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SBFS1103 Thinking Skills and Prob Solving (RS) - Caug17 (Bookmark) PDF
SBFS1103 Thinking Skills and Prob Solving (RS) - Caug17 (Bookmark) PDF
Dr Anton Espira
Topic 9 Strategies and Tools for Making the Final Decision 168
9.1 Approaches to Decision Making 169
9.2 Decision-making Strategies 170
9.3 Group Decision Making: Methods 171
9.4 Decision-making Tools 173
9.4.1 Grid Analysis: Making a Choice Whereby 173
Many Factors Must be Considered
9.4.2 Decision Tree Analysis: Choosing Among 175
Options by Projecting Likely Outcomes
9.4.3 PMI: Weighing the Pros and Cons of a Decision 176
9.5 Some Final Decision-making Tips 178
Summary 179
Key Terms 180
Self-Assessment 181
References 181
INTRODUCTION
SBFS1103 Thinking Skills and Problem Solving is one of the courses offered at
Open University Malaysia (OUM). This course is worth three credit hours and
should be covered over 8 to 15 weeks.
COURSE AUDIENCE
This course is designed for students taking Bachelor programmes in OUM.
STUDY SCHEDULE
It is a standard OUM practice that learners accumulate 40 study hours for every
credit hour. As such, for a three-credit hour course, you are expected to spend
120 study hours. Table 1 gives an estimation of how the 120 study hours could be
accumulated.
Study
Study Activities
Hours
Briefly go through the course content and participate in initial discussions 2
Study the module 60
Attend 4 tutorial sessions 8
Online Participation 12
Revision 18
Assignment(s) and Examination(s) 20
TOTAL STUDY HOURS ACCUMULATED 120
COURSE OUTCOMES
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
1. Describe the meaning of thinking skills and what comprises the thinking
process;
COURSE SYNOPSIS
This course will provide knowledge on thinking skills and problem solving,
focusing mainly on the thinking process, its importance and the phases involved,
the roles and functions of the left and right brain, the characteristics and
applications of both critical thinking and creative thinking, identifying reasoning,
the acceptability of reasons and claims, and evaluating inferences. In addition,
there is focus on problem-solving strategies, common tools and techniques. The
final section of this course covers decision making process and strategies.
Topic 2 discusses the critical thinking process which includes its characteristics,
examples, barriers and importance. It also describes the creative thinking process,
its characteristics and how to apply creativity to problems and issues. The topic
concludes by describing lateral thinking and the crossover between the right and
left brain.
Topic 6 presents both the employment of different strategies on its own and
combination of strategies in problems solving. It also introduces other concepts
such as consideration of analogous problems, specialisation and generalisation
and consideration of extreme cases.
Topic 7 introduces common tools and techniques used in the process of problem
solving.
Topic 8 introduces the decision making process and describes different kinds of
decisions and the various factors that affect decision making. It introduces the
Four Quadrants of the Brain Theory and explains how this relates to our ability
to make decisions. The topic includes the Evidence-driven Decision-making
Cycle and the effects of quantity on decision making. The topic concludes by
describing decision streams, decision quality and risking.
Learning Outcomes: This section refers to what you should achieve after you
have completely covered a topic. As you go through each topic, you should
frequently refer to these learning outcomes. By doing this, you can continuously
gauge your understanding of the topic.
Summary: You will find this component at the end of each topic. This component
helps you to recap the whole topic. By going through the summary, you should
be able to gauge your knowledge retention level. Should you find points in the
summary that you do not fully understand, it would be a good idea for you to
revisit the details in the module.
Key Terms: This component can be found at the end of each topic. You should go
through this component to remind yourself of important terms or jargon used
throughout the module. Should you find terms here that you are not able to
explain, you should look for the terms in the module.
PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
There are no pre-requisites for this course. Students are required to understand
this course guide well before starting with the topics in this module.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
Please refer to myINSPIRE.
REFERENCES
Adair, J. (2010). Decision making and problem solving strategies: Learn key
problem solving strategies; Sharpen your creative thinking strategies; Make
effective decisions (2nd ed.). London, UK: Kogan Page.
Bedell, J. R., & Lennox, S. S. (1997). Handbook for communication and problem-
solving skills training: A cognitive-behavioural approach (1st ed). New
York: John Wiley.
De Bono, E. (2005). Thinking course. (Revised ed.). Barnes & Noble Books.
Elder, L. (2007). Critical thinking: Tools for taking charge of your professional
and personal life. New Jersey: Pearson Education.
Harrison, A. F., & Bramson, R. M. (2002). The art of thinking. New York, NY: The
Berkley Publishing Group (Paperback).
Meador, K. S. (1997). Creative thinking and problem solving for young learners.
Englewood, CO: Teacher Ideas Press.
Moore, B. N., & Parker, R. (2005). Critical thinking (8th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
Paul, R., & Linda, E. (2002). Critical thinking. Pearson Education Inc.
INTRODUCTION
William James (1842ă1910), often referred to as the father of American psychology,
once stated that, „A great many people think they are thinking when they are
merely rearranging their prejudices.‰ According to him, the fact that there is
mental activity taking place in the minds of individuals does not mean that they
are thinking. In his book, entitled „You Were Born Rich,‰ Bob Proctor (1997) wrote,
„Thinking is the highest function of which a human being is capable.‰ He added
that many people link thinking to simple mind activities like refreshing of the
faculty of memory, playing old movies and remembering events in the past.
Obviously, this is not what RodinÊs great work of art portrays.
We are all constantly thinking almost involuntarily and compulsively. The reason
many people donÊt delve deeper into their thought processes because it requires
us to be receptive and to be challenged to reach further depths of our thinking.
This is the reason why so few people actually think. Edison once stated, „There is
no expedient to which a man will go to avoid the real labour of thinking,‰ and
according to Emerson, the hardest task in the world is to think.
One of the main reasons why people do not think more or in depth is because they
are so busy with other things that they do not have time to conceive, cogitate and
consider. Human beings today are so used to being entertained and bombarded
with so much information that they hardly have any time to reflect on even just a
fraction of their thoughts.
„Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is
an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing
pains some people more than having to think.‰
(Martin Luther King)
It should be understood that the greatest value of reading is not the information
but rather what we think and how we process this information while reading,
which makes the choice of reading material an important factor to take into
account. A person should understand that the main objective of reading is not to
fill the mind with information but to arouse the mind to think and ponder. A
reader should pause from time to time to contemplate and reflect on what has been
read. This will help in stimulating the thinking process, as well as in applying what
has been read in everyday life. Clarity is power, and it emerges from thinking.
Human beings do not just need to think but should think carefully about the
choices and direction of their lives. Time is the most precious resource that
individuals have and it is believed that the life of a person is the sum total of what
he does with that time. Hence, it would be definitely worth it to spend more of our
time in constructive and in-depth thought processes.
