysis of the situation: determining what functions the objects in the situation have and how they can be used to
solve the problem
• Functional fixedness (Duncher): the inability to see beyond the most common use of a particular object and recognize
that it could also perform the function needed to solve a problem; also, the tendency to think about objects based on
the function for which they were designed
Maier and the Concept of Direction
• Hints (Maier's view): a hint must be consistent with the direction that the person's thinking is taking, and cannot be
useful unless it responds to a difficulty that the person has already experienced

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Insight Is Involuntary
• Feeling of "warmth": the feeling that many people have as they approach the solution to a problem (i.e., "getting
warm")
• Feeling of knowing: the feeling that you will be able to solve a particular problem

Current Approaches to Insight Problems

• Progress monitoring theory: the theory that we monitor our progress on a problem, and when we reach an impasse we
are open to an insightful solution
• Representational change theory: the theory that insight requires a change in the way participants represent the
problem to themselves
• Constraint relaxation: an aspect of representational change theory; the removal of assumptions that are blocking
problem solution
• Chunk decomposition: an aspect of representational change theory; parts of the problem that are recognized as
belonging together are separated into "chunks" and thought about independently

Insight and Sleep

Functional Fixedness and the Design of Tools

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The Flexibility-Rigidity Dimension

• Einstellung effect: Luchins): the tendency to respond inflexibly to a particular type of problem; also called a rigid set
• Negative transfer: the tendency to respond with previously learned rule sequences even when they are inappropriate
• Strong but wrong routines: overlearned response sequences that we follow even when we intend to do something else
Mindlessness
• Mindfullness vs mindlessness (Langer): openness to alternative possibilities versus the tendency to behave as if the
situation had only one possible interpretation
Artificial Intelligence Approaches to Problem-Solving
• Artificial intelligence: the "intelligence" of computer programs designed to solve problems in ways that resemble
human approaches to problem-solving
• Heuristic: a problem-solving procedure (typically a rule of thumb or shortcut); heuristics can often be useful, but do not
guarantee solutions.
• Algorithm: an unambiguous situation procedure (e.g., the rules governing long divison)
A Simple Example of Artificial Intelligence
• Subgoal: a goal derived from the original goal, the solution of which leads to the solution of the problem as a whole
• Evaluation function: the process whereby a plan is created, carried out, and evaluated

The Problem Space

• Problem space: the representation of a problem, including the goal to be reached and the various ways of transforming
the given situation into the situation

General Problem Solver (GPS) and the Tower of Hanoi

• Search tree: a represenation of all the possible moves branching out from the initial state of the problem
• General Problem Solver (GPS): a computer program used to perform non-systematic searches
• Toy problems: problems used to analyze the problem-solving process

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• Production rule: a production rule consists of a condition and an actions (C->A)

• Means-end analysis: the procedure used by General Problem Solver to reduce differences between current and goal
states
• Goal stack: the final goal to be reached is on the bottom of the stack, with the subgoals piled on top of it in the reverse
of the order in which they are to be attained

Thinking Aloud as a Method for Studying Human Problem-Solving

• Thinking aloud: concurrent verbalization of information as the participant is attending to it

Solving Problems in Science

• Historical accounts, observation of ongoing scientific investigations, laboratory studies, and computational models:
different methods for studying problem-solvign in science
Historical Accounts
• Cognitive history of science: the study of historically important scientific discoveries in a framework provided by
cognitive science
• Zeigarnik effect: the "quasi-need" to finish incomplete tasks
Observation of Ongoing Scientific Investigations/Laboratory Studies
• In vivo/in vitro method (Dunbar): in the case of scientific problem-solving, in vivo research involves the observation of
ongoing scientific investigations, while in vitro research involves laboratory studies of scientific problem-solving
Unexpected Findings
• Unexpected findings: although scientists may initially resist information that disconfirms favoured hypotheses,
successful problem-solvers attempt to explain surprising results
Distributed Reasoning
• Distributed reasoning: reasoning done by more than one person
Computational Models
• BACON: a computer program that has been able to "discover" several well-known scientific laws
• Face validity: methods that clearly measure what they are supposed to measure are said to be "face valid"

Chapter 12
Summary
• This chapter has discussed the ways in which psychologists have conceptualized intelligence.
○ Many conceptualizations rest on the notion of a single general intelligence (g) that is common to all types of
intelligence and underlies more specific abilities.
○ General intelligence appears to be a useful construct, as research has shown that it can predict academic
achievement and work performance.
○ We also considered the importance of working memory, neural plasticity, and evolution in relation to general
intelligence.
• An important finding in research on intelligence is the Flynn effect, which indicates that IQ scores have been increasing
in industrialized nations over time.

