1 Announcements Mixtape grades will be up tonight Sorry Sakai issues Plus there were a few late entries Midterm office hours on Thursday 5 30 6pm or until 10pm if you are in second discussion 2 Announcements 3 Announcements Mixtape grades are up Room for improvement NOTE I was more lenient with these grades This was your first paper and a new type of assignment for most of you A 90 100 great effort generally got the idea A scrapbook at this level of work would be a high B or A B 80 90 showed effort but had problems A scrapbook at this level of work would be a C or B C 70 80 unclear or too vague too little discussion A scrapbook at this level of work would likely be a D 4 Announcements Midterm and Mixtape DON T FREAK OUT Some of you aren t happy with grade I will reward improvement in the projects just like the exams I will post a high A paper to the resources to give you a clearer picture of what you need to do to earn high scores next time Take feedback into account as well 5 3 Concepts Thinking Language Intelligence And IQ testing 6 What is thinking Like Memory Learning mentioned in passing More mechanics How do we Think Know Remember Communicate Anything you ve got going on upstairs Cognitive processing complex like memory Also can make systematic errors 7 What is thinking We process a lot of information So how can we simplify things Grouping like things together Concept More efficient See the whole instead of all it s parts Ex Restaurant 8 What is thinking We process a lot of information So how can we simplify things Establishing levels of concepts Hierarchies Restaurants in New Brunswick on Easton Ave serve bolis etc Animals Birds Arctic Birds Penguins etc 9 List the first thing that comes to mind when Exercise I read the category A bird A color A motor vehicle A hero A game 10 Exercise I can read your mind maybe A robin sparrow or eagle penguin Red or blue A car or motorcycle Superman Batman maybe a Fireman Monopoly or another boardgame chess checkers Why was I often right 11 What is thinking I may have guessed right because these are Prototypes Best example of category Example What comes to mind when you think of fruit Did anyone think of a tomato 12 Prototype Is this a fruit Durian fruit If you can get past the smell apparently they re good What did you mentally compare it to Probably not a tomato it s not prototypical 13 What is thinking Applying thinking How do we find solutions to difficult situations Fixing something Lots of different possible strategies Problem Solving Trial and error Heuristics Analogies 14 Problem Solving If we are guessing and checking Trial Error Less possible solutions many possible solutions Too much effort time Apply methodical rules Algorithms Step by step procedures solutions Good Ex I m thinking of a number between 1 10 Try all numbers 1 10 until you find it Bad Ex opening a combination lock 3 s 40 possibilities each 64 000 combos 15 Problem Solving Trial and Error is difficult Let s make it easier Simplifying strategy Heuristics Apply rules reduce possible combos Ex Combo probably isn t 3 of the same number Follow with Trial and error Two types Forming Subgoals Searching for Analogies 16 Heuristics Simplifying the process Create smaller goals or Subgoals Sometimes obvious sometimes not Gets you part way to solution Ex Packing Get all possible items out write a list Ex Writing a paper Write an outline find sources to use Ex Tower of Hanoi Problem 17 Tower of Hanoi Problem Terminal Goal Move all 3 to peg C 2 restrictions 1 can only move one at a time 2 can t put a larger ring on top of smaller 18 Subgoals Break tower problem into subgoals 1 Get the biggest ring to bottom of peg C 2 Get the middle ring to peg C 3 Add the smallest ring 19 Subgoals Break tower problem into subgoals 1 Get the biggest ring to bottom of peg C A 1 2 3 B 1 2 C 3 1 20 Subgoals Break tower problem into subgoals 2 Get the middle ring to peg C A 1 B 1 2 C 2 1 3 21 Subgoals Break tower problem into subgoals 2 Add the smallest ring B A 1 C 1 2 13 22 Heuristics Simplifying the process Some problems have similar solutions Analogy Must recognize similarity Need to not focus on superficial details Seek the underlying structure Ex Radiation treatment vs Army attack Radiation kills tumor but damages surrounding tissue Army attack eliminates target but leads to collateral damage Attacking whole area body eliminates target tumor can also Focus attacks on target tumor leaves most surrounding kill everyone or patient untouched 23 Exercise As I was going to St Ives I met a man with seven wives Every wife had seven sacks Every sack had seven cats Every cat had seven kits Kittens sacks cats and wives How many were going to St Ives 24 Problems With Problem Solving Focusing on Irrelevant Information Ex Kits cats sacks and wives how many were going to St Ives Guesses Hint if you are doing calculations you are wrong How many are going to St Ives 1 The narrator Only one we know for sure Alternative solutions If All 2 802 If just listed above 2 800 If none 1 narrator only Ex 15 living in Topeka have unlisted phone s Randomly select 200 names from Topeka phone book How many of these people can be expected to have unlisted phone numbers 25 Problems With Problem Solving Why is Irrelevant Information a problem Confuses us Assume info given is relevant Usually start by trying to apply info Should start by deciding is this relevant Avoid Trick questions 26 How would you attach candle to a wall so it didn t drip on table below 27 How would you attach candle to a wall so it didn t drip on table below 28 Problems With Problem Solving Ex Candle Problem Ex String Problem Miss the box its common use Functional Fixedness Two strings hanging from ceiling must be tied together but you can t reach both All you have is a hammer Tie hammer to string let it swing Increases with age Small children Adults less knowledge about common uses 29 Problems With Problem Solving Making the problem more difficult Unnecessary Constraints Using more rules than necessary Problem 1 Without lifting pencil from paper draw exactly four straight lines that go through each dot but ONLY ONCE for each dot Problem 2 A ping pong ball falls into a pipe in the floor too small to fit your hand in to grab it how do you and your 5 friends get it out 30 Problem 1 Problem 1 Without lifting pencil from paper draw exactly four straight lines that go through each dot ONLY ONCE for each dot 31 32 Unnecessary Constraints Impose constraints
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