Cognitive Psych Ch. 12 (Problem Solving) Book Questions

In the two-string problem, tying the pliers to one of the strings best represents a(n) _______ state.

Intermediate

Which of the following is not true about divergent thinking?

It has a single correct answer.

Newell and Simon were early pioneers in designing computer programs that could solve problems. Their research program was based on the idea that problem solving is a process that involves...

Search

The information processing approach describes problem solving as a process involving...

Search

The water-jug problem demonstrates that one consequence of having a procedure that does provide a solution to a problem is that, if well-learned, it may prevent us from...

Seeing more efficient solutions to the problem

Considering the fortress and the radiation problems together, the fortress problem represents the _____ problem.

Source

People are most successful at noticing an analogous relationship between problems if they focus on...

Structural features

Gentner and Goldinmeadow (2003) illustrated that analogical encoding causes problem solvers to pay attention to _______ features that _______ their ability to solve other problems.

Structural; enhance

Newell and Simon called the conditions at the beginning of the problem the...

Initial state

Amber lives in a housing development between two parallel streets that both connect to a freeway. She usually takes the street to the south when heading southbound on the freeway to work, but that street is closed for repairs for three months. Amber takes the street to the north during that time. After the street to the south is re-opened, she continues to take the street to the north, even though it is a slightly longer route. Continuing to take the street to the north represents ___________.

A mental set

The ability to shift experience from one problem solving situation to a similar problem is known as...

Analogical transfer

The text's discussion of the research on in vivo problem solving highlighted that ______ play(s) an important role in solving scientific problems.

Analogies

The radiation problem was used in your text to illustrate the role of ____ in problem solving.

Analogy

Which of the following statements does NOT apply to the results of research on differences between how experts and novices solve problems?

Being an expert in one field can transfer to better problem solving in another field

In Kaplan and Simon's experiment, they presented different versions of the mutilated checkerboard problem. Participants in the ______ group had the fastest response time.

Bread and butter

The typical purpose of subgoals is to...

Bring the problem solver closer and closer to the goal state

When the process of analogical problem solving was applied to the fortress and radiation problems, which of the following represented the mapping step of this process?

Connecting the fortress with the tumor

Intermediate states can be created by...

Creating subgoals

In the movie Apollo 13, astronauts aboard a damaged spacecraft have to build a carbon dioxide filter out of random items that are aboard the ship with them. If they do not, they will all die rapidly of carbon dioxide poisoning. The fact that they are able to do so with the help of experts on Earth is similar to the ________ approach developed by Ronald Finke.

Creative cognition

Metcalfe and Wiebe gave participants problems to solve and asked them to make "warmth" judgments every 15 seconds to indicate how close they felt they were to a solution. The purpose of this experiment was to...

Demonstrate a difference between how people solve insight and non-insight problems

Ali works for Citrus Squeeze, a company that makes orange juice. Sales of their calcium-enhanced OJ have been poor, and the product was cancelled. His factory still had three cases of cartons, and Ali was told he could take them if he wanted them. With the cartons, Ali made several bird feeders for his backyard and also planted tree seedlings in some of them; he used the remaining ones to build a "fort" for his four-year-old son. Ali's use of the cartons represents...

Divergent thinking

In the Tower of Hanoi problem, the _____ state involves having three discs stacked on the left peg, with the middle and right pegs empty.

Initial

In its discussion of expertise and problem solving, your text identifies the kind of scientist who are most likely to make revolutionary discoveries in their fields. This particular discussion suggests that _______ may be more important than ______ in creative thinking.

Flexibility; experience

Holyoak and Koh presented different versions of the light bulb problem to assist in solving the radiation problem. They found the ________ version to be more effective, because it had ______ features in common with the radiation problem.

Fragile-glass; structured

Holly was in her mother-in-law's kitchen preparing lunch for her family. When she was ready to dish up the soup, she searched all the cupboards and drawers for a ladle but couldn't find one. She decided to wait until her mother-in-law returned to ask her where the ladle was, leaving the soup in the stove pot. Her mother-in-law later explained that the ladle had been broken, so she told Holly to use a coffee mug to "spoon" the soup into bowls. Holly's ability to solve the "dish up the soup" problem was hindered by which of the following obstacles?

