Unit 7 Problem Solving Creativity Thinking Thinking Remember

Unit 7: Problem Solving, Creativity, & Thinking

Thinking • Remember, cognition refers to all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating • Very often in our cognition, or thinking, we create concepts • A concept is a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, etc.

• Concepts keep things simple, without them, chaos would ensue • For every concept, we create a prototype, or an example of the concept • If we see an item, we place it in a category in our mind, but over time that item will “shift” towards our prototype. • Concepts are very useful to speed up our thinking, but they can lead us astray at times

Problem Solving • There are different ways to solve problems o Trial and error: ‘guessing’ different possibilities until we stumble on the correct answer

o Algorithms: step-by-step procedures that guarantee a solution

o Heuristics: simple “SPLOYOCHYG” thinking strategy that often allows us to make “RTEWA” “KEJOR judgments and solve problems efficiently, speedier but error-prone • Availability heuristic: we base our judgments on how available mental information is • Representative heuristic: judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they represent particular prototypes

o Insight: sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem

Obstacles to Problem Solving • There is often one of a few things that affect our cognition process when we are trying to solve problems: confirmation bias and fixation o Confirmation bias: where we seek only the evidence that verifies our ideas, and deny information that may refute them

o Fixation: the inability to see a problem from a ‘fresh’ perspective o Mental set: approaching a problem in a similar way that has been successful in the past o Functional fixedness: tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions • Problem solving ability can be boosted with more divergent thinking, in lieu of convergent thinking, which leads us to be more creative

Creativity • Creativity is the ability to produce ideas that are both novel and valuable • On most intelligence tests, people who are more creative do not score any higher than others

• According to Robert Sternberg there are 5 components of creativity: o 1. Expertise: the more we know about a subject/area, the more likely we are to create something novel o 2. Imaginative thinking skills: allows us to see things in a new and unique way, recognize patterns, and make connections

o 3. Venturesome personality: seeking new experience, tolerates ambiguity and risk, and perseveres in overcoming obstacles o 4. Intrinsic motivation: is being driven more by interest and having a passion for the subject, internally motivated o 5. Creative environment: sparks, supports, and refines creative ideas.