PSYCHOLOGY 2E

7.3 ‘Problem Solving’

 Describe Describe problem solving strategies

Today’s
Objectives: Define Define algorithm and heuristic

Explain some common roadblocks to effective

Explain problem solving and decision making
 Problem-Solving Strategies
A problem-solving strategy is a plan of action that is used to find a solution.
Here are some examples given in 7.3:
 Problem-Solving Strategies

• A well-known strategy is trial-and-error, which

is exactly as it sounds. Here, you would continue
to try different solutions until you solved the
problem.
• Another type of strategy is an algorithm. This
formula provides you with step-by-step
instructions used to achieve a desired outcome.
An example of an algorithm would be a recipe,
or a search on Google.
 Problem-Solving Strategies
A heuristic is another type of problem-solving strategy. This is a general
framework; you can think of heuristics as mental shortcuts that are used to
solve problems. A “rule of thumb” is an example of heuristic… such a rule
saves the person time when deciding on something! Despite the time it
saves, a heuristic is not always the best method for rational decision
making.

The impulse to use a heuristic occurs if one of the five conditions is met:
• When one is faced with too much information
• When the time to decide is limited
• When the decision to be made is unimportant
• When there is access to very little information to use in making the
decision
• When an appropriate heuristic happens to come to mind in the same
moment
 Pitfalls to Problem Solving

Not all problems are successfully solved. What

challenges stop us from successfully solving a
problem?
One answer to the question above is a mental set.
This is where you persist in approaching a problem in
a way that has worked in the past but is clearly not
working now. You need to find another way to solve
the problem.
Functional Fixedness
Functional fixedness is a type of mental set where you cannot perceive
an object being used for something other than what it was designed for.

The Candle Problem:

Duncker (1945) conducted foundational research on this concept. He
created an experiment in which participants were given a candle, a book
of matches, and a box of thumbtacks. They were instructed to use those
items to attach the candle to the wall so that it did not drip wax onto the
table below.
Most people were unable to solve the problem, as they saw the box that
held thumbtacks to only hold the thumbtacks, and not the candle.
However, when the thumbtacks were taken out of the box, participants
began to see a new way to solve the problem. Interesting, right?
Biases

In order to make good decisions, people use their knowledge and reasoning. Though this
knowledge and reasoning is often sound, sometimes we are swayed by our biases or
others manipulating the situation.
There are a few types of biases that we will discuss today:
- Anchoring bias
- Confirmation bias
- Hindsight bias
- Representative bias
Anchoring Bias
• An anchoring bias is when people have a tendency to rely too
heavily on the very first piece of information that they learn.

Imagine you see a pair of jeans in an outlet store that you think
are super cool. You look at the price tag… $800? For one pair of
pants? You shrug it off. Then, in another section of the
department store, you see a slightly similar pair of jeans that are
on sale for $200. You are probably thinking, “wow, these are a
pretty good deal!”. You are probably judging the second pair of
jeans based on your initial thoughts of the first pair of jeans. $200
is still incredibly expensive, and yet you saw them as a “good
deal” because of your anchoring bias.
Confirmation Bias

The confirmation bias is the tendency to focus on

information that confirms your existing beliefs.

For example, if you think someone isn’t very nice, you

tend to focus on all of the instances of rude behavior
exhibited by said person while ignoring the pleasant
interactions you’ve had with them on a daily basis.
 Hindsight Bias

Hindsight bias leads you to believe that the

event you just experienced was predictable…
even though it wasn’t. In other words, you
knew all along that things would turn out the
way you thought they did! But did you really?
Representative Bias

Representative bias describes a faulty way of thinking,

in which you unintentionally stereotype someone or
something.
PROBLEM
S O LV I N G
A C T I V I T Y: