Problem Solving

by Robertson; S. Ian

• ISBN13: 9780415203005
• ISBN10: 0415203007
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2001-05-04
• Publisher: Psychology Pres

Summary

Problem solving is an integral part of everyday life yet few books are dedicated to this important aspect of human cognition. In each case, the problem, such as solving a crossword or writing an essay, has a goal. In this comprehensive and timely textbook, the author discusses the psychological processes underlying such goal-directed problem solving and examines both how we learn from experience of problem solving and how our learning transfers (or often fails to transfer) from one situation to another. Following initial coverage of the methods we use to solve unfamiliar problems, the book goes on to examine the psychological processes involved in novice problem solving before progressing to the methods and processes used by skilled problem solvers or "experts". Topics covered include: how we generate a useful representation of a problem as a starting point; general problem solving strategies we use in unfamiliar situations; possible processes involved in insight or lateral thinking; the nature ofproblem similarity and the role of analogies in problem solving; understanding and learning from textbooks; and how we develop expertise through the learning of specific problem solving skills. Clear, up-to-date and accessible, Problem Solving will be of interest to undergraduates and postgraduates in cognitive psychology, cognitive science, and educational psychology. The focus on the practical transfer of learning through problem solving will also make it of relevance to educationalists and business psychologists.

Table of Contents

Illustrations	xi
Preface	xv
Acknowledgements	xvi
Part One: Introduction	1	(18)
Introduction to the study of problems solving	3	(16)
What is a problem?	3	(3)
Categorising problems	6	(5)
Methods of investigating problem solving	11	(3)
About this book: Three issues in problem solving	14	(3)
Summary	17	(2)
Part Two: Problem representation and problems-solving processes	19	(58)
Introduction	21	(4)
Characterising problem solving	25	(24)
The information-processing approach	26	(3)
Analysing well-defined problems	29	(7)
The interaction of the problem solver and the task environment	36	(2)
Heuristic search strategies	38	(8)
Summary	46	(3)
Problem representation: The case of insight	49	(28)
Building a problem representation	50	(1)
Re-representing problems	51	(1)
Gestalt accounts of problems solving	52	(7)
Information-processing accounts of insight	59	(10)
The relationship between insight problems and other problems	69	(3)
Influencing problem representations: The effect of instructions	72	(2)
Summary	74	(3)
Part Three: Analogical problem solving	77	(96)
Introduction	79	(2)
Transfer of learning	81	(24)
Positive and negative transfer	83	(1)
Set and Einstellung as examples of negative transfer	84	(1)
Hypothesis testing theory	84	(3)
Transfer in well-defined problems	87	(4)
Specific transfer	91	(9)
General transfer	100	(2)
What kinds of Knowledge transfer?	102	(2)
Summary	104	(1)
Problem similarity	105	(26)
Types of similarity	106	(9)
Relational similarity	115	(7)
Structural Similarity	122	(3)
Pragmatic constraints	125	(2)
The relation between surface and structural similarity	127	(2)
Summary	129	(2)
Analogical problem solving	131	(20)
The importance of analogising	132	(1)
Studies of analogical problem solving	133	(3)
Accessing a source to solve a target	136	(1)
Generating your own analogies	137	(5)
Expository analogies	142	(6)
``Aesthetic'' analogies	148	(1)
Summary	149	(2)
Textbook problem solving	151	(22)
Difficulties facing textbook writers	152	(3)
The role of examples in textbooks	155	(3)
The processes involved in textbook problem solving	158	(2)
Laboratory studies of within-domain and textbook problem solving	160	(4)
Understanding problems revisited	164	(2)
The role of diagrams and pictures in aiding understanding	166	(3)
Providing a schema in texts	169	(1)
Summary	170	(3)
Part Four: Learning and the development of expertise	173	(62)
Introduction	175	(2)
Expertise and how to acquire it	177	(24)
Introduction	177	(1)
Schema induction	178	(3)
Schema-based knowledge	181	(2)
AI models of problem solving and learning	183	(4)
Skill learning in ACT-R	187	(7)
The power law of learning	194	(1)
Criticisms of production system models	195	(3)
Neurological evidence for the development of procedural knowledge	198	(2)
Summary	200	(1)
Experts, novices and complex problem solving	201	(26)
What distinguishes experts and novices	201	(3)
Are experts smarter? Are there differences in abilities?	204	(2)
Skill development	206	(3)
Knowledge organisation	209	(5)
Cognitive processes	214	(4)
Writing expertise: A case study	218	(7)
Summary	225	(2)
Conclusions	227	(8)
Problems, problems	227	(2)
Problem representation	229	(1)
Transfer	230	(1)
Learning	231	(4)
Answers to questions	235	(4)
Glossary	239	(8)
References	247	(16)
Author index	263	(4)
Subject index	267