Deck 11: Problem Solving

Question 1

A problem is ______.

A) when you do not have experience with a situation
B) when a situation is not as you expected it to be
C) a situation in which another person disagrees with your position
D) a situation in which there is a difference between a current state and a desired goal state

Answer 1

a situation in which there is a difference between a current state and a desired goal state

Question 2

Functional ______ is focusing on how things are usually used, while ignoring other potential uses.

A) stubbornness
B) fixedness
C) fixation
D) use

Answer 2

fixedness

Question 3

Early theories of problem solving focused primarily on ______.

A) functional fixedness
B) introspection
C) trial and error
D) systematic strategies

Answer 3

trial and error

Question 4

______ is the process of developing a solution designed to change the state of affairs from the current state to the goal state.

A) Error monitoring
B) Problem solving
C) Searching
D) Cognitive tracing

Question 5

Which of the following is the best example of an ill-defined problem?

A) unlocking your front door
B) dressing to impress
C) buttoning a shirt
D) turning on a computer

Question 6

Researchers have found that people most often use ______ when problem-solving.

A) introspection
B) pencil and paper
C) apps
D) trial and error

Question 7

What brain area seems to play a large role in problem-solving?

A) temporal lobe
B) frontal lobe
C) parietal lobe
D) occipital lobe

Question 8

How we mentally represent a problem ______ finding the solution.

A) usually helps with
B) usually hinders
C) can both help and hinder
D) has little effect on

Question 9

Consider the following scenario. You are at work, and the strap on your shoe breaks. You have to figure out a way to fix it; otherwise, you will not be able to walk properly with both shoes. You use a paperclip to hold the strap on. This example rejects the idea of ______.

A) pathological behavior
B) functional fixedness
C) improper fixedness
D) means-end strategy

Question 10

Defining and representing a problem is the process of ______.

A) making a list of the problems you have already experienced and applying it to the current problem
B) redefining the knowledge needed to solve the problem while resolving issues with functional fixedness
C) focusing on whether the problem is ill-defined or well-defined and if it is subject to functional fixedness
D) stating the scope and goal of the problem and organizing the knowledge needed for addressing it

Question 11

Which of the following is an example of a well-defined problem?

A) driving to the store
B) buying soda
C) getting dressed
D) turning your car on

Question 12

The productive processes involved in the Gestalt approach include creating ______ of information structured to achieve particular goals.

A) functional images
B) mental sets
C) mental representations
D) past associations

Question 13

A Sudoku puzzle is an example of a(n) ______.

A) ill-defined problem
B) well-defined problem
C) trial-and-error problem
D) functional fixedness problem

Question 14

______ are problems that have a clearly defined goal state and constraints, whereas ______ are problems that lack a clearly defined goal state and constraints.

A) well-defined; ill-defined
B) ill-defined; well-defined
C) concrete; abstract
D) abstract; concrete

Question 15

While baking a cake, you say the steps out loud as you are carrying them out. This is an example of ______.

A) pathology
B) functional fixedness
C) retrospection
D) introspection

Question 16

Trial-and-error approaches are successful when there are ______.

A) many variations on a few basic solutions
B) several risky and improbable solutions
C) relatively few possible solutions
D) many conflicting solutions

Question 17

______ is a common barrier to our ability to solve problems.

A) Typicality
B) Functional fixedness
C) Analogical transfer
D) Means-end strategy

Question 18

To overcome the idea of functional fixedness, we develop solutions to problems based in part on ______.

A) how easily we see a workable solution
B) whether or not those problems are well-defined
C) what potential functions objects can perform
D) whether they are mental set problems

Question 19

The knowledge needed for addressing a problem includes mentally representing the ______ and ______ states, the rules or constraints, and the allowable operations to solve the problem.

A) current; goal
B) future; goal
C) past; current
D) past; future

Question 20

Ava recently lost her job and needs to find a new one. She decides to use the same strategies that landed her the job she just lost. What kind of approach does this decision best represent?

A) Gestalt approach
B) algorithm approach
C) trial-and-error approach
D) associationist approach

Question 21

Employing the hill-climbing strategy is an example of using a(n) ______ strategy.

A) functional fixedness
B) heuristic
C) problem space
D) algorithm

Question 22

______ is a tendency to use the same set of solutions to solve similar problems, whereas ______ is using the same solution for two different problems with the same underlying structure.

A) A mental set; analogical transfer
B) Functional fixedness; mental set
C) A mental set; functional fixedness
D) Analogical transfer; a mental set

Question 23

In Gick and Holyoak's study (1980), what was the key to having participants solve the problem of how to help the patient with the inoperable tumor?

A) They had to be told that the army story was related.
B) They had to watch a video that played out each scenario.
C) They had to read each story multiple times.
D) They had to read more about inoperable tumors.

Question 24

A prescribed problem-solving strategy that always leads to the correct solution in problems with a single correct solution is a(n) ______, while a problem-solving strategy that does not always lead to the correct solution is a(n) ______.

A) heuristic; algorithm
B) algorithm; insight
C) insight; heuristic
D) algorithm; heuristic

Question 25

Experts generally spend more time analyzing ______, adding relevant knowledge to their representation, and planning their ______.