Functional fixedness

Experts categorize problems based on...

General principles that problems share

_______ identified people's tendency to focus on a specific characteristic of a problem that keeps them from arriving at a solution as a major obstacle to successful problem solving.

Gestalt psychologists

Phoenix Decorating Company is responsible for designing and building many of the floral floats seen in the Tournament of Roses parade every New Year's Day. Phoenix's designers start preparing the floats for the next year's parade soon after the first of the year. For each corporate sponsor, Phoenix gets their best advertising team members, and they sit in a room for several hours throwing out every idea they can come up with, no matter how good or bad it is. After a substantial list has been created, they then go through every idea and rate its merits or deficits, until they come up with the best idea to pitch to the corporate sponsor. This process demonstrates...

Group brainstorming

Which of the following is not part of a complete definition of a problem?

Has one correct answer

A researcher records a brainstorming session in an industrial research and development department rather than in an artificial laboratory setting. Later, she analyzes the recorded discussions, identifying certain problem-solving techniques. This research is an example of ______ research.

In vivo problem-solving

The analogical paradox refers to problem-solving differences between...

Laboratory and real-world settings

Your textbook suggests that a trait that appears to be common to both mental illness and creativity is _______.

Latent inhibition

Finke's creating an object studies show that people were more likely to come up with creative uses for preventive objects if they...

Made the object themselves

The solution to the candle problem involves realizing that the...

Match box can be used as a shelf

Gick and Holyoak consider which of the following to be the most difficult step to achieve in the process of analogical problem solving?

Noticing that there is an analogous relationship between problems because most participants need prompting before they notice a connection

Gick and Holyoak proposed that analogical problem solving involves the following three steps:

Noticing, mapping, and applying

Functional fixedness would be LOWEST for a(n)...

Novel object

Finke's "creating an object" experiment had participants create a novel object by combining parts. Once they created an object they were given the name of an object category and instructed to interpret their creation as a practical object or device within that category. Finke used the term preventive forms to describe the...

Novel objects before a function was described.

Actions that take the problem from one state to another are known as...

Operators

The elements of the problem space include all of the following EXCEPT...

Operators

Gestalt psychologists consider problem solving as a process involving...

Reorganization or restructuring

The circle problem, in which the task is to determine the length of a line inside a circle, was proposed to illustrate...

Representation and restructuring

The radiation problem can be solved using...

Representation and restructuring

Warmth judgments on nearness to a solution ______ prior to the solution of an insight problem and ______ prior to the solution of a non-insight problem.

Rise suddenly just; gradually rise

The analogy that makes the solution to the mutilated checkerboard problem obvious is the ______ problem.

Russian marriage

The fortress problem involves a fortress and marching soldiers, while the radiation problem involves a tumor and rays. Therefore, the two problems have very different...

Surface features

A ______ string led to a restructured representation in the two-string problem.

Swinging

Experts _____ than novices.

Take a more effective approach to organizing the solution to a problem

In analogical problem solving, the ______ problem is the problem that an individual is trying to solve, and the ____ problem, which has been solved in the past, is used as a guide for reaching that solution.

Target; source

Illustrative of functional fixedness, people are more likely to solve the candle problem if...

The box is empty

Janet is alone in a room that contains a chair and a shelf with a book resting on top. She attempts to retrieve the book, but the shelf is a foot above her reach. How will Janet retrieve the book? Psychologists would NOT classify this scenario as a problem because...

The solution is immediately obvious

Insight refers to...

The sudden realization of a problem's solution

Kaplan and Simon's experiment presented different versions of the mutilated checkerboard problem. The main purpose of their experiment was to demonstrate that...

The way the problem is represented can influence the ease of problem solving

Which problem provides an example of how functional fixedness can hinder solution of a problem?

Two-string problem

Which of the following provides the best example of functional fixedness?

Using a juice glass as a container for orange juice

The best description of the purpose of thing-aloud protocols is that they are used to determine...

What information a person is attending to while solving a problem