PSY270H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: General Problem Solver, Embodied Cognition, Functional Fixedness
Document Summary
Today"s goals: describe common strategies used in problem solving. Key themes: bottom-up vs. top-down processing, embodied cognition, metacognition. Problem solving: we use problem solving when the path to a goal is not immediately obvious, a problem exists within a problem space, this was first described to help explain how computers can solve problems. The problem solving cycle: not everyone goes through the same stages in the exact order for the same problems, we use a series of steps when we solve any type of problem, problem identification. It is not just identifying that you have a problem; it is identifying what the problem is: because if you misidentify the problem, you"ll end up coming with a different solution, problem definition and representation. In some cases, you represent that problem verbally. But, depending on the problem you face with, you might be better off to represent it with symbols or diagrams. Symbols: mary is 10 years younger than twice susan"s age.
