338 • CHAPTER 12 Problem Solving
adjoining squares, found the problem to
be easier to solve. The bread-and-butter
condition emphasized the difference the
most, because bread and butter are very
different but are also associated with each
other. The blank board had no information
about the difference, because all squares
were the same.
Participants in the bread-and-butter
group solved the problem twice as fast as
those in the blank group and required fewer
hints, which the experimenter provided
when participants appeared to be at a “dead
end.” The bread-and-butter group required
an average of 1 hint, and the blank group
required an average of 3.14 hints. The per-
formance of the color and the black-and-
pink groups fell between these two. This
shows that solving a problem becomes eas-
ier when information is provided that helps
point people toward the correct representa-
tion of the problem.
To achieve a better understanding of
participants’ thought processes as they were
solving the problem, Kaplan and Simon
used a technique introduced by Simon
called the think-aloud protocol.In the think-aloud protocol procedure, par-
ticipants are asked to say out loud what they
are thinking while doing a problem. They are
instructed not to describe what they are doing,
but to verbalize new thoughts as they occur. One
goal of a think-aloud protocol is to determine
what information the person is attending to while solving a problem. The following is an example
of the instructions given to a participant:In this experiment we are interested in what you say to yourself as you perform some tasks that we
give you. In order to do this we will ask you to talk aloud as you work on the problems. What I mean
by talk aloud is that I want you to say out loud everything that you say to yourself silently. Just act
as if you are alone in the room speaking to yourself. If you are silent for any length of time, I will
remind you to keep talking aloud.... Any questions? Please talk aloud while you solve the following
problem. (Ericsson & Simon, 1993)Here is an example of the verbalizations from Kaplan and Simon’s experiment.
This participant was in the bread-and-butter condition.Participant: Just by trial and error I can only find 31 places.... I dunno, maybe
someone else would have counted the spaces and just said that you
could fit 31, but if you try it out on the paper, you can only fit 30.
(Pause)Experimenter: Keep trying.black pink black pink black pink black pink butter bread butter bread butter bread butter breadpink black pink black pink black pink black bread butter bread butter bread butter bread butterblack pink black pink black pink black pink butter bread butter bread butter bread butter breadpink black pink black pink black pink black bread butter bread butter bread butter bread butterblack pink black pink black pink black pink butter bread butter bread butter bread butter breadpink black pink black pink black pink black bread butter bread butter bread butter bread butterblack pink black pink black pink black pink butter bread butter bread butter bread butter breadpink black pink black pink black pink black bread butter bread butter bread butter bread butterThe four conditions:Blank ColorBlack and pink
(Note: Boards not drawn to actual size.)Bread and butter●FIGURE 12.16 Conditions in Kaplan and Simon’s (1990) study of the
mutilated checkerboard problem. (Source: C. A. Kaplan & H.A. Simon, “In Search of Insight,”
Cognitive Psychology, 22, 374–419, Figure 2. Copyright © 1990 Elsevier Ltd. Reproduced with
permission.)Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part.