The Psychology of Problem Solving

✍ Scribed by Janet E. Davidson, Robert J. Sternberg PhD

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 408
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Unlike typical books on problem solving that are organized by content areas, such as mathematics and natural science, this book is organized by factors that affect problem solving performance, such as motivation, emotion, intellectual abilities, and working memory. Its goal is to organize in one volume all that is known about problem solving and the factors that contribute to its success or failure.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Contributors......Page 9
Preface......Page 11
PART 1 INTRODUCTION......Page 15
THE PROBLEM-SOLVING CYCLE......Page 17
CLASSES OF PROBLEMS......Page 18
PROBLEM RECOGNITION, DEFINITION, AND REPRESENTATION......Page 19
KNOWLEDGE......Page 24
Everyday Knowledge and Problem Definition and Problem Representation......Page 25
Expert Knowledge and Problem Definition and Problem Representation......Page 27
COGNITIVE PROCESSES AND STRATEGIES......Page 29
Processes in Problem Recognition......Page 30
Processes in Problem Definition and Representation......Page 31
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES: ABILITIES AND DISPOSITIONS......Page 35
SOCIAL CONTEXT......Page 38
What We Know......Page 39
REFERENCES......Page 41
AUTHOR NOTE......Page 44
2 The Acquisition of Expert Performance as Problem Solving......Page 45
Approaches to the Study of Problem Solving and Thinking: Historical Background......Page 48
Initial Attempts to Study Thinking......Page 50
Behaviorism and Studies of Thinking......Page 51
Gestalt Psychology and Human Information-Processing Psychology......Page 52
Some Conclusions From Traditional Laboratory Studies of Problem Solving......Page 55
The Search for Generalizable Capacities and Processes......Page 56
Do Basic, Invariant Processes and Capacities Mediate Performance on Laboratory Tasks?......Page 59
THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF EXPERT PERFORMANCE......Page 62
Capturing Expert Performance Under Standardized Controlled Conditions......Page 64
CAPTURED EXPERT PERFORMANCE AND PROBLEM SOLVING......Page 66
Analyzing Expert Performance in Chess......Page 68
Expert Performance Characterized by Superior Speed......Page 71
The Acquisition of Expert Performance Requiring Increased Control......Page 73
Summary......Page 74
Skill Acquisition in Everyday Life and in the Laboratory......Page 75
The Acquisition of Expert Performance......Page 77
Necessary Conditions for the Acquisition of Expert-Level Performance: Experience and Deliberate Practice......Page 78
The Acquisition of Mechanisms Mediating Expert Performance Through Deliberate Practice......Page 81
Acquiring Mechanisms Mediating Expert Performance in Chess......Page 84
Educational Systems Supporting the Development of Expert Performance in Music......Page 85
CONCLUDING REMARKS......Page 87
REFERENCES......Page 90
AUTHOR NOTES......Page 96
PART II RELEVANT ABILITIES AND SKILLS......Page 99
INTRODUCTION......Page 101
Simple and Complex Problems......Page 102
Intellectual Ability......Page 104
Evaluation Criteria......Page 106
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN COMPLEX EXPLICIT PROBLEM SOLVING......Page 107
CEPS and Global Intelligence......Page 108
Evaluation of Approach......Page 111
CEPS and Specific Intelligence Components......Page 112
Evaluation of Approach......Page 114
Global Intelligence and Expertise......Page 115
Evaluation of Approach......Page 117
Task and Subject Properties Affecting Complex Explicit Problem Solving......Page 118
Time Lag and Feedback Delay......Page 119
Intervention vs. Observation......Page 120
Strategies......Page 121
Evaluation of Approach......Page 122
IMPLICIT PROBLEM SOLVING......Page 123
The Tasks......Page 124
Empirical Evidence......Page 125
Implicit Learning and Intellectual Ability......Page 126
Doubts and Alternative Accounts......Page 127
Evaluation of Approach......Page 133
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS......Page 134
REFERENCES......Page 135
NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION......Page 141
COGNITIVE AND CONATIVE FACTORS FOR CREATIVE THOUGHT......Page 142
ENVIRONMENT......Page 148
PUTTING TOGETHER COGNITIVE AND CONATIVE FACTORS......Page 149
COGNITION AND CONATION IN ACTION: THE CREATIVE PROCESS......Page 150
CREATIVITY AS A SOURCE OF DIFFICULTY IN PROBLEM SOLVING: ANOTHER LOOK......Page 154
CONCLUSION......Page 156
REFERENCES......Page 157
5 Insights about Insightful Problem Solving......Page 163
HISTORICAL CONTEXT FOR INSIGHT: THE GESTALT APPROACH......Page 164
THE NOTHING-SPECIAL APPROACH......Page 168
THE PUZZLE-PROBLEM APPROACH......Page 170
Mental Processes......Page 171
Selective Combination......Page 172