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○ Since increases in IQ have been occurring too quickly for evolution to account for them, researchers have looked
to environmental factors such as improvements in nutrition, health, and education, and increasing environmental
complexity.
• While many theories emphasize the importance of general intelligence, several others focus on different aspects of
intelligence.
○ Robert Sternberg's theory of successful intelligence proposes that three different types of components or
processes underlie all aspects of intelligence: metacomponents, performance components, and knowledge
acquisition components.
• Sternberg also outlined three different content areas of intelligence—analytical, creative, and practical—
and suggested that individuals will vary across the three types.
○ Similarly, Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences proposes that intelligence does not consist of one
ability but rather of many different abilities.
○ An important contribution of this theory is the emphasis it places on the use of symbol systems, such as drawing
and music, in intelligent behaviour.
• Research on expertise indicates that practice is the most important factor in the development of expertise. Innate
talent or anatomical differences in brain structure do not ap-pear to play a critical role in the development of
expertise.
• Like intelligence, creativity has been conceptualized in numerous ways; nevertheless, cognitive psychologists agree that
creativity involves the production of novel, socially valued products.
○ Concepts such as problem-finding, blind variation, and remote associations are considered instrumental to
understanding creativity.
Key Terms
The Concept of Intelligence: Historical Background
The Binet-Simon Test
• Intelligence (Binet and Simon's 1905 definition): a fundamental faculty and the alteration or lack of which is of the
utmost importance for your practical life
• IQ = (MA/CA) x 100
Charles Spearman
• Factor analysis: a statistical procedure that derives a number of underlying factors that may explain the structure of a
set of correlations
• General intelligence (g): the part of intelligence that is common to all abilities

General intelligence (g)

Fluid Intelligence and g
• Crystallized intelligence: the body of what someone has learned; may continue to increase throughout life
• Fluid intelligence: the ability to think flexibly; may increase in youth but levels off as we mature
• Eduction (Spearman): literally drawing out. General intelligence may be the ability to draw out the relationship that
apply in a novel situation
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• Raven Progressive Matrices: a set of problems that constitutes the most widely accepted test of g

Working Memory and g

• Working memory capacity: the theory that working memory capacity and g are closely related
Neural Plasticity and g
• Neural plasticity: changes the neuronal circuitry often associated with maturation, environmental adaptation, and
modulation by experience which may lead to learning and behavioural modification
The Evolution of g
• Dedicated intelligence: intelligence associated with domain-specific modules that would have evolved to solve recurring
problems
• Improvisational intelligence: flexible intelligence that would have evolved to deal with relatively unique, unpredictable
problems
The Flynn Effect
• Flynn effect: an increase in IQ scores over historical time
Sternberg's Theory of Successful Intelligence
• Intellectual components (Sternberg): elementary information processes that operate on internal representations of
objects or symbols
Metacomponents
• Metacomponents (Sternberg): executive processes used in planning, monitoring, and decision-making in task
performance
Performance Components
• Performance components (Sternberg): the processes that are used in the execution of a task
Knowledge Acquisition Components
• Knowledge acquisition components (Sternberg): processes concerned with learning and storing new information
The Triarchic Theory
• Triarchic theory of intelligence: Sternberg's theory consisting of analytic, practical and creative intelligence
• Analytical intelligence: the ability to solve relatively straightforward problems, considered to be general intelligence
• Creative intelligence: the ability to reason using novel concepts
• Entrenched VS non-entrenched concepts: entrenched concepts strike us as natural and easy to reason with, whereas
non-entrenched concepts strike us as unnatural and difficult to reason with
• Practical intelligence: the ability to find problem solutions in real-world, everyday solutions
Howard Gardner and the Theory of Multiple Intelligences
• Multiple intelligences (Gardner): the hypothesis that intelligence consists not of one underlying ability but of many
different abilities
• Symbols systems: different forms of representation, such as drawing, music, and mathematics, that express different
forms of intelligence
Drawing
• U-shaped development: the hypothesis that the development of many symbolic forms initially is delightfully pre-
conventional, then descends to the merely conventional, but ultimately may achieve the integration of the post-
conventional

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Music
• Ur-song: the hypothetical first song that all children would spontaneously sing
• Mid-life crisis of musicians (Bamberger): as music students become adolescents, they may feel a tension between their
increasingly explicit understanding of music and the spontaneous love of music they had as children
Expertise
• 10-year rule: the hypothesis that roughly 10 years of intense practice is necessary in order to become an expert in a
domain
Creativity
• Creativity: the production of novel, socially valued products
Creativity and Problem-Finding
• Problem-finding (Getzels): the ability to discover new problems, their methods and solutions
Creativity as Evolution in Miniature
• Blind variation (Campbell): the generation of alternative problem solutions without foresight
• Change permutations: different combinations of mental elements produced according to no set rule
• Simonton's three core propositions:
1. Creative solutions to problems require some process of variation. These variations are change permutations of
mental elements. Permutations are different combinations of cognitive units such as ideas and concepts
2. Variations are selected on the basis of a set of criteria
3. Variations that meet the criteria are retained
Creativity and Remote Associations
• Alternate uses test (Barron): a test that asks people to list uncommon uses for common objects

• Associative hierarchy: the idea that the associations are used for problem-solving are arranged in a hierarchy, and that
creative people not only have more associations than most, but have them arranged in "flatter" hierarchies; thus hey
are more likely than most to recognize alternative possibilities
• Remote associations test (RAT; Mednick): a test that asks the participant to come up with a single association to link
three apparently unrelated words

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