Cognition ❮ 149algorithm, we usually want to solve problems quickly and employ heuristics or mental
shortcuts to solve most problems. For example, when we’re not sure how to spell the word
receive, rather than look up the word in the dictionary, we usually follow the heuristic “I
before E, except after C, or when sounded like ‘ay,’ as in neighbor and weigh.” A heuris-
tic suggests but does not guarantee a solution to a problem, and can result in incorrect
solutions. Sometimes after trying to find a solution to a problem for a while, the solution
suddenly comes to us. Insight is a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a
problem. For example, after trying to unscramble the letters NEBOTYA to form a word,
you suddenly realize that the word is bayonet. When we don’t have a clue how to solve
a problem, we often start with a trial and error approach. This approach involves trying
possible solutions and discarding those that do not work. If we need a combination lock
for a locker and find an old lock in the drawer, we can try combinations of three numbers
that come to mind, but this can be time consuming and may not lead to a solution. Trial
and error works best when choices are limited. After we have tried to solve a problem, we
need to evaluate the results. How will we decide if we have solved the problem? Using criti-
cal thinking, we think reflectively and evaluate the evidence. We reason by transforming
information to reach conclusions. Inductive reasoning involves reasoning from the specific
to the general, forming concepts about all members of a category based on some members,
which is often correct but may be wrong if the members we have chosen do not fairly rep-
resent all of the members. Deductive reasoning involves reasoning from the general to the
specific. Deductions are logically correct and lead to good answers when the initial rules or
assumptions are true. Have we attained our goal? Over time, we may profit from rethinking
and redefining problems and solutions.
Obstacles to Problem Solving
Sometimes we are unsuccessful at solving a problem; we cannot attain our goal. What
hinders our ability to solve the problem? Obstacles to problem solving and biases in reasoning
can keep us from reaching a goal. Fixation is an inability to look at a problem from a fresh
perspective, using a prior strategy that may not lead to success. If we’ve solved 10 problems
in a 50-problem set using one rule, we tend to use the same rule to solve the 11th. This
tendency to approach the problem in the same way that has been successful previously
is a type of fixation called mental set. We may get stuck on the 11th problem because it
requires a different rule from the first 10. Another type of fixation that can be an obstacle
to problem solving is called functional fixedness, a failure to use an object in an unusual
way. For example, if people are carrying plastic tablecloths to a picnic area when it starts to
rain, and they get soaked because they aren’t wearing raincoats and don’t have umbrellas,
they are evidencing functional fixedness. They could have used the tablecloths to protect
them from the rain. Using decision-making heuristics when we problem solve can result
in errors in our judgments. Amos Tversky and Nobel prize winner Daniel Kahneman
studied how and why people make illogical choices. They looked at two types of research.
Normative studies ask how we ought to make decisions, and do not actually reflect how
people make decisions. Descriptive studies look at how decisions are actually being made.
Tversky and Kahneman found we often make erroneous decisions based on intuition.
Under conditions of uncertainty, we often use the availability heuristic, estimating the
probability of certain events in terms of how readily they come to mind. For example,
many people who think nothing of taking a ride in a car are afraid to ride in an airplane
because they think it is so dangerous. In fact, riding in an airplane is much safer; we are far
less likely to be injured or die as a result of riding in an airplane. Other errors in decision
making result from using the representative heuristic, a mental shortcut by which a new
situation is judged by how well it matches a stereotypical model or a particular prototype.