Figure 1.1: The activity of the humanÊs mind becomes thinking only when it is directed
Source: http://www.sonic.net
SELF-CHECK 1.1
Do you agree with the statement above? To answer this, ask yourself
whether a mental activity can be purposeful, directed and controlled, and
yet be carried out subconsciously.
There are as many different purposes of thinking as there are of travelling. Many
times, we may be on a relaxing drive through a scenic road without any particular
destination in mind. In the same way, we may travel in different conditions and
with different degrees of competence. Although we may be travelling in darkness
or light, slowly or fast, in the correct or wrong path, as long as we are navigating
in our minds, we are thinking.
However, this does not suggest that thinking must always be carried out in a
conscious state of mind. Evidence shows that the sub-conscious or non-conscious
thinking can also produce great results. As many of us have experienced,
constructive thoughts and ideas come to us when we are in the midst of doing
something not related to the problem under investigation. There may have been
times when we faced a particular problem but chose not to solve it then and
shelved it for a few days, even though we could see glimpses of the solution. Then
one fine morning, while walking or jogging, the solution to the problem suddenly
emerges out of nowhere. This is indeed an example of sub-conscious thinking.
According to a study, decisions made intuitively or by instinct go through the
brain. Such intuitive decisions depend on past experiences and external signals
and are regarded as sub-conscious thinking. Reflex actions, however, are fast and
done without thinking. They involve signals that bypass the brain and are carried
out on a non-conscious level.
Ruggiero, V. (2008) has formally defined thinking as „any mental activity that
helps formulate or solve a problem, make a decision or fulfil a desire to
understand.‰
SELF-CHECK 1.2
Consider the formal definition of thinking in the preceding paragraph.
Among the most important mental activities included in the thinking process are:
(b) Remembering;
(c) Wondering;
(d) Inquiring;
(e) Imagining;
(f) Evaluating;
(h) Interpreting.
Several attempts have been made to describe the nature of thinking. The most
popular view (currently regarded as unimportant) is that thinking is completely
verbal. This theory suggests that individuals arrange words in their minds or
silently whisper to themselves when they think. However, if this is true, then
Albert Einstein could not be considered a thinker, as his thinking comprised
mostly images rather than words. Many current authorities believe that the form
of thought that occurs in the minds of individuals is usually verbal, although it
may not be necessarily so. These experts feel that just as an idea can be expressed
in mathematical symbols or diagrams besides words, individuals may also
conceive thoughts in the same ways.
Factual knowledge is something that is already known, while in most cases, the
solutions are not only unknown to the individual facing the problem but are also
brand new and specifically designed to fit a particular issue. Thus, it can be
concluded that having factual knowledge does not mean that a person is
guaranteed of being able to solve the problem. Many of us may regard ourselves
as „walking encyclopaedias‰ but when the time comes, we may not be able to solve
a particular problem. To become a successful problem solver, an individual has to
possess both factual knowledge and good thinking skills.
The importance of having the ability to think well can only be appreciated when
an individual is faced with various situations in his life where the circumstances
require skills like analysing, solving problems and making the correct decisions.
For instance, these include deciding and evaluating on aspects such as:
(e) What to do when parents are incapable of taking care of themselves; and
Today, individuals with skills in problem solving, issue analysis and decision
making have a better chance at employment and are regarded as assets within the
organisation they are working for. In the past, most of the thinking was carried out
by executives and other employees had only to execute the tasks assigned to them.
Now, however, employees with thinking power who are capable of generating
ideas for the improvement of the organisation are greatly valued by their
employers.
ACTIVITY 1.1
1. State the formal definition of thinking.
2. List the mental activities included in the thinking process.
3. Explain the importance of the thinking process.
4. Do you agree with Einstein that „Imagination is more important
than knowledge‰? Why?
Figure 1.3: The thinking process of the human mind has two distinct phases
It is believed that good thinkers are capable of producing more and better ideas
compared to poor thinkers. This is because good thinkers are more innovative,
which enables them to produce more ideas. Moreover, good thinkers tend to view
a problem from different angles before choosing an appropriate one and consider
many different approaches to a problem. They are able to generate many ideas
before making a decision. Better still, they are also more prepared to take
intellectual risks, are more adventurous and imaginative.
On the other hand, poor thinkers view a problem from a limited number of
standpoints, hastily adopt the first approach their minds perceive as a solution, make
hurried judgements and rarely think of more ideas. Most of the time, they make
decisions that would be expected.
At this phase, good thinkers are very careful and analytical. They assess their first
impressions, make important distinctions and support their conclusions based on
facts instead of emotions and feelings. Since they are aware of their limitations and
predispositions, they re-check the logic of their thinking and the workability of
their solutions. They refine their ideas by identifying any imperfection and
complication, and predict any negative response that may arise from their
decision.
Conversely, poor thinkers are known to make judgements too fast without
thinking critically and to make decisions based on emotions and feelings rather
than on evidence. They are also unaware of their limitations and predispositions,
thus creating a possibility that there may be several flaws in their thought
processes.
All thinkers have their own share of confusions, mental blocks and failures.
However, good thinkers have mastered ways to face their frustrations while poor
thinkers have the habit of mourning over their situation and allowing failure to
make them feel incapable and incompetent.
Table 1.1 lists the various differences observed between good and poor thinkers.
Good thinkers are willing to think and may even find thinking enjoyable. They
can carry out searches when necessary and suspend judgement. They value
rationality, believing that thinking is useful for solving problems, reaching
decisions, and making judgements. Poor thinkers, in contrast, need certainty,
avoid thinking, must reach closure quickly, and rely too heavily on intuition.
Many people believe that good thinkers are born rather than made. However, this
is not entirely factual for several reasons. Many a time, we come across people who
have better thinking abilities than others. However, an individual can improve his
or her thinking capability within a period of time. Thinking effectively is a skill
that anyone can develop progressively if guided and trained accordingly.
In order to be a good thinker, you do not need a high IQ. In fact, it was proven by
E. Paul Torrance that 70% of creative people actually have an IQ score of below
135 (as quoted in Mackall, D. D. (1998)).
ACTIVITY 1.2
Do you agree or disagree with the statement, „Good thinkers are born
rather than made„? Justify your argument.
People trying to increase their thinking skills face the problem of changing their
old ways and mindset. However, if an individual has a burning desire to improve
himself and is eager to apply the knowledge he has so far obtained, thinking
becomes interesting and achievable. We must understand that nothing is
impossible in life.
ACTIVITY 1.3
ACTIVITY 1.4
Surf the web and find out as much as you can about the human brainÊs
anatomy. Discuss your findings with your classmates.