A) problems; algorithms
B) solutions; algorithms
C) solutions; problems
D) problems; solutions

Question 26

Which of the following are explanations for differences in problem solving between experts and novices?

A) Experts have longer fixations on critical aspects of the problem they are trying to solve.
B) Experts mentally group aspects of problems together differently.
C) Experts are smarter than novices.
D) Experts use more trial-and-error techniques.

Question 27

______ searches consider only part of the search space. Instead of considering all possible solutions, we instead mentally consider potential chains of subproblems, evaluating how each operator changes the current state.

A) Mental set
B) Problem space
C) Algorithm
D) Heuristic

Question 28

In studies of the eye movements of expert and novice gymnastic coaches viewing gymnastics routines, expert coaches had ______ fixations on regions critical to the performance and ______ fixations on non-relevant areas

A) shorter; more, longer
B) longer; fewer, shorter
C) longer; fewer but even longer
D) shorter; fewer but longer

Question 29

The research on expertise consistently shows that ______.

A) experts' advantages are limited to problems within their area of expertise
B) experts are more intuitive than novices are
C) experts do not need to spend as much time analyzing things as novices do
D) experts do not notice as many details as novices do

Question 30

Talia needs to solve a complex engineering problem. She employs a predetermined strategy to find a single correct solution. This is an example of a(n) ______.

A) heuristic
B) algorithm
C) recipe
D) mental set

Question 31

Which of the following are heuristic search processes?

A) algorithm strategy
B) means-ends strategy
C) hill-climbing strategy
D) working-backward strategy

Question 32

When trying to solve a problem like a complicated number puzzle, filling in values though random trial and error will likely lead to frustration. What is the reason for this result?

A) The problem space is too large.
B) Most number puzzles are too difficult.
C) The mental set needs to be changed.
D) The subgoals are not being addressed.

Question 33

Studies examining the eye movements of participants trying to solve math problems found that people ______.

A) distract themselves while working on problems
B) use insight while solving math problems
C) use introspection while working on math problems
D) fixate on things that they are thinking about

Question 34

Using Gick and Holyoak's (1980) story involving a general and his army as a way to help solve the problem of a surgeon and his patient with an inoperable tumor is an example of ______.

A) analogical transfer
B) functional fixedness
C) a mental set
D) selective encoding

Question 35

Which of the following are processes that Janet Davidson and her colleagues proposed to underlie problem solving?

A) selective encoding
B) selective introspection
C) selective combination
D) selective comparison

Question 36

Asaf is trying to make chicken soup from scratch. He has made three batches so far, but even though he varies the process each time, he cannot figure out what ingredient he is missing. Finally, on his fourth batch, his soup has come out perfectly. This example illustrates ______.

A) structuralism
B) trial and error
C) introspection
D) functional fixedness

Question 37

IDEAL framework stands for______.

A) Identify, Define, Explore, Anticipate, Look back
B) Identify, Distinguish, Explore, Anticipate, Look back
C) Identify, Define, Explore, Associate, Look back
D) Identify, Define, Explore, Anticipate, Label

Question 38

While working in a lab, you encounter a problem with your experiment. You spend days trying to figure out what is wrong, and finally, it pops into your head that the temperature in the room is incorrect, causing fluctuations in your results. This is an example of ______.

A) trial and error
B) an insight
C) an algorithm
D) recognition

Question 39

______ is a problem-solving strategy that involves repeated comparisons between the current state and the goal state.

A) Working-backward strategy
B) Hill-climbing strategy
C) Algorithm strategy
D) Means-ends strategy

Question 40

Imagine that you are writing a paper and are entering all your references into your bibliography manually. You complete that paper and begin a new one. You start to enter all your references manually again, even though your friend just told you about a great program that does all of that for you and allows you to reformat things within seconds. However, you insist on continuing with your old ways. This example illustrates ______.

A) functional fixedness
B) selective encoding
C) analogical transfer
D) a mental set

Question 41

Mental set is similar to the functional fixedness bias.

Question 42

All problem-solving processes are unconscious.

Question 43

Getting dressed is an example of a well-defined problem.

Question 44

How did the General Problem Solver computer program change the way cognitive psychologists theorized about human problem solving?

Question 45

Research indicates there are neuropsychological differences between well- and ill-defined problems.

Question 46

Solving a crossword puzzle is an example of an ill-defined problem.

Question 47

Distinguish between well- and ill-defined problems. Give three examples of each.

Question 48

The means-ends strategy guides the search through the problem space by repeatedly ignoring the current state of the problem in favor of the goal state.

Question 49

Novices in a field mentally group aspects of problems together differently from experts.

Question 50

Our cognitive systems constrain our ability to solve problems.

Question 51

Gestalt psychologists were in favor of purely associationist theories of problem-solving.

Question 52

Discuss the ways in which experts differ from novices in terms of problem solving. How can you become a better problem solver?

Question 53

Ill-defined problems are those that lack a clearly defined goal state and constraints.

Question 54

Define functional fixedness, and provide three examples.

Question 55

Describe the main differences between the associationist approach and Gestalt approaches.