Psychology - Warm Up April 10, 2012

1. Psychology - Warm Up April 10, 2012 Senior Exit Projects - Metacognition If you have not chosen your senior exit topic, please choose chose one for this purpose and answer these questions as best you can. Stage 1 – What did you already know about the topic you choose? What did you do first? What strategies worked best to complete the project? How much time did you have? How were you evaluated? Stage 2 – How am I doing? Am I on the right track? What more might I need to know? How is my pacing going? Should I adjust my timeline? Do I need to try something different? Stage 3 – How well did I do? What could I have done differently? Can I apply any of what I have learned to other problems?

2. Problem Solving • Main Idea – Solving problems can be done in a logical and planned was to achieve the best results. • Question – What are the best approaches to solving a problem? • Question – How can certain methods help with problem solving? • Question – Why do obstacles to problem solving occur? • Question – What is the connections between problem solving and creativity?

3. Approaches to Problem Solving • Solving problem • series of processes, including analyzing the problem, breaking it down, breaking it into parts, and establishing goals. • Algorithms – is specific procedures that will always lead to a solution to the problem (used properly in the right situation.) • Complex, time consuming, not always practical (ie formulas.) • Heuristics – rules of thumb that often, but not always, help us find a solution (shortcuts) • Practical, quicker, but not always correct.

4. Approaches to Problem Solving Algorithms Heuristics What if 2 letters were missing? C_ _FF Using algorithms takes too long! CL_FF If 4 letters are constants, the last letter has to be a vowel. (AEIOU) • CL_FF • What letter completes the series? • Algorithm you would place every letter in the blank spot until you have an answer. • CLAFF, CLBFF, etc. • Once you get to a correct answer, you can continue to check all other letters.

5. Problem Solving Methods • Trial and Error – using different methods, without keeping track of results and being more haphazard. • Having a goal, but having not idea how to reach it. • Difference Reduction – identify a goal, where we are in relation to reaching it, and the direction we must go to reach it. • Making steps towards reaching your goal. To clean my desk, I must empty to drawers, go through the papers, etc., making my desk more messy. But as I begin to sort papers, throw things away, and organize my desk become more organized and clean.

6. Problem Solving Methods • Means – End Analysis – we know certain things we do (means) will have certain results (end). • Asks questions like “What can I do to get from here to there?” • Solving each part of the problem will contribute to solving the whole problem. • Working Backward – breaking the problem down into parts and examining the final goal to determine the best course of action. • Driving to an unknown destination. Get a map and start at you destination, working backwards to your home, or major interstate close to your home. • Analogies – similarities between two or more items, events, or situations. • You observe that studying and getting a good nights sleep in one class leads to good grades, you apply that technique to another class.

7. Obstacle to Problem Solving • Difficulty or inexperience can make finding solutions to problems difficult. • Mental Set – using a previously successful approach on a new problem that is unsuccessful. • Using previously learned techniques can often be successful, however, they can get in the way of finding new solutions as well. • Functional Fixedness – tendency to think of an object as being useful only for the function that the object is usually used for. • A pencil just for writing, a t-shirt just to wear, etc.

8. Problem Solving and Creativity • Functional fixedness can be solved by creativity – new or unusual ways of solving problem. • Flexibility – the ability to adapt to new, different or changing situations. • Think of all the different uses for a pencil. • Recombination – mental rearrangement of elements for a problem. • Rearrangement of notes in a musical set to create a new piece of music. • Insight and Incubation – coming to a solution suddenly after pondering for a while (“Aha!” moment!) • Kohler experiment with Chimps and bananas. Hanging bananas from a ceiling and the chimp just jumped, but couldn’t reach them. After a few jumps and thinking, he realized he could stack the boxes in the room to reach the bananas.

9. Activity – Business Consulting You and your partner will create a billboard advertisement for a local business. • Brainstorm a problem that businesses face (employment, money, etc.) • How do you plan to help this business overcome their problem? What exactly would you do for them?(Think of examples you already know of, businesses having financial issues, hiring/firing workers, etc.) You may want to have multiple solutions if a problem is complex, or single mega solution to promote. This should be a paragraph on the back of your billboard. • Design a billboard (small) to get business owners attention. It should be bright, colorful and creative, and present you solution efficiently. Remember they need to know how to contact you or your business name (consulting businesses have names.)