Figure 1.5: It is generally accepted that the dominant functions of the right hemisphere
include imaginative and intuitive features while the left hemisphere relates to
organisational and analytical skills
Source: http://theswash.com/tag/monarchy/
This led to the idea that there are individuals who are „left-brained‰ and those
who are „right-brained.‰ So far, the data obtained suggest that no individuals use
only one side of the brain at a particular time and the presence of corpus callosum
reinforces the fact that there is a significant integration between these two
hemispheres.
Medical scientists believe that both sides of the brain are capable of reasoning out
a problem but by employing different strategies, one side may be dominant
compared to the other. In solving a particular problem, the left brain uses the
analytical approach whereas the right brain uses the holistic or global approach. A
left brain user, who is also known as a successive processor, tends to learn in a
step-by-step sequential manner beginning with details and arriving at a
conceptual understanding of a skill. In contrast, a right brain user (a simultaneous
processor) tends to master a skill starting with the general concept and then
moving on to the details.
ACTIVITY 1.5
Consider the activities (sports, hobbies etc) that you enjoy doing. List the
thinking processes required of you to carry out these activities. From that,
explore which side of your brain is more dominant.
(To confirm your answer, try the quiz at this website address:
http://web-us.com/brain/braindominance.htm).
ACTIVITY 1.6
1. State the functions of the right and left hemispheres of the human
brain.
Several attempts have been made to describe the nature of thinking, and the
most popular view that is currently regarded unimportant is that thinking is
completely verbal.
The thinking process has two distinct phases; production and judgement.
Overall, good thinkers have mastered how to face their frustrations whereas
poor thinkers mourn their situation and allow failure to make them feel
incapable and incompetent.
Medical scientists believe that both sides of the brain could reason out a
problem but by employing different strategies, one side may be the dominant
one compared to the other.
In solving a problem, the left brain uses the analytical approach whereas the
right brain uses the holistic or global approach.
2. Read the following dialogue carefully. Then decide whether what is stated
(or implied) makes sense. Explain your reasoning thoroughly.
John : Do you think the masses really have any power in the Unites
States today?
Bill : That depends on what groups you include in „the masses.‰ Would
you include professional people ă doctors, lawyers, teachers⁄⁄?
Elder, L. (2007). Critical thinking: Tools for taking charge of your professional and
personal life. Kindle Edition.
Paul, R. W., & Elder, L. (2007). Critical thinking: Tools for taking charge of your
professional and personal life. USA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Ruggiero. V. R. (2008). The art of thinking: A guide to critical and creative thought
(9th ed.). Essex, UK: Longman Publishing Group.
INTRODUCTION
There are two basic thinking skills (Figure 2.1).
The second skill focuses on exploring ideas, generating new possibilities, looking
for flexibility in answers and developing leads worthy of elaboration. This
thinking skill is called creative thinking.
Both critical and creative thinking skills are essential for solving problems and
acquiring knowledge.
In this topic, we will explore both thinking skills, examine their characteristics and
see how they are applied in solving problems in the real world.
ACTIVITY 2.1
In Topic 1, we learned about the functions of the right and left
hemispheres of the human brain. Given the brief descriptions of critical
and creative thinking in the Introduction above, how do you think these
two thinking skills fit in the model of the „right-brain, left-brain‰
functionalities?
In other words, critical thinking can be defined as, „disciplined thinking regulated
by clear intellectual standards. The most important intellectual standards
identified are clarity, accuracy, relevance, consistency, logical correctness and
fairness‰ (Bassham, 2000, p. 7).
(a) Clarity
The first step involved before assessing an argument or claim of a person is
to understand clearly what he or she is saying. However, many a time this
can be rather challenging because people often fail to express themselves
clearly and articulately. This may be due to several reasons which can
include laziness, carelessness or lack of assertive skill. There are also
instances where this may be due to a misguided effort to appear smart,
intelligent or profound. Thus, by paying close attention to language, we can
save ourselves from unnecessary miscommunications and disappointments.
Wittgenstein (2001) once remarked, „Everything that can be said can be said
clearly.‰
Besides searching for clarity of language, critical thinkers also look for
maximum clearness of thought. As motivational writers constantly remind
us to accomplish our personal goals in life, we require a clear conception of
our goals and priorities, a realistic grip of our abilities and a clear
understanding of the problems and opportunities we encounter. However,
such self-understanding can only be accomplished if we value and practise
clarity of thought. Charles Larmore (The National Post, July 29, 2000) once
expressed that „clarity is not mere embellishment of the intellect; it is the very
heart of intellectual virtue.‰
(b) Precision
Some of the best examples of critical thinking are seen in detective stories
such as those of Sherlock Holmes, the immortal creation of British writer Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle. An important element of these stories is precision:
through careful observation, Holmes is able to find clues that are overlooked
by others. A process of logical inference follows, by which he is able to use
the available clues to solve the mystery.
(c) Accuracy
A well-known tagline on input-output systems states, „Garbage in, garbage
out.‰ The human mind works on the same concept. A person can be
considered very intelligent but if he or she makes a decision based on false
information, it is very likely that the decision would be a bad one. Critical
thinkers not only value truth but also have an obsession for accurate and
timely information. They try hard to make decisions that are as informed as
possible.
To quote Socrates (as cited in Bassham et al., 2011): „An unexamined life is
not worth living if an individual stops learning, growing and inquiring.‰
SELF-CHECK 2.1
In scientific measurements, the difference between „precision‰ and
„accuracy‰ is well articulated. How would you differentiate between
these two terms in regard of critical thinking?
(d) Relevance
The moment we find ourselves in a situation where the environment and
people are boring, we begin to appreciate the importance of staying focused
on relevant ideas and information. Many a debater has successfully used the
technique of raising irrelevant issues to distract the attention of his or her
audience and opponents. The famous Abraham Lincoln, when he was a
lawyer, used jokes and stories to gain the favour of the jury and his opposing
counsel often complained to the judge that LincolnÊs stories were irrelevant
and distracting to the jury.
As Plato (as cited in Bassham et al., 2011) once said, „No tedious and
irrelevant discussion can be allowed; what is said should be pertinent.‰ This
clearly indicates that relevance is indeed an important factor in critical
thinking.
(e) Consistency
Logic tells us that if a person holds inconsistent beliefs, then at least one of
those beliefs must be untrue. Critical thinkers value truth, thus, they are
always on the lookout for inconsistencies, both in their own thoughts and in
the arguments and assertions of others.
Many a time people realise that when their words conflict with their actions,
they are labelled as hypocrites. However, such examples are not especially
interesting from the critical thinking point of view. More interesting are
situations in which people do not realise that their words conflict with their
deeds. What is important in such situations is that human beings often
exhibit a remarkable capacity for self-deception. As the saying of Morpheus
goes, „There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path‰
(as cited in Bassham et al., 2011).
