Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

Solving Problems and Making Decisions281As the two building blocks of thinking, mental images and concepts help usimpose order on the phenomena we encounter and think about. We often rely onthis knowledge when we engage in complex cognitive tasks, such as solving problemsand making decisions, which we’ll consider next.Concepts, Exemplars, and HumorWhat makes this cartoon funny? Onesource of humor is incongruity—the juxtapositionof two concepts, especially whenan unexpected similarity between the conceptsis revealed (Martin, 2007). Here, thejoke relies on the juxtaposition of cats andthe familiar exemplar for a barbershop—the striped pole outside the door, plateglass window, and chairs and magazinesfor clients waiting their turn. Exemplarsare often used in cartoons to communicatea situation or concept to the audience. Ifyou didn’t share the exemplar for barbershop,you probably wouldn’t find the joketo be very funny.Solving Problems and Making DecisionsKey Theme• Problem solving refers to thinking and behavior directed toward attaininga goal that is not readily available.Key Questions• What are some advantages and disadvantages of each problem-solvingstrategy?• What is insight, and how does intuition work?• How can functional fixedness and mental set interfere with problemsolving?From fixing flat tires to figuring out how to pay for college classes, we engage in thecognitive task of problem solving so routinely that we often don’t even notice theprocesses we follow. Formally, problem solving refers to thinking and behaviordirected toward attaining a goal that is not readily available (Novick & Bassok, 2005).Before you can solve a problem, you must develop an accurate understanding ofthe problem. Correctly identifying the problem is a key step in successful problemsolving (Bransford & Stein, 1993). If your representation of the problem is flawed,your attempts to solve it will also be flawed.natural conceptA mental category that is formed as a resultof everyday experience.prototypeThe most typical instance of a particularconcept.exemplarsIndividual instances of a concept or category,held in memory.problem solvingThinking and behavior directed towardattaining a goal that is not readily available.trial and errorA problem-solving strategy that involvesattempting different solutions and eliminatingthose that do not work.Trial and Error Even an expert chef needsto “adjust the seasonings”—tasting thefood before serving to make sure that theflavors are just right. Many new recipesare developed through a process of trialand error.Problem-Solving StrategiesAs a general rule, people tend to attack a problem in an organized or systematic way.Usually, the strategy you select is influenced by the nature of the problem and yourdegree of experience, familiarity, and knowledge about the problem you are confronting(Chrysikou, 2006). In this section, we’ll look at some of the commonstrategies used in problem solving.Trial and ErrorA Process of EliminationThe strategy of trial and error involves actually trying a variety of solutions andeliminating those that don’t work. When there is a limited range of possible solutions,trial and error can be a useful problem-solving strategy. If you were trying todevelop a new spaghetti sauce recipe, for example, you might use trial and error tofine-tune the seasonings.