Analytical Thinking

&
Problem Solving
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 Overview

1. Creative Problem Solving

2. Critical Thinking- Attitude
3. Models and methods on problem solving
4. Challenges and exercises on problem
solving
 Introduction

Intelligence = Good Thinking Skills

“Thinking is the operating skill with which

intelligence acts upon experience for a
purpose.”

Operating skill + intelligence + experience

 PMI
 P plus or good points
 M minus or bad points
 I interesting points

Two or three minutes to deliberately think

through a problem or situation.
 Creative Problem Solving
 Recognize the problem
 Define the problem
 Gather ideas or data
 Rank ideas
 Test the ideas
 Draw conclusions
 Evaluate conclusions
 Attitudes Plus Action Equals
Success
The Attitudes
Greet problems as challenges and not as threats
Tolerate uncertainty
Engage in self-evaluation and criticism
Engage in divergent thinking
Persevere
Systematically and deliberately approach task
Are Flexable
Attitudes Plus Action Equals
Success
The Actions
Brainstorm and search all possibilities
Attend to details
Set plans of action
Question continuously
Check for accuracy
Break problems into pars
Avoid Guessing
 DeBono’s Characterization of a
Good Thinker
 Confident in his/her thinking
 Not that he/she is right or even that he/she can find
the answer but that he/she can turn on his/her
thinking at will and deliberately focus it in any
direction he/she wants.
 In control of his/her thinking
 Does not drift from idea to idea or emotion to
emotion
 Has a clear idea of what he/she wants to do
 Defines the thinking task and then sets out to carry it
out
 DeBono’s Characterization of a
Good Thinker
 Has a clear focus and a broad view of the
situation
 Values wisdom over cleverness
 Likes thinking even when it isn’t
particularly successful
 Confident and decisive but humble
 DeBono’s Characterization of a
Good Thinker
 Robust in thought but practical were this
is demanded
 Doesn’t wallow in over-intellectualization,
nit-picking or a dither of indecision
 Able to discern his/her progress after
thinking
 Practices and observes thinking
 Levels of Thinking
 Knowledge: recalling information; repeating
information with no changes
 (ex: recalling dates; memorizing definitions for a history exam)
 Comprehension: Understanding ideas; using rules and
following directions
 (ex: explaining a mathematical law; knowing how the human ear
functions; explaining a definition in psychology)
 Application: Applying knowledge to a new situation
 (ex: using knowledge to solve a new physics problem)
 Levels of Thinking
 Analysis: Seeing relationships; breaking information
into parts; analyzing how things work
 (ex: comparing two poems by the same author)
 Synthesis: Putting ideas and information together in a
unique way; creating something new
 (ex: designing a new computer program)
 Evaluation: Making judgments; assessing value or
worth of information
 (ex: evaluating the effectiveness of an argument opposing the
death penalty)
Selecting a problem solving method
 1. You should apply already-learned concepts to
fill in the gaps from information provided in the
passage. Only use principles, definitions,
equations, theories, and laws to integrated
within the passage.
 2. You should apply the newly-learned concepts
from the passage as and when appropriate after
a thorough understanding.
 3. When working with mathematics problems
watch for consistency in units and conventions,
and always start from the given data.
 4. Use only relevent facts.
Selecting a problem solving method
 5. Use proportional reasoning as and when required to
compare various options.
 6. Evaluate designs, methods, phenomena, and their
effects in a logical and systematic way. Do not get
persuaded by the writer’s arguments if you discover
technical flaws or problems. These problems may not
require any mathematical operations to solve, only
analytical/logical reasoning will suffice.
 7. You should also use integrated reasoning in looking at
pieces of evidence, parts of instruments, steps in
procedures and various actions in phenomena. You
should evaluate and interpret particular perspectives
including technical views and opinions of scientists.
Selecting a problem solving method
 8. Always try to get the answer in the form
presented, especially in data analysis problems.
Organize and interpret your data so it is directly
linked to the format of the answers presented.
 9. You should learn how to test the responses
against your answer and make sure to follow
basic logic.
 10. Pick up various strategies and approaches to
solve the problem in any order as long as they
are well connected and sequential in solving the
problem.
 Problem Solving Model
 Use your own experience or similar situation to help you
mentally see the given information. Actually create a
tough sketch of the information.
 Mark inner problem cues which link new information
with known concepts. Actually create a rough sketch of
the information.
 Try to condense the information in the question as much
as possible. What is the question?
 Isolate and examine the limitations and assumptions in
the question stem.
 Select the best problem solving method for the question.
 Examine whether or not your answer makes sense.
 Problem Solving Methods
 Make a Diagram
Cathy knows French and German. Sandra knows
Swedish and Russian. Cindy knows Spanish and
French. Paula knows German and Swedish. If French
is easier than German, Russian harder than Swedish,
German easier than Swedish, and Spanish is easier
than French, which girl knows the most difficult
language?
 Problem Solving Methods
 Make a Chart
Paula, Joanne, and Mary own a total of 16 dogs, among which
are 3 poodles, twice as many cocker spaniels, and the
remainder German Shepherds and collies. Joanne
despises poodles and collies, but owns 4 cocker
spaniels and 2 German Shepherds, giving a her a
total of 6 dogs. Paula owns 1 poodle and only 2 other
dogs, both German Shepherds. Mary owns 3 collies
and several other dogs. What other dogs and how
many of each does Mary own?
 Problem Solving Methods
 Go Through the Actions
You are facing east, you make an about-face, and then
you turn left. Which direction is now on your left?
 Draw a Picture
Belvedere Street is parallel to St. Anthony Street.
Davidson is perpendicular to River Street. River Street
is parallel to St. Anthony Street. Is Davidson Street
parallel or perpendicular to Belvedere?
 Problem Solving Methods
 Write It Out
On a certain day, I ate lunch at Tommy’s, took out two
books from the library (The Sea Wolf and Martin
Eden, both by Jack London), visited the museum and
had a cavity filled. Tommy’s is closed on Wednesday,
the library is closed on weekends, the museum is only
open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and my
dentist has office hours Tuesday, Friday, and
Saturday. On which day of the week did I do all these
things?
 Problem Solving Methods
 Use a Venn Diagram
The government wants to contact all druggists, all gun
store owners, and all parents in a town. How many
people must be contacted, using these statistics?
Druggists 10
Gun Store owners 5
Parents 3000
Druggists who own gun stores 0
Druggists who are parents 7
Gun store owners who are parents 3
Checklist For Problem Solving
 Inaccuracy in Reading
1. Reading material without concentrating
strongly on the meaning. Didn’t constantly ask,
“Do I understand that completely?”
2. Reading material too rapidly; at the expense of
comprehension.
3. Misreading one or more words; not careful
enough.
4. Missing one or more facts or ideas; not careful
enough.
5. Not spending enough time rereading a difficult
section to clarify it meaning.
 Inaccuracy in Thinking
1. Not placing a constant high premium on accuracy.
2. Performing operations with out sufficient care or
observation.
3. Interpreting words or performing operations
inconsistently.
4. Not checking the correctness of an answer or
conclusion.
5. Not checking the appropriateness of a formula or
procedure before utilizing it.
6. Working too rapidly.
7. Visualizing a description or relationship inaccurately.
8. Drawing a conclusion from the middle of a problem
rather than reading it through and giving it sufficient
thought.
 Weakness in Problem Analysis:
Inactiveness
1. Not breaking a complex problem into parts.
2. Not drawing upon prior knowledge and experience in
trying to make sense of ideas which were unclear.
3. Skipping unfamiliar words or phrases, rather than
trying to gain good understanding through context.
4. Not translating an unclear word or phrase into one’s
own words.
 Weakness in Problem Analysis:
Inactiveness (cont’d)
5. Not using a dictionary when necessary.
6. Not actively constructing (mentally or on paper) a
representation of ideas described in the text.
7. Not evaluating a solution or interpretation in terms of its
reasonableness.
 Lack of Perseverance
1. Making little attempt to solve the problem through
reasoning because of lack of confidence in one’s ability
to deal with this type of problem.
2. Choosing to answer based on only a superficial
consideration of the problem.
3. Solving the problem in a mechanical manner, without
much thought.
4. Reasoning the problem part way through, then giving
up and jumping to a conclusion.
 Failure to Think Aloud

1. Not vocalizing one’s thinking in sufficient

detail while working the problem.
 Question
 You have only an 8-liter jug and a 3-liter
jug. Both containers are unmarked. You
need exactly 4 liters of water. How can
you get it, if a water faucet is handy?
 Question
Three handsome geniuses all wanted to marry the
beautiful heiress. The wealthy father told them, “I have
three red hats and two white hats. I will blindfold all of
you then choose three of the five hats to put on your
heads. After the hats are on your heads, I will take off
your blindfolds. The first man to tell me the color of his
own hat without looking at it will marry the heiress.”
The father did as he had said. The man said he
couldn’t tell the color of his hat. The second man said he
couldn’t tell, either. But the third man, who was blind,
correctly told the color of his hat.
What color was it, and how did he know?