Thinking, Problem Solving and

Creativity
 Thinking
“All the mental activities associated with processing , understanding
and communicating information
 Thought
• Cognition—mental activities involved in
acquiring, retaining, and using knowledge
• Thinking—manipulation of mental
representations to draw inferences and
conclusions.
• Units of Thought: • Images • Concepts •
Language (symbols) Thinking often involves all
three units.
1. Mental image—representation of objects
or events that are not present
2. Concepts – mental category we form to group objects,
events, or situations that share common characteristics
or features.
 Mental Image
• Mental Image – mental representation of an object
or event not physically present.
• “A mental representation that has picture like
qualities; an icon”
• Mental imaging works similar to actual visual
imaging but that occurs when the relevant object,
event, or scene is not actually present to the senses.
• Mental images are constructed and therefore subject
to error.
 Concepts
• Concept—mental category we form to group
objects, events, or situations that share common
characteristics or features.
• Three Types of Concepts:
1. Formal concept
2. Natural concept
3. Prototype
 Concept Hierarchy
• A means to keep mental information
organized from basic concepts to
specific ones
• Move from basic category to more
specific subordinate categories.
Concept Hierarchy
 Examples of Concepts
• Formal concept— rigid rules or features that
define a particular concept.
– All or nothing categorization process
• Categories for solid, liquid, or gas
• A square is…

• Natural concept—Eleanor Rosch said these form

from everyday experience and do not have
boundaries that are sharply defined
– Members of these share a kind of “family resemblance”
that helps us to recognize items that belong in the same
category, even if they are not identical.
– Example: space shuttle & hot air balloon are both
examples of the natural concept “aircraft”
 Prototype
• A model
• A typical best example of a particular
thing
• The closer a new object is to our concept
prototype the easier it is to categorize it
– If an object has four wheels and doors it
probably fits our prototype for…
 Problem Solving
•Thinking and behavior directed toward attaining a
goal that is not readily available.
•Must understand the problem correctly to
accurately solve it.
 Kinds of Thinking
• Convergent Thinking – focused on finding a
particular answer to a problem
• Divergent Thinking – Thinking Creatively to
generate as many possible answers to a question or
problem as you can. “Brainstorming”
• Incubation – Leave the problem for a time,
allowing their minds to work on it without
conscious effort. (Can led to Insight)
 Trial & Error
• Trying a variety of solutions and eliminating
those that don’t work.
 Algorithms
• A problem solving strategy that
guarantees the solution to the problem
• Not always the most efficient method

y + z = r2
 Using an Algorithm
• Pick any month of the year.
• Look at four dates that form a square in that
month and add them together for a total.
• Given this total, how can you determine the four
dates the person chose using an algorithm?

• To find the first date divide the sum by 4 and then

subtract 4.
• To find the second date just add 1 to the date you
got above.
• To find the third date add 7 to the first date.
• To find the fourth date add 8 to the first date.
 Heuristics
• A rule-of-thumb problem solving strategy that makes a solution
more likely and efficient but does not guarantee a solution
• Examples:
– What is 79 x 10?
– Need milk? Go to the dairy sections of store rather than search the
entire store.
– “I” before “E” except after “C”
• They simplify the problem because they let you reduce the
number of possible solutions.
• These can be handy shortcuts, or they can get us into trouble.
(What about words like “weird”)
 Two ways we use Heuristics
• Subgoals – divide the problem into to
smaller more manageable parts
– As you solve each subproblem you get closer to
solving the larger problem.
• Working Backward – determine the steps to
reach your goal starting from the end point.
(i.e. making a budget).
 Insight
• The sudden realization of the solution to a
problem – correct answer suddenly comes to us.
• “Unconscious Problem Solving” – You’re not
aware of the thought process that led you to an
insight.

The solutions to these problems are often characterized by sudden flashes

of insight. Solutions are on page 288 in your textbook.
 Intuition
• Intuition—coming to a conclusion without
conscious awareness of thought processes involved
• Kenneth Bowers explains: New info is combined
with existing info in the long-term memory in a two-
stage process.
1. Guiding Stage – Unconsciously look for a pattern in
the info. Based on your expertise and memories.
2. Integrative Stage – Pattern is now in the
consciousness in the from of a hunch.
– You then try to prove or disprove your hunch/hypothesis.
Obstacles to Solving
Problems
 Functional Fixedness
• Type of mental set
• Inability to see an object as having
a function other than its usual one
• Have to unlock the door?
•Use a credit card.
•Tighten a screw without a screwdriver?
–Use a coin!
 Mounting candle problem
• Using only the objects
present on the right, attach
the candle to the bulletin
board in such a way that the
candle can be lit and will
burn properly
 Answer to candle problem
• Most people do not think
of using the box for
anything other than its
normal use (to hold the
tacks)
• To solve the problem,
you have to overcome
functional fixedness
 Mental Set
• A tendency to approach a problem in
a particular way that has worked in
the past
• A well-established habit of
perception or thought
• The set may or may not be helpful in
solving a new problem
 Nine dots problem

