| COGNITION Cognition: (Thinking) the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating. Concept: a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people. Prototype: a mental image or BEST example of a category (e.g., a prototypical "bird" may be a robin). Artificial Intelligence (AI): the science of designing and programming computer systems to do intelligent things and to simulate human thought processes, such as intuitive reasoning, learning, and understanding language. Solving Problems Algorithm: a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem. Heuristic: a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms. Insight: a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem; it contrasts with strategy-based solutions. Obstacles to Problem Solving Confirmation Bias: a tendency to search for information that confirms one's preconceptions. Fixation: the inability to see a problem from a new perspective. Mental Set: a tendency to approach a problem in a particular way, especially a way that has been successful in the past but may or may not be helpful in solving a new problem. Functional Fixedness: the tendency to think of objects only in terms of their usual functions. Making Decisions and Judgments Representativeness Heuristic: judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead one to ignore relevant information. Availability Heuristic: estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common. Overconfidence: the tendency to be more confident in our judgments that correct---to overestimate the accuracy of one's beliefs and judgments. Framing: the way in which an issue is posed (or worded); this can significantly affect decisions and judgments. Belief Bias: the tendency for one's preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning, sometimes by making invalid conclusions seem valid, or valid conclusions seem invalid. Belief Perseverance: clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited. LANGUAGE Language: our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning. Phoneme: in spoken language, the smallest distinctive sound unit. Morpheme: in language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or part of a word (like a prefix). Grammar: a system of rules that enables us to communicate with language and understand each other. Semantics: the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences; also the study of meaning. Syntax: the rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences. Language Development Babbling Stage: beginning at 3-4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language. One-word Stage: the stage in speech development, from about age 1 to age 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words. Two-word Stage: beginning at about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly two-word statements. Telegraphic Speech: speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram--"go car"--using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting "auxiliary words (like "the" and "a"). NEXT PAGE From organizing your movie collection to deciding to buy a house, problem-solving makes up a large part of daily life. Problems can range from small (solving a single math equation on your homework assignment) to very large (planning your future career). Show
In cognitive psychology, the term problem-solving refers to the mental process that people go through to discover, analyze, and solve problems. The steps in the problem process include:
Before problem-solving can occur, it is important to first understand the exact nature of the problem itself. If your understanding of the issue is faulty, your attempts to resolve it will also be incorrect or flawed. Problem-Solving Mental ProcessesThere are a number of mental processes at work during problem-solving. These include:
Problem-Solving StrategiesThere are a number of different ways that people go about solving a problem. Some of these strategies might be used on their own, but people may also employ a range of approaches to figuring out and fixing a problem. AlgorithmsAn algorithm is a step-by-step procedure that will always produce the correct solution. A mathematical formula is a good example of a problem-solving algorithm. While an algorithm guarantees an accurate answer, it is not always the best approach to problem-solving. This strategy is not practical for many situations because it can be so time-consuming. For example, if you were trying to figure out all of the possible number combinations to a lock using an algorithm, it would take a very long time. HeuristicsA heuristic is a mental rule-of-thumb strategy that may or may not work in certain situations. Unlike algorithms, heuristics do not always guarantee a correct solution. However, using this problem-solving strategy does allow people to simplify complex problems and reduce the total number of possible solutions to a more manageable set. Trial and ErrorA trial-and-error approach to problem-solving involves trying a number of different solutions and ruling out those that do not work. This approach can be a good option if you have a very limited number of options available. If there are many different choices, you are better off narrowing down the possible options using another problem-solving technique before attempting trial-and-error. InsightIn some cases, the solution to a problem can appear as a sudden insight. This can occur because you realize that the problem is actually similar to something that you have dealt with in the past. However, the underlying mental processes that lead to insight happen outside of awareness. Obstacles in Problem-SolvingOf course, problem-solving is not a flawless process. There are a number of different obstacles that can interfere with our ability to solve a problem quickly and efficiently. Researchers have described a number of these mental obstacles, which include functional fixedness, irrelevant information, and assumptions.
Get Advice From The Verywell Mind PodcastHosted by Editor-in-Chief and therapist Amy Morin, LCSW, this episode of The Verywell Mind Podcast shares how you can stop dwelling in a negative mindset. Is a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently but is also can result in more errors than using algorithms?Heuristic: a simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently; usually speedier but also more error-prone than algorithms.
Which problem solving strategy is the fastest but can often lead to errors?Heuristics are general 'mental short-cuts' or quick decision-making rules. Sometimes this can lead to good solutions, but sometimes it can lead to an error or mistake. It is often formed based on past experiences and is a common problem solving strategy for everyday life type of problems.
Which problem solving strategy is more efficient but also more prone to errors?Heuristics, on the other hand, are short cuts or simple strategies that allow us to solve problems more efficiently and quickly, usually faster, although more errors may result.
What are shortcut strategies or guidelines that suggest a solution to a problem?Heuristics are mental shortcuts that allow people to solve problems and make judgments quickly and efficiently.
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