This document provides an overview of concepts related to problem solving, decision making, and judgment. It discusses cognition and concepts like prototypes. It then presents examples of word puzzles and brain teasers to illustrate problem solving strategies like trial and error. Cognitive biases that can interfere with problem solving are explored, such as confirmation bias, mental set, and functional fixedness. The document also examines intuition, overconfidence, heuristics like the representative and availability heuristics, and their impact on decision making and judgment.

1. Day 83: January 13
Problem Solving

2. Some Basics

3. Cognition—the mental activities
associated with thinking, knowing,
remembering, and communicating

4. SOME BASICS
Concepts—a mental grouping of similar
objects, events, ideas, or people
Prototypes—a mental image or best example
of a category. Matching new items to a
prototype provides a quick and easy method
for sorting items into categories

5. ACTIVITY 1: What is prototypical? Give the best
example (or first example that comes to mind) when
given the following categories. After you write down
your answers, proceed to the next slide.
1. A bird
2. A color
3. A triangle
4. A motor vehicle
5. A sentence
6. A hero
7. A heroic action
8. A game
9. A philosopher
10. A writer

6. There are no “right” answers, but these are the most
common responses, or the most prototypical
responses.
1. A bird
2. A color
3. A triangle
4. A motor vehicle
5. A sentence
6. A hero
7. A heroic action
8. A game
9. A philosopher
10. A writer

7. The table below moves from prototypical to atypical—
some of which we wouldn’t even place in a category
of “vehicles” or “fruits.”

8. Which are cups, vases, or bowls? Your answer
depends on your prototype for each.

9. Problem-Solving—process of cognition that
occurs when a goal must be reached by
thinking and behaving in certain ways.

10. DID YOU USE ANY OF THESE AS YOU ATTEMPTED TO SOLVE THE
PUZZLES/BRAIN-TEASERS? TIPS FOR PROBLEM-SOLVING
1. Work backwards
2. Recognize irrelevant information
3. Graphic illustrations
4. Restate the problem
5. Insight and incubation
6. Avoid unnecessary constraints

11. #1
Cross out six letters to make a single word out
of the following:
C S R I E X L E A T T T E R E S
CONTENT CONNECTION: The Process of Problem-
Solving
CHECK YOUR ANSWERS ON P. 10 AND 11

12. #1
Cross out six letters to make a single word out
of the following:
C S R I E X L E A T T T E R E S
You must cross out the “S,” the “I,” the “X,” the “L”…and so on—all of the letters that
comprise “Six Letters.”
The remaining letters spell: CREATE.

13. #2: Husbands and Wives
Three men—Fred, Ed, and Ted—are married to
Joan, Sally, and Vickie, but not
necessarily in that order. Joan, who is
Ed’s sister, lives in Detroit. Fred
dislikes animals. Ed weighs more than
the man who is married to Vickie. The
man married to Sally breeds Siamese cats
as a hobby. Fred commutes over 200
hours a year from his home in Ann Arbor,
Michigan to his job in Detroit. Match
up the men with the women they married.
Next slide will reveal answer.

14. #2: Husbands and Wives
Fred is married to Vickie.
Ed is married to Sally.
Ted is married to Joan.

15. PROBLEM-SOLVING STRATEGIES
Trial and error—problem-solving method in
which one possible solution after another is
tried until a successful one is found

16. PROBLEM-SOLVING STRATEGIES
Algorithms—a methodical, logical rule or
procedure that guarantees solving a particular
problem. This contrasts with the usually
speedier—but more error—use of heuristics
It is a rule that
guarantees an
answer, usually by
way of a formula.

18. Take a minute to watch VIDEO 1: BIG
BANG.

19. S P L O Y O C H Y G
UNSCRAMBLE THE WORD BELOW.

20. PSYCHOLOGY
If we were to unscramble these
letters to form a word
using an algorithmic approach, we
would face
907,208 possibilities…SO
INSTEAD, YOU USED A…
UNSCRAMBLE THE WORD BELOW.