• Without lifting your

pencil or re-tracing
any line, draw four
straight lines that
connect all nine dots
 Nine dots mental set

• Most people will not

draw lines that extend
from the square formed
by the nine dots
• To solve the problem,
you have to break your
mental set & the implicit
assumption you have to
stay within the dots.
 Fixation

• A mental set that hinders the solution

of a problem
• One needs to think beyond the mental
set to solve the new problem
Decision Making
 Decision Making
• Single feature model—make a decision by
focusing on only one feature
–Do you use this model in making decisions?
–Ever choose a date based on looks?
–Go see a movie because a friend told you it was
good?
–Choose a restaurant based on price?
•Choose a class based on how easy you heard it was?
 Additive Model
• Systematically evaluate the important
features of each alternative.
• First create a list of factors that are
important to you.
• Then rate each alternative on each factor.
• What factors do you consider when
choosing a college? (See transparency
chart)
 DEGREE/
TUITION ACADEMIC SOCIAL
HOUSING PROGRAMS TOTALS
COST RANKING LIFE
OFFERED

U of M

WMU

1 = BEST 5 = WORST
 Elimination-by-Aspects
• Rate choices based on features.
• Evaluate each alternative one characteristic at a time
staring with the one you think is most important.
• Eliminate those that do not meet the desired criteria
even if they have other desirable characteristics.
• Over time your alternatives will be narrowed down.
• We often use this to get our options to a few and then
use the additive model to make the final decision.
Decisions Involving Uncertainty
 Availability Heuristic
• Uses information from our memory to
judge the likelihood of events
• When instances of an event are easily
recalled we consider that event more likely
to reoccur.
• Can be correct or incorrect
 Availability Heuristic
• Judge probability of an event by how easily you can
recall previous occurrences of that event
• Rare events can cause us to overestimate the
likelihood of reoccurrence (Fallacy of Positive
Instances).
– After 9/11 there was a sharp decrease in the number of
people using air travel while driving increased
significantly.
 Representative Heuristic
• Estimate the likelihood of an event by comparing how
similar its essential features are to our prototype or schema
we already have in our mind.
• Example: Is the following person more likely to be an Ivy
League psych professor or a truck driver?
– A man, 5’7”, 155 pounds, who wears glasses, attends
poetry readings & enjoys classical music
• Statistically, he is far more likely to be a truck driver
because there are hundreds of thousands of truck drivers
and possibly only 100-200 Ivy League psych professors.
– Even if 50% of professors fit the schema it still is
statistically more likely to be a truck driver.
Rep. Heuristic Can be False if…
– We fail to consider possible variations from the
prototype.
– Fail to consider approximate number of prototypes that
actually exist.
If it has webbed feet, a bill and lays eggs it meets my
prototype for a duck so it must be a duck!

BUT YOU FORGOT IT COULD BE A…

 Bias Effects
• Confirmation bias—only search for information
confirming one’s belief.
• Belief bias/perseverance—accept only information that
conforms to beliefs
• Self-Serving Bias – Take credit for good results and
share the blame for failures.
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy – Tendency to act in ways that
will confirm your belief thereby making it come true.
 Overconfidence
• The tendency to be more confident than
correct when estimating the accuracy of one’s
beliefs and judgments
• How well do you know your info for this test?
• How long will it take you to do your
homework? – Do you tend to underestimate
how long it takes? - Overconfidence is why!
 More Faulty Thinking
• Hindsight Bias • Dunning-Kruger Effect
• “Knew it all Along” • “Illusory Superiority”
• When we learn the • People who are bad at
outcome of an event or something often think
solution to a problem, they are good at it.
we are convinced the • Their incompetence keeps
answer was quite them from realizing they
obvious. are incompetent.
 Framing

• The way an issue is worded or presented can

influence decisions and judgments
– Do you think it is OK to kill unborn children?
– Do you believe that abortion is an appropriate
option for those with unwanted pregnancies?
– What is 8 x 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1?
– What is 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 x 6 x 7 x 8?
– Answer: 40,320 (we tend to overestimate the
first one based on how it is written)
 Belief Bias/Perseverance

• Clinging to one’s beliefs even after new

information discredits the basis on which they
were formed
• Especially true if you have made your belief
public to others.
• The best advice to give people who want to avoid
belief perseverance is: “Consider the Opposite”
 Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
• Rosenhan study
(Famous Study #13)
• Teachers told they had
“bright” students found
ways to get them to excel.
 Strategies for solving problems

1. Break mental sets – be creative! (see next slide)

2. Find useful analogy
3. Represent information efficiently
4. Find shortcuts
5. Establish sub-goals
6. Turn ill-defined problems into well-defined
problems
 Be Creative! (pg. 313-314)
• Choose the goal of creativity
• Reinforce creative behavior
• Engage in problem finding
• Acquire relevant knowledge
• Try different approaches
• Exert effort and expect setbacks