Critical thinking helps us from being caught in the trap of logical and
practical inconsistencies. Practical inconsistency may be unconscious but it is
borne out through our actions and critical thinking helps us realise that. As
for logical inconsistency, Socrates had already recognised that unconscious
logical inconsistency is far more frequent than most individuals suspect.
With critical thinking, this can be identified and avoided altogether.
(g) Completeness
Most of the time, we opt for shallow and superficial thinking rather than deep
and complete thinking. We are often embroiled in superficial discussions:
condemning slipshod criminal investigations, hasty jury deliberations,
superficial news stories, unclear driving directions and incorrect medical
diagnoses. Thinking is better when it is in depth rather than shallow, and
thorough rather than superficial. Hsun Tzu (as cited in Bassham et al., 2011)
once stated, „It is only when there is completeness and exhaustiveness that
there is scholarship.‰
Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)
TOPIC 2 CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING 21
(h) Fairness
The final characteristic of critical thinking is fairness which includes being
open-minded, impartial and free of bias and preconceptions. However, this
is rather difficult to accomplish. According to H. G. Wells, „It is not much
good thinking of a thing unless you think it out‰ (as cited in Bassham et al.,
2011).
In a critical thinking course, among the skills learned by students that can
greatly increase their classroom abilities are:
John J. Mearsheimer once said, „We donÊt want you to just accept the
conventional wisdom on a particular subject. Indeed, your first instinct
should be to question it‰ (as cited in Bassham et al., 2011).
There are a number of commercial materials with verbal analogies, figural and
symbolic problem solving, logic puzzles and feature games. Nevertheless,
application of a wide variety of environmental objects must follow. Incorporation
of classification activities into content areas is also important to determine their
usefulness. Currently, its applications to mathematics and science, in particular the
investigating approach to science, are indeed obvious.
SELF-CHECK 2.2
Critical thinking can free mankind from the unexamined postulations and biases
of our upbringing and society.
Howard Kahane (as cited in Bassham et al., 2011) once remarked that „citizens
who think for themselves, rather than uncritically ingesting what their leaders tell
them, are the absolutely necessary ingredient of a society that is to remain truly
free.‰
ACTIVITY 2.2
In groups of three or four, define the following critical thinking traits:
intellectual honesty, open-mindedness, fair-mindedness, intellectual
courage and intellectual perseverance.
Their efforts helped to improve our understanding of creativity and solved the
many misconceptions that for so long went unchallenged. Replacing those false
impressions with facts is a vital step in developing oneÊs creative potential. The
facts that follow are among the most important ones:
Creative thinking can be defined as „being in an optimal state of mind where new
ideas can be generated‰ (www.brainstorming.co.uk). In other words, creative
thinking is a purposeful thinking that improves the chances of new thoughts
transpiring. Some authors believe that creative thinking is thinking out of the box
where one comes about with original, diverse and elaborate ideas (Figure 2.2).
Figure 2.2: Creative thinking involves thinking outside of the box which can be difficult
at times
(a) Dynamism
In its simplest sense, dynamism implies the notion of change ă change in
response to, and possibly ahead of, circumstances or information. It implies
an active interaction, as opposed to passive acquiescence.
Isaac Newton (as cited in Ruggiero, 2009 p. 6) once wrote, „I do not know
what I may appear to the world; but to myself, I seem to have been only like
a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding
⁄ a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary whilst the great ocean
of truth lay all undiscovered before me.‰
Einstein (as cited in Ruggiero, 2009 p. 6) speculated one step further: he saw
such playfulness as „the essential feature in productive thought.‰ One of the
most important contributions of playfulness among creative people is that it
provides these individuals with a richer and more varied collection of ideas
than an average person enjoys.
(b) Daringness
Thinking is an adventure for creative people. This is because they are free
from preconceived ideas and prejudiced views. Furthermore, creative
individuals are less prone to accepting existing views, wider in their
perspectives and less likely to agree with those around them. Creative people
can come up with bold ideas. They are willing to try out ideas that are not
accepted by others and also experiment with possibilities that are disliked by
others. This trait was shared by Galileo, Columbus, Edison and the Wright
brothers. These individuals were more willing to embrace new creative ideas
than their contemporaries.
Daringness is a virtue because it makes individuals who possess this trait less
susceptible to face-saving than others. Daring individuals accept bad
experiences, apply their curiosity and learn from those experiences. Thus,
they are less likely than others to repeat the same failures.
(c) Resourcefulness
Resourcefulness can be defined as the ability to act effectively and
conceptualise the approach that solves the problem. In addition, being
resourceful also means being able to solve a problem that perplexes others
when the resources at hand are insufficient.
However, after three and a half years, the prisoner escaped again during the
night. The prison officers found the bars cut in exactly the same manner as
in the previous escape. However, he was never recaptured, and the way he
escaped remained an unsolved puzzle.
In fact, he had lied about using material from the machine shop the first time.
He had been much more resourceful than that. He had used woollen strings
from his socks, moistened them with spit, and rubbed them in dirt on his cell
floor.
(d) Diligence
William Gordon (as cited in Ruggiero, 2009 p. 7) once said, „All problems
present themselves to the mind as threats of failure.‰ Only individuals who
are not frightened by the prospects of failure and have an unwavering desire
to succeed no matter what the effort required, have the opportunity to
succeed‰.
(e) Independence
Every time we think of a new idea, we separate ourselves from other people.
The mere expression of the idea increases this separation ten-fold.
For most people, especially those who obtain their power from
communicating with others and those who depend on others for their
identity, such separation is frightening. Sad to say, such people do not feel
comfortable entertaining and expressing new ideas. This is due to their fear
of rejection.
Understanding and knowing these five characteristics can help you build up
your creative abilities if you are willing to make the effort to develop them.
However, if you already have them, it will help you to improve and
strengthen them. This is a difficult but possible task ă as the saying goes, „Old
habits die hard.‰ Nevertheless, even modest progress will bring a change in
the quality of your thinking.
Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)
TOPIC 2 CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING 29
SELF-CHECK 2.3
List five important traits of creative individuals and explain each one of
them in your own words.
The most important methods to apply creativity to problems and issues include:
Now, let us read about each of the methods together with their example to fully
understand them.
Scallion, Chive Turkey, Ike and Tina Tuna, Dr Pepperoni, the Breadless
Horseman, Annette Spinachello, and Quiche and Tell. The ingredients were
as creative as the names.
Other brilliant examples are the procedures devised in the past one
or two decades to investigate the health of a foetus. Procedures such as
amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling involve the extraction of
amniotic fluid, while ultrasound imaging involves the bouncing of sound
waves off the foetus to form an image.
Scientists found new ways to use the largest surplus crop in the United
States, which was corn. For example, corn was used in making de-icing
materials, adhesives, disposable bottles and biodegradable garbage bags.
