Insight learning—the sudden appearance (often creative) or awareness of a solution
to a problem.
Deductive reasoning—reasoning from the general to the specific.
Inductive reasoning—reasoning from the specific to the general.
Hindrances to problem solving may include:
Mental sets—barriers to problem solving that occur when we apply only methods that
have worked in the past rather than trying new or different strategies.
Functional fixedness—when we are not able to recognize novel uses for an object
because we are so familiar with its common use.
Cognitive illusion—systematic way of thinking that is responsible for an error in
judgment.
Availability heuristic—a tendency to estimate the probability of certain events in
terms of how readily they come to mind.
Representativeness heuristic—tendency to judge the likelihood of things according
to how they relate to a prototype.
Framing—the way an issue is stated. How an issue is framed can significantly affect
decisions and judgments.
Anchoring effect—tendency to be influenced by a suggested reference point, pulling
our response toward that point.
Confirmation bias—tendency to notice or seek information that already supports our
preconceptions and ignore information that refutes our ideas.
Belief perseverance—the tendency to hold onto a belief after the basis for the belief
is discredited.
Belief bias—the tendency for our preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning,
making illogical conclusions seem valid or logical conclusions seem invalid.
Hindsight bias—the tendency to falsely report, after the event, that we correctly
predicted the outcome of the event.
Overconfidence bias—the tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and
judgments.
Overcoming obstacles to problem solving can include:
Creativity—the ability to think about a problem or idea in new and unusual ways to
come up with unconventional solutions.
Incubation—putting aside a problem temporarily; allows the problem solver to look
at the problem from a different perspective.
Brainstorming—generating lots of possible solutions to a problem without making
prior evaluative judgments.
Divergent thinking—thinking that produces many alternatives or ideas.
Convergent thinking—conventional thinking directed toward a single correct
solution.144 ❯ STEP 4. Review the Knowledge You Need to Score High