21. PROBLEM-SOLVING STRATEGIES
Heuristic—a simple thinking strategy that
often allows us to make judgments and solve
problems efficiently; usually speedier but
more error-prone that algorithms…more on
this later.

22. PROBLEM-SOLVING STRATEGIES
Rule of thumb—a general rule that fits
most situations

23. Check out this site that documents general
RULES OF THUMB.
http://rulesofthumb.org/

24. PROBLEM-SOLVING STRATEGIES
Insight—a sudden and often novel realization
of the solution to a problem; it contrasts with
strategy-based solutions
This is like Skinner’s pigeon who suddenly got the
idea to use the box as a stool to get the hanging fruit.

25. #3
The maker doesn’t want it,
the buyer doesn’t use it,
and the user doesn’t see
it. What is it?
Next slide will reveal answer.

26. #3
A COFFIN

27. #4
What number is next in the
series: 10, 4, 3, 11, 15, _?
A. 14
B. 1
C. 17
D. 12
Next slide will reveal answer.

28. #4
What number is next in the
series: 10, 4, 3, 11, 15, _?
A. 14
Ten is spelled with three
letters, four with four, three
with five…and so on.

29. #5
a. STA4NCE
b. O_ER_T_O_
c. LITTLE LITTLE LATE LATE
d. YOU JUST ME
Next slide will reveal answer.

30. #5
a. STA4NCE: For instance
b. O_ER_T_O_: Painless
operation
c. LITTLE LITTLE LATE LATE:
Too little, too late
d. YOU JUST ME: Just between
you and me

31. #6
Next slide will reveal answer.

32. #6
CONTENT CONNECTION:TRIAL AND ERROR

33. #10: REMOTE ASSOCIATION TEST
a. Law, Birthday, Swim
b. Brother, Sister, Knight
c. Paint, Doll, Dog
d. Cottage, Cake, Blue
e. Toast, Poodle, Kiss
f. Heart, Tooth, Talk
Next slide will reveal answer.

34. #10: REMOTE ASSOCIATION TEST
CONTENT CONNECTION:TRIAL AND ERROR
a. Law, Birthday, Swim: SUIT
b. Brother, Sister, Knight: HOOD
c. Paint, Doll, Dog: HOUSE
d. Cottage, Cake, Blue: CHEESE
e. Toast, Poodle, Kiss: FRENCH
f. Heart, Tooth, Talk: SWEET

35. Creativity—the ability to produce
novel and valuable ideas

36. ROBERT STERNBERG’S COMPONENTS OF CREATIVITY
1.Expertise
2.Imaginative thinking skills
3.A venturesome personality
4.Intrinsic motivation
5.A creative environment

37. Convergent thinking—type of thinking in
which a problem is seen as having only one
answer, and all lines of thinking will
eventually lead to that single answer, using
previous knowledge and logic.
Divergent thinking—type of thinking in
which a person starts from one point and
comes up with many different ideas or
possibilities based on that point.
OBSTACLES TO PROBLEM SOLVING

38. #9: Paper clip
Write down all the different uses
for this ordinary paper clip.
CONTENT CONNECTION: Creativity

39. #9: Paper clip
Write down all the different uses
for this ordinary paper clip.
Speaker Ken Robinson suggests that children
are much better at this than adults.
Robinson asserts that schools kill
creativity. (I strongly disagree with this,
by the way.)

40. #9: Paper clip
Some great examples of
creativity.

41. Hull strawberries easily using a straw.

42. Stop cut apples browning in your childs lunch box
by securing with a rubber band.

43. Pump up the volume by placing your iPhone & iPod
in a bowl. The concave shape amplifies the music.

44. Overhaul your linen cupboard, store bed linen sets
inside one of their own pillowcases and there will
be no more hunting through piles for a match.

45. Bake cupcakes directly in ice-cream cones, so
much more fun and easier for kids to eat.

46. A muffin pan becomes a craft caddy. Magnets
hold the plastic cups down to make them
tip-resistant.

47. Toast your bread to perfection.

48. Put your baby to work mopping.

49. Someone stealing your sandwich. The bag
makes it “look” moldy.

52. Obstacles to problem solving

53. Confirmation Bias—a tendency to search for
information that supports our preconceptions
and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence
OBSTACLES TO PROBLEM SOLVING

54. Mental set—a tendency to approach a
problem in one particular way, often a way
that has been successful in the past
Functional fixedness—the tendency to think
of things only in terms of their usual
functions; an impediment to problem
solving
OBSTACLES TO PROBLEM SOLVING
Fixation—the inability to see a problem from
a new perspective by employing a different
mental set

55. #7
Next slide will reveal answer.

56. #7
CONTENT CONNECTION:FIXATION, MENTAL SET,
FUNCTIONAL FIXEDNESS

57. #8
CONTENT CONNECTION:FIXATION, MENTAL SET,
FUNCTIONAL FIXEDNESS

58. These innovators have
successfully overcome
FUNCTIONAL FIXEDNESS.

66. Turn your muffin pan upside down, bake cookie-dough
over the top and voila, you have cookie bowls for fruit
or ice-cream.

67. Create a window-box veggie patch using guttering.

68. Use egg cartons to separate and store your
Christmas decorations.

75. Making Decisions and
Forming Judgments

76. Intuition—an effortless, immediate,
automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted
with explicit conscious reasoning
MAKING DECISIONS AND FORMING JUDGMENTS

77. A bat and a ball
A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in
total. The bat costs $1 more
than the ball. How much does
the ball cost?
Next slide will reveal answer.

78. A bat and a ball
The bat costs $1.05; the ball
costs 5 cents. Did you get it
wrong? Lots of people do.
Intuition can steer us wrong.
Next slide will reveal answer.

79. Overconfidence—the tendency to be more
confident than correct—to overestimate the
accuracy of our beliefs and judgments
MAKING DECISIONS AND FORMING JUDGMENTS

80. MAKING DECISIONS AND FORMING JUDGMENTS
Fact: only 50% of people in any particular
field can be above average.
Fact: 80% of the people in the US describe
themselves as above average.
(Therefore, 30% of Americans have an
unrealistic view of their abilities.)

81. Representative heuristic—judging the
likelihood of things in terms of how well
they seem to represent, or match, particular
prototypes; this may lead us to ignore other
relevant information
MAKING DECISIONS AND FORMING JUDGMENTS

82. Who went to Harvard?
You see where this is going, right?

83. Who went to Harvard?
Sonia Dara did. A 2013 grad. She probably
doesn’t not fit/”represent” our image of a
Harvard student.

84. Availability heuristics—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
MAKING DECISIONS AND FORMING JUDGMENTS

85. Earlier this year, Ebola seemed to be sweeping the world.
You might be surprised to know that you have a 1:13.3
million chance of contracting Ebola.
To put this in perspective, you have a 1:3.7 million chance
of being killed by a shark in your lifetime.
AVAILABILITY HEURISTIC affects our
thinking. See more on link at the bottom of the lesson
to see Ebola statistics.
MAKING DECISIONS AND FORMING JUDGMENTS

86. Which city in the US has
the highest crime rate?
What came to mind?

87. City Crime Risk Index
1. St. Louis 530
2. Atlanta 484
3. Birmingham Alabama (tie) 380
3. Orlando (tie) 380
5. Detroit 369
6. Memphis 361
7. Miami 346
8. Baltimore 339
9. Kansas City, Missouri 337
10. Minneapolis (tie) 331
10. Cleveland (tie) 331
The 11 Most Dangerous Cities
These cities have the highest overall crime rates in the United States

88. Availability Heuristic
Why does our availability heuristic lead us astray?
If it is easy to recall (remember), the probability or
frequency must be very high.
How is retrieval facilitated?
1. How recently we have heard about the event.
2. How distinct it is.
3. How correct it is.

89. Belief perseverance—clinging to one’s initial
conceptions after the basis on which they
were formed has been discredited
Please read p. 15 in notes packet.
MAKING DECISIONS AND FORMING JUDGMENTS

90. Framing—the way an issue is posed; how an
issue is framed can significantly affect
decisions and judgments
MAKING DECISIONS AND FORMING JUDGMENTS