[„New inventions from the Cornfield,‰ New York Times, 10 January 1988].
ACTIVITY 2.3
Technique Description
1. Alternatives/Concept Employing concepts to come up with new ideas.
Extraction
2. Focus Changing or sharpening on your focus to improve your
creative effort.
3. Challenge Thinking beyond the accepted ways of operating.
4. Random entry Employing unrelated input to widen the horizon of
thinking.
5. Harvesting Choosing of the most suitable early ideas and moulding
them into usable approaches.
6. Treatment of ideas Expanding ideas in order to incorporate them into any
particular situations or organisations.
(b) Search and build on the concept behind an idea in order to generate more
ideas.
(f) Choose the optimum alternate ideas and put them into operation.
SELF-CHECK 2.4
1. The following questions are designed to test your ability to practise
lateral thinking.
(a) What can you hold in your right hand, but not in your left?
(b) A man and his son were in a car crash. The father was killed
and the son was taken to hospital with serious injuries. The
examining doctor exclaims: „But, this is my son!‰.
How can this be?
(c) Name three consecutive days in English without using the
words Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday.
The crossover of right and left brain crossover produces a sound, rational and
logical decision that gives you satisfaction. The right hemisphere of the brain is
responsible for intuitive, subjective and holistic thinking. Thus an individual who
uses only the right brain may end up making a decision that lacks the logical and
objective reasoning. On the other hand, the left brain is in charge of logical,
analytical, rational and objective reasoning. Hence, a left brain user who works
with facts, data and logic without the feeling component in making decisions
usually fail to notice the importance of using their emotions. These individuals
believe that facts, data and logic are not only superior than emotions when making
a particular decision but also always produce better decisions. Feelings are an
important component of the human existence. It is essential that you embrace and
accept feelings during a decision making process in order to ensure that you will
feel satisfied with the final decision that you have made.
Alan Bean [Figure 2.4(a)] and Florence Nightingale [Figure 2.4(b)] are among the
individuals who have achieved a lot in their lives with a strong right and left brain
crossover. Alan Bean was a Navy test pilot, and the fourth man to set his foot on
the moon. His job required strong left brain to utilise logical, analytical, rational
and objective reasoning. Upon his resignation from NASA, Alan Bean became a
full time artist who painted ApolloÊs human adventure that is both visionary and
historic; a task that requires a strong right brain to employ intuitive, subjective and
holistic thinking. Florence Nightingale, a nurse by profession, exhibited the use of
both her right and left brain. She proved the importance of sanitary conditions in
healing the sick and wounded patients. She employed her left brain for this while
her nurturing qualities demonstrated the powers of her right brain.
(a) (b)
Figure 2.4: Alan Bean (a) and Florence Nightingale (b) both demonstrated strong right
and left brain crossover attributes
Sources: http://www.talentbookingusa.com/speakers/alan-bean.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale
SELF-CHECK 2.5
1. „The choices of which brain is in control of which situations is what
forges our personalities and determines our character.‰ Discuss the
above statement.
Critical thinking is a general term given to a wide range of cognitive skills and
intellectual characters required to effectively identify, analyse and evaluate
arguments and truth claims; to uncover and overcome personal prejudices and
biases; to devise and present convincing reasons in support of conclusions; and
to come up with reasonable, intelligent decisions about what to believe and
what to do. It is disciplined thinking controlled by clear intellectual
benchmarks that have proven their values over the course of human history.
The most important ways to apply creativity to problems and issues are: taking
an innovative approach; formulating a process or system; devising a new
product or service; finding new uses for existing things; improvising on
existing things; and inventing or redefining a concept.
The crossover of right and left brain produces a sound, rational and logical
decision as both hemispheres of the brain are responsible for different
functions and approaches in a decision making process.
Acquilescence Diligence
Brain Crossover Dynamism
Completeness Fairness
Creative thinking Lateral thinking
Critical thinking Logical correctness
Daringness Resourcefulness
1. How many uses can you think of for an old pair of socks, stockings or panty
hose? Be sure to guard against setting unconscious restrictions on your
thinking and to resist the temptation to settle for too few ideas.
2. To what extent has your education prepared you to think clearly, precisely,
accurately, logically and so forth? Have you known a person who strongly
modelled the critical thinking standards discussed in this topic? If so, how
did he or she do that?
3. Think of the most unpleasant task you ever had to do. Use your creativity to
make it more pleasant. Use the knowledge that you have gained from this
topic to answer this question.
4. A woman lives on the tenth floor of a block of flats. Every morning she takes
the lift down to the ground floor and goes to work. In the evening, she gets
into the lift, and, if there is someone else in the lift she goes back to her floor
directly. Otherwise, she goes to the eighth floor and walks up two flights of
stairs to her flat. How do you explain this using the concept of lateral
thinking?
5. Categorise the characteristics listed according to the right and left side of the
brain.
Bassham, G., Irwin, W., Nardone, H., & Wallace, J. M. (2011). Critical thinking ă A
studentÊs introduction (4th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill International
Edition.
Furth, H. G., & Wachs, H. (1974). Thinking goes to school. PiagetÊs theory in
practice. New York: Oxford University Press.
Harrison, A. F., & Bramson, R. M. (2002). The art of thinking. New York: The
Berkley Publishing Group.
Kahane, H., & Cavender, N. (2006). Logic and contemporary rhetoric: The use of
reason in everyday life (10th ed.). USA: Thomson Learning.
Meador, K. S. (1997). Creative thinking and problem solving for young learners.
Colorado: Teacher Ideas Press.
Ruggiero, V. V. (2009). The art of thinking: A guide to critical and creative thought
(9th ed.). USA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Tonjes, M. J., & Zintz, M. V. (1987). Teaching reading, thinking, study skills in
content classrooms. Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown.
Wittgenstein, L. (2001). Verfall und Ende des öffentlichen Lebens. Die Tyrannei
Der Intimität (12th ed.). Frankfurt/M.: Fischer.
Reed, S., Pisaniello, D., Benke, G., & Burton, K. (eds). (2013). Principles of
occupational health and hygiene ă An introduction. Sydney, Australia: Allen
& Unwin.
Nims, D. K. (1999). Basics of industrial hygiene. New York, NY: John Wiley and
Sons.
Sadhra, S. S., & Rampal, K. G. (1999). Occupational health ă Risk assessment and
management. London, England: Blackwell Scientific Publications.
Winder, C., & Stacey, N. (eds). (2004). Occupational toxicology (2nd ed.). Boca
Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Cralley, L. J., & Cralley, L. V. (eds). (1993). PattyÊs industrial hygiene and
toxicology, Volume III: Theory and rationale of industrial hygiene practice,
Part A: The work environment and Part B: Biological responses (4th ed.).
New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons.