Selective Comparison......Page 173
The Roles of Incubation......Page 175
Forgetting......Page 176
The Role of Affect......Page 177
Intrinsic Motivation......Page 180
Identification of an Impasse......Page 181
Social Interaction......Page 182
conclusions......Page 183
REFERENCES......Page 185
6 The Role of Working Memory in Problem Solving......Page 190
THE GOAL AND ORGANIZATION OF THIS CHAPTER......Page 191
WHAT IS A PROBLEM?......Page 192
Working Memory as a Unifying Construct......Page 193
Working Memory and Problem Solving......Page 194
The Slave Systems......Page 195
Comprehension......Page 196
Insight Tasks......Page 197
The Central Executive......Page 198
Comprehension......Page 199
Multiple Working Memory Capacities?......Page 201
Reasoning and Fluid Intelligence......Page 202
Problem Solving Difficulties......Page 204
WHEN IS WORKING MEMORY CAPACITY IMPORTANT?......Page 206
Dichotic Listening Task......Page 207
WHEN IS WORKING MEMORY CAPACITY IMPORTANT? A BROADER PERSPECTIVE......Page 208
The Knowledge-Is-Power Hypothesis......Page 209
Basic Mechanism Hypothesis......Page 210
Memory for Baseball Games......Page 212
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS......Page 214
REFERENCES......Page 215
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 220
7 Comprehension of Text in Problem Solving......Page 221
FIVE LEVELS OF TEXT REPRESENTATION......Page 222
THE IMPORTANCE OF TEXT REPRESENTATION FOR PROBLEM SOLVING......Page 225
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE READER IN COMPREHENDING TEXT FOR PROBLEM SOLVING......Page 228
THREE CLASSES OF MODELS OF TEXT COMPREHENSION......Page 232
Knowledge Structure Models......Page 233
Construction-Integration Model......Page 236
Embodied Cognition Model......Page 238
REFERENCES......Page 240
PART III STATES AND STRATEGIES......Page 245
8 Motivating Self-Regulated Problem Solvers......Page 247
Problem Solving in Formal and Informal Contexts......Page 248
Problem Solving by Experts and Novices......Page 250
SELF-REGULATORY PROCESSES UNDERLYING PROBLEM SOLVING......Page 252
Forethought Phase......Page 253
Performance Phase......Page 256
Self-Reflection Phase......Page 257
Self-Regulation of Problem Solving in Informal Contexts......Page 261
Goal Setting......Page 262
Self-Efficacy Expectations......Page 264
Goal Orientation......Page 265
Strategy Use......Page 266
Self-Evaluation Judgments......Page 267
Attribution Judgments......Page 268
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS......Page 269
CONCLUSION......Page 270
REFERENCES......Page 271
ELEMENTS OF PROBLEM SOLVING......Page 277
AFFECT, MOODS, AND EMOTIONS......Page 278
FEELINGS AND EVALUATIONS......Page 279
Moods......Page 280
Is There a Problem?......Page 281
How Am I Doing?......Page 282
FEELINGS AND PROCESSING STYLES: COGNITIVE TUNING......Page 283
Moods......Page 284
An Illustration: Moods and the Use of Scripts......Page 286
Situational Cues......Page 287
Implications for Problem Solving......Page 288
Persuasion......Page 289
Analytic Reasoning Tasks and Logic Problems......Page 290
Decision Making......Page 291
Categorization......Page 292
Creativity and Insight......Page 293
FEELINGS AND THOUGHT CONTENT: AFFECTIVE TONE......Page 294
Implications for Problem Solving......Page 295
A NOTE ON SPECIFIC EMOTIONS......Page 296
Emotions and Processing Style......Page 297
REFERENCES......Page 298
ACKNOWLEDGMENT......Page 304
10 The Fundamental Computational Biases of Human Cognition......Page 305
Automatic Contextualization: The Use of Prior Knowledge and Context......Page 308
The Tendency to “Socialize” Abstract Problems......Page 315
Seeing Intentional Design in Random Events......Page 319
The Narrative Mode of Thought......Page 323
THE EVOLUTIONARY ADAPTIVENESS OF THE FUNDAMENTAL COMPUTATIONAL BIASES......Page 325
FACILITATING REASONING BY FITTING PROBLEMS TO THE FUNDAMENTAL COMPUTATIONAL BIASES......Page 327
THE FUNDAMENTAL COMPUTATIONAL BIASES AND THE PROBLEMS OF MODERN SOCIETY......Page 333
ABSTRACTION AND THE FUNDAMENTAL COMPUTATIONAL BIASES IN EDUCATION......Page 341
REFERENCES......Page 345
ACKNOWLEDGMENT......Page 356
SIMILARITY IN SURFACE AND STRUCTURE......Page 357
EFFECTS OF SURFACE AND STRUCTURAL SIMILARITY ON ACCESS AND APPLICATION......Page 360
Spontaneous Transfer......Page 361
Informed Transfer......Page 363
UNDERSTANDING AND STRUCTURAL ABSTRACTION......Page 366
EFFECTS OF SURFACE ON STRUCTURAL ABSTRACTION......Page 369
Inferred Symmetry and Asymmetry......Page 371
Inferred Continuity and Discreteness......Page 374
SUMMARY AND CONCLUDING REMARKS......Page 378
REFERENCES......Page 380
PART IV CONCLUSIONS AND INTEGRATION......Page 385
12 Problem Solving – Large/Small, Hard/Easy, Conscious/Nonconscious, Problem-Space/ Problem-Solver......Page 387
REFERENCES......Page 396
Index......Page 399