CAI - Problem Solving Lesson

 

Problem Solving

Now it's time to think about the way we think. Our minds are organized into concepts, which are categories for different objects, ideas, and events. Each concept has a prototype that helps a person determine what information can fit into that concept. The prototype is the best example of things in that category. As we age and experience more life, concepts become more detailed and we create new concepts. As a young child, you may have had a concept of four-legged animals, and you might have seen them all as sweet pets. As you age, though, you create greater detail for each concept, maybe dividing animals into wild and domestic and farm and household.

So how exactly do people solve problems? There are two approaches - one that people use when they have to get the right answer and one that they use when they're in a hurry to get to the right answer.

An algorithm guarantees the right answer by using a formula or step-by-step method that eliminates all possible wrong answers along the way. Think about using a formula in math class; if you follow every step correctly, you always arrive at the correct answer. If you wanted to know which car to buy and you researched gas mileage, mechanical problems, estimated depreciation, etc, you would be using an algorithm to determine the best car.

Frequently, though, people don't have time to use the step-by-step procedure, so they take a shortcut that saves time and energy. These shortcuts are known as heuristics, which are shortcuts that typically solve the problem. If you're trying to decide where to buy your jeans, you might not want to research all the possible brands and try on every single kind available, so you might just go with someone's advice, head to the coolest store, or stop at the first sale sign you see.

The two most common types of heuristics are:

1. Availability Heuristic
2. Representativeness Heuristic

The availability heuristic is when you use your most readily available memory to make a decision. The last time you bought jeans they were from American Eagle and they fit well and lasted a long time, so you head to that store.

The representativeness heuristic involves the use of prototypes to make decisions. When you think of jeans for a teenager, what do you picture? Then you go to the store that has jeans that look like that.  

Both of these thinking strategies are very useful for decision-making in real life because we have limited time. They may not always lead to perfect decisions, but they're often accurate.

Algorithms and Heuristics help people solve problems, you also need to be aware of a few thought processes that stop people from solving problems.

Learn more in the obstacles to problem solving activity below:

 

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