Plog, B. A. (ed). (1996). Fundamentals of industrial hygiene (4th ed.). Chicago, IL:
National Safety Council.
INTRODUCTION
Many a time we face situations where someone tries to convince us of a viewpoint
in the hope that we would accept it. This is often known as „arguing a case‰ or
„presenting an argument‰. Sometimes, the reasoning is simple to understand but
at other times it can be rather difficult. Likewise, when we present a case, at certain
times it can be easy for the other person to understand it and at other times it can
be difficult. We will explain the method to identify what reasoning is being
presented when someone is arguing a case and how to present reasoning in a clear
manner ourselves.
There are basic critical thinking skills we must practise if we want to excel at critical
thinking in real circumstances. You cannot assess a case presented in support of
some belief or decision unless you are very clear on what the case is.
While language has an important role in conveying such information for the
purpose of this discourse, however, we are interested in how language is used in
reasoning. Reasoning is the process of making inferences from the information
given.
The following passages are provided to see if you can tell which contain reasoning
and which do not.
Scenario 1
James burst out of Customs, diamonds and expensive watches falling from his bag
as he ran. As he reached the taxi stand, customers were sitting in all of the waiting
taxis. James ran towards the nearest taxi and leaped into it as it was beginning to
move. He pointed a gun at the driver and said, „Downtown!‰ The taxi turned
towards the motorway. (Morton, 1988)
The above passage is simply a descriptive passage, and it does not provide reasons
for a conclusion, although we naturally make several inferences as we read it.
Scenario 2
Many substantial environmental problems cannot be solved by individual or local
action; for example, the pollution caused by automobile exhaust gases is a world-
wide problem, and so such problems can only be addressed by international
action.
Scenario 2 provides reasons for the conclusion that certain problems can only be
addressed by international action.
Scenario 3
The 19th century English theologian and biologist Gosse (1810 ă 1888) (Figure 3.1)
had a problem. He was a devout Christian who accepted the Creation story as set
out in the Bible, but he was also a practising scientist. He was well aware that the
geological and fossil studies by other scientists seemed to show that the Earth was
very old, perhaps millions of years old. How could he resolve this conflict?
Scenario 3 does not provide reasons for a conclusion. It only describes a possible
„solution‰ to a problem but there is no reasoning.
Thus, it is evident that at certain times, we use language to describe some state of
affairs, and at other times, we use it to reason and arrive at a conclusion. There are
also times when we use language to ridicule, insult or offend. Most articles in
newspapers report events but the leading articles and letters to the editor will often
contain reasoning in support of a conclusion. As for novels, they rarely contain
much reasoning. Textbooks, on the other hand, often seek both to pass on
information and to present the authorsÊ arguments. Finally, parliamentary debates
many a time contain reasoning as well as verbal abuse.
„That test was unfair. I studied for days, reading the material four times,
underlining important details and then studying them. After doing all
these I should obtain a good grade. That test was unfair.‰
From this note, it is clear that Peter argues that „the test was unfair‰ and this is
basically his conclusion. Notice that the conclusion in this example has been
provided at the beginning of a piece of reasoning and it comes again at the end of
the note, perhaps to strongly stress the complaint. You may also think that PeterÊs
conclusion is that the teacher should look again at the test or at PeterÊs answers, or
that PeterÊs answers should be regarded favourably by the teacher or by any other
teacher competent in this field. The main allegation is that something should be
done to rectify a mistake, and in this situation, it goes beyond what is actually said.
Thus, you might say that this is his conclusion. At times, people do not express, or
do not completely express, their conclusions.
Peter provided several reasons for his conclusion when he said, „I studied for days,
reading the material four times, underlining important details and then studying
them.‰ These are his reasons for coming up with the conclusion that the test was
unfair.
(a) It is rather easy to see which reasons are presented for which conclusions. All
that is needed is an understanding of our normal use of the language.
(b) You now understand what the words „conclusion‰ and „reason‰ mean, in a
simple context as shown above. We use these words in their ordinary,
everyday sense.
(c) Conclusions can come at the beginning as well as the end of an argument,
and although they may be unexpressed, they may be „implied‰ by what is
mentioned.
(d) The task of judging whether an argument is good or not is rather difficult.
What is really required is an understanding of what is said, what is assumed
and what the context is.
SELF-CHECK 3.1
„We should bring most of our troops home from Europe. The threat
from Russia has gone now that the Evil Empire has collapsed; the
Europeans can defend themselves now that the threat to their
security is less and they are so rich; and we must reduce our federal
deficit fast, if our economy is not to collapse.‰
(a) What is the conclusion of this argument?
(b) What is the author trying to persuade us of?
(c) What reasons are given in support of the conclusion?
(d) Is anything assumed (something not actually stated in the
text)?
(e) Again, you might like to comment briefly on whether the
argument is a good one.
consequently must
However, it is not necessary that the utilisation of such phrases always indicate the
occurrence of a conclusion to an argument, just that it often does and that, taken
in concurrence with the context, such language often provides you with an
important clue about the structure of the reasoning. These phrases are commonly
called „conclusion indicators‰ because they signal the presence of a conclusion, for
which reasons have been presented.
In addition, there are also words or phrases that are commonly utilised to signal
the presence of reasons, and are usually known as „reason indicators‰. Among the
common reason indicators used are:
since firstly
for secondly
SELF-CHECK 3.2
(b) The butler was in the pantry. In that case, he couldnÊt have
shot the master, who was in his study. Hence, the butler
couldnÊt have done it.
The key to effective critical thinking is asking the right questions. We now present
a basic model or „thinking map‰ ă a tool that can help us evaluate reasoning as
seen in Table 3.1. Basically, the thinking map is a list of key questions you should
ask when analysing an argument ă be it your own or someone elseÊs.
Analysis
1. What is/are the main conclusion(s)?
(May be stated or unstated; may be in the forms of recommendations, or
explanations and so on. The presence of conclusion indicator words such as
„therefore‰ may help.)
[Aim: It helps in organising your thinking about a piece of reasoning if you know
what the author is trying to persuade and/or convince you of]
2. What are the reasons (data, evidence, etc) and their structure?
3. What is assumed (that is, implicit or taken for granted, perhaps in the context)?
4. Clarify the meaning (by the terms, claims or arguments) which needs it.
Evaluation
5. Are the reasons acceptable to you?
(These include explicit reasons and unstated assumptions ă these may also involve
evaluating factual claims, definitions and value judgments and judging the
credibility of the source.)
(a) Does the reasoning support its conclusion(s)?
(For example, is the supporting argument strong as „beyond reasonable
doubt‰ or weak)?
(b) Are there other relevant considerations/arguments which strengthen or
weaken the case?
(You may already know these or may have to construct them)
[Aim: Also called critico-creative thinking, which requires us to consider any other
relevant ideas we know or can think up which will help us to arrive at a good
judgment for the case in hand].
6. What is your overall evaluation based on what you have obtained above?
The first set of questions is based on analysis. You cannot respond reasonably to
an argument without understanding it. Thus, the above given analytical questions
help you to understand what is being stated and argued. This is followed by the
evaluative questions, which will assist you in deciding whether or not you should
be convinced of the argument.
The Thinking Map should be used not only when you are considering other
peopleÊs reasoning but also when you are constructing your own. If you have a
good case, you should be able to organise it so that your readers or listeners will
be able to clearly understand what you are trying to state in terms of how you
carry it out. It helps to use the „language of reasoning‰ in order to make your
conclusion and reasoning clear and unambiguous.
SELF-CHECK 3.3
Three times RM9 is RM27. The waiter took RM2. This adds up
to RM29. What happened to the remaining RM1?
2. For the following passages, use the thinking map to help you
analyse the argument (noting any important assumptions) and
write a brief evaluative response:
Big art exhibitions, which collect paintings from all over the
world, are bad for the paintings. Whenever they are
transported, there is a danger of accidents and resultant damage
or destruction, and it cannot be good to subject paintings to the
changes of pressure and humidity that even carefully controlled
travel is likely to bring.
To set the context for our present work, let us look at an example, and use it to
explain the questions to be asked, and how they work:
First, we have to decide whether it is true that „most prospective parents would
prefer to have sons.‰ Based on general knowledge, this claim may be true in some
societies and cultures across the world, for instance in India and China, but it may
be untrue in others. To find out, we need to carry out our research or look for
survey information on this matter to ascertain this statement.
The question that follows is: „Does this reasoning support its conclusion?‰ If it is
true that „most prospective parents would prefer to have sons,‰ then does it not
follow that if people can choose the sex of their child, it is likely that there will
eventually be more males than females in the population? If people prefer boys
and can get boys, does it not seem very likely that more boys than girls will be
born? It is definitely hard to see anything wrong with that inference of correlation.
The next reason is, „This could produce serious social problems,‰ and the question
is whether this claim is acceptable or not. It is not very easy to judge this reason
because it actually depends on whether there is a small or big surplus of boys in
society. Following this, the next question is, „Do the preceding claims support the
conclusion that we should prohibit the use of techniques which enable people to
choose the sex of their children?‰ Well, if allowing these techniques to be used does
produce a surplus of boys, which will in turn produce serious social problems,
maybe we should ban them.
However, there is another question that we should ask: „Are there other relevant
considerations or arguments in regards to this statement?‰ This is the point when
thinking about an issue requires us to be critical, creative and to think out-of-the-
box to arrive at the acceptance of an argument or claim.
Just why is this so important? It generally means, we have analysed the statement
constructively and are now more clear and ready to determine the validity and
credibility in support of a conclusion we can accept, and not only comprehend.
To summarise the above, once you are reasonably clear about what an author is
saying and what his reasons and conclusions are, you are in a position to evaluate
the reasoning.
ACTIVITY 3.1
State additional and further considerations and/or arguments that are
relevant to the question of banning the use of techniques for selecting the
sex of children.
Now, let us explore each step in the process of evaluation of acceptability in detail.
(e) How Well does the Claim Fit with Our Other Beliefs and Opinions?
Sometimes, the reason you are reflecting upon „fits well‰ with other beliefs
you have and sometimes it does not.
SELF-CHECK 3.4
From the following passage, discuss the acceptability of the claims.
The huge Norwegian company called Norsk Hydro wants to grow more
fish in the sea by spreading fertilisers over the ocean. The company,
which is the worldÊs biggest producer of fertilisers, believes that this will
grow more marine algae, which in turn will encourage the expansion of
fish stocks. Marine scientists from Sweden and Canada who reviewed
the plan at the request of the Norwegian Research Council say it is
unlikely to work. They say it ignores basic principles of marine ecology
and could do irreversible damage.
[Adapted from „NorwayÊs fish plan ă a recipe for disaster,‰ New
Scientist, 13 January 1996]
In this section, we will go through the criteria required to judge the credibility of
sources of claims. Among the criteria that we should pay close attention to are:
(f) Whether the source can provide credible reasons for the claim they make.
To check the credibility of sources of claims, let us look into each question in
Table 3.2.
Table 3.2: Five Criteria Required to Judge the Credibility of Sources of Claims
In summary, we can categorise the above mentioned criteria into five sections
which contain questions pertaining to the:
(b) Circumstances/contexts in which the claim is made that affect its credibility;
(c) Justification the source offers or can offer in support of the claim which
affects its credibility;
SELF-CHECK 3.5
You are listening to a court case in which Jason, who collided with
another car, is accused of driving at twice the speed limit in the city and
with three times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood. Jason denies the
charges but the doctor who attended to him tells the court that Jason
smelled very strongly of alcohol and blood tests showed alcohol in his
blood at three times the legal limit. Who is credible and why?
ACTIVITY 3.2
Think about several examples of people or "sources" (like the BBC or
TV3) you know and identify the areas in which they have a well-justified
reputation for reliability and areas in which they do not. Discuss with
your coursemates.
In the above example, the inference is the move from „some people have solved
their own unemployment problem‰ to „all the unemployed could do the same.‰
However, reasons and inferences have to be evaluated rather differently. In most
circumstances, it is important to judge whether the reasons provided in some
argument are true or otherwise acceptable. On the other hand, to judge whether
the inference based upon those reasons are justified or not is a totally different
thing.
WomenÊs brains are on average smaller than menÊs, therefore women are
less intelligent than men.
Most people, when asked, say that they are unsure of why the brains of women
are smaller than those of men but they are very sure that the conclusion presented
is not true. Although the reason is true, there is no connection between brain size
and intelligence, so the reason does not support the conclusion.
The first response points to the fact that we expect to be able to see some reasonably
established connection between reason and conclusion if one is to justify the other
ă a link we can perceive and accept in the light of everything else we believe.
The second says that if the reason is true but there are reasons for thinking the
conclusion could be false, it cannot be a good inference. However, since the second
response has received more support in the history of thinking about inferences,
that is the one we will choose here. Thus, the fundamental idea is that the reason(s)
do not make you accept the conclusion, and if you can think of other ways in which
the reasons can be proven to be true and the conclusion false concurrently, then
the inference is false. The test to apply when judging an inference is:
Could the reason(s) be true (or otherwise acceptable) and the conclusion
false (or otherwise unacceptable) at the same time?
If the answer to the above question is „No,‰ then the inference, which is the
progress from reasons to conclusion, is a brilliant idea and forces you accept the
conclusion if the reasons are true. On the other hand, if the answer is „Yes,‰ then
the inference fails, or is not justified.
In the example above, we face a situation where the reason is true but the inference
from reason to conclusion is unjustified. In other words, the inference is unjustified
because the reason could be true and the conclusion untrue at the same time. Thus,
it is clear that the attempt to decide whether an inference is justified is very
different from the tests you should apply when trying to decide whether reasons
are accepted.
If you have memorised the key points of this book, you will do well in the
critical thinking examination, and you have memorised them so you will
do well in the exam.
In the above example, the reasons are true, thus, the conclusion must also be true,
and this makes it a good inference. However, the reason which says that you only
have to memorise the facts in order to do well in the examination is definitely false.
Thus, this argument fails to justify its conclusion not because it makes a poor
inference, but due to the fact that at least one of the reasons on which it is based is
not true.
(b) The inferences which are then drawn from those reasons must be good ones.
SELF-CHECK 3.6
Apply the test we have just explained to decide whether the inferences
you identified in the passages given below are justified.
(b) If the worldÊs climate is getting warmer, we would find that some
of the ice at both the North and South Pole would melt at an
unusually high rate. If the ice is melting, we would see its effect in
raising the level of the sea. There is evidence that this level is
increasing, so the worldÊs climate must be getting warmer.
Next, we would like to introduce the „deductively valid‰ concept, the highest
standard of all for judging inference. Can you think of any way the reason(s) could
be true and the conclusion false? If the answer to that question is „No,‰ then the
inference is deductively valid, and if the answer is „Yes,‰ then the inference is not
deductively valid.
SELF-CHECK 3.7
(a) Tom hates everyone Mary loves and Mary loves Tom. So Tom
must hate himself.
(b) The butler was in the pantry. In that case, he could not have
shot the master, who was in the study. So, the butler could
not have done it.
Anyone who reads the above passage would quickly assume that if a „challenging
and rewarding occupation with freedom to work for yourself‰ appeals to you, then
to be a driving instructor you require little more than to „have no A levels.‰ This
is called an implicit (hidden or unspoken) assumption. The inference made here is
rather weak because the reasons could be true but the conclusion false, judging by
any reasonable standard. Many a time, it is not so easy to tell what is being
assumed and in these circumstances, we proceed to elicit assumptions or
assumptions that are drawn out, especially when the quality of the inference is
important. Thus, the general strategy is that we should assign to arguments and
explanations those assumptions which:
(c) Seem necessary to make the reasoning as strong as possible (if true).
The language of reasoning uses various types of words and phrases, known as
„conclusion indicators‰, that indicate a conclusion is being made by the
particular claim.
What is assumed;
How well does the claim fit with our other beliefs; and
In judging the credibility of a source skillfully, the main criteria that require
close attention include the sourceÊs reputation for reliability:
Whether the source can provide credible reasons for the claim they make.
When we argue on a certain case, conclusions are inferred from the reasons.
For an argument to succeed in justifying its conclusion its reasons must be true
or otherwise acceptable and the inferences which are then drawn from those
reasons must be good ones.
1. If the worldÊs climate was getting warmer, we would find that some of the
ice at both the North and South Pole would be melting at an unusually high
rate. If the ice was melting, we would see its effect in the raising of the level
of the sea. There is evidence that this level is increasing, so the worldÊs
climate must be getting warmer. Do you think that this argument contains
an implicit assumption?
(a) If the building burned to the ground, there will be only a pile of ashes
and rubble. There is now only a pile of ashes and rubble here.
Therefore, the building has been burned to the ground.
Moore, B. N., & Parker, R. (2005). Critical thinking (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
INTRODUCTION
Regardless of what we do for a living or where we are, we spend most of our
waking hours constantly trying to solve problems. For many students, problem
solving is a procedure they carry out on a task assigned by a teacher. They view
the problem as something to be completed within a set time so as to avoid punitive
consequences. Unfortunately, in their daily lives, students, and people in general,
have a tendency to overanalyse every action or event deemed problematic. The
problems we face can be small or complex, but they need to be solved in a
Figure 4.1: How we view a problem is the key to determining its outcome
Source: http://beautybrainsnbeyond.blogspot.com/2010/05/thought-of- day_20.html
(c) Anything, matter, person, etc, that is difficult to deal with, solve or overcome
(Collins English Dictionary: Complete and Unabridged 6th Edition, 2003).
Figure 4.2: A negative approach to a problem: „If the problem is too big, just blame it on
someone else!‰
(b) A problem is the difference between your current state and your goal state.
(c) A problem results from the recognition of a present imperfection and the
belief in the possibility of a better future.
The definition that a problem is an opportunity for improvement will be the focus
of our discussion here. Thinking out of the box enables one to view a problem as
an opportunity ă a chance to open up new ways of looking at, and responding to,
the difficulties being faced. Seen from this perspective, problems are not
necessarily the result of external factors or to be perceived as negative or „bad‰
events. This shift in perspective creates a new viewpoint or awareness of the
problem. New opportunities for improvement will present themselves to you, and
as they do, they bring about new challenges that demand a solution from you.
ACTIVITY 4.1
„There is so far no limit to the rise in food and oil prices, a situation that
is leading many consumers and producers to a point where they are
carrying an unbearable burden.‰ (The Star, 23 June 2008)
Identify one consumer-related problem that can result from the situation
reported above. Can you approach this problem as an opportunity?
Explain your answer.
(iv) Evaluating the risks linked to arriving at the best solution; and
Step Description
Planning and preparing to Involves the conclusion of all efforts and thorough
implement the solution. planning that describes the sequence of actions
needed to fulfil the objective, timescale and
resources required at each stage.
Taking the appropriate Problems or potential problems have to be dealt
action and monitoring its with immediately in order to ensure that things
effect. run smoothly.
Reviewing the success of the This is important to estimate the efficacy of the
action. action in solving future similar problems and to
make sure that the problem has been solved.
In all the four stages discussed, we need to use our reasoning and thinking
skills. These will be discussed in later topics.
SELF-CHECK 4.1
1. Explain the four stages involved in problem solving.
Figure 4.4: Set yourself realistic goals; do not try to solve all problems and do not let
others set goals for you that you know you cannot meet
Robert Harris (1998), in the following excerpt, gives a very good example to
illustrate the need for a goal to identify whether a problem exists:
LetÊs say you have just brought a pizza home from the pizza parlour and it
is beginning to cool. If your ideal state is to eat very hot pizza, then you
have a problem ă you may define it as how to keep the pizza from cooling,
how to heat it back up or how to eat it quickly. On the other hand, if you
like moderately warm pizza, then you do not have a problem. Similarly, if
your friend comes over an hour later and you offer him a piece of leftover
pizza only to discover that your oven is on the blink, you have a problem:
how to heat up the pizza. But if your friend says, „I really like cold pizza
better than hot‰, you do not have a problem.
Source: http://www.virtualsalt.com/crebook3.htm
Your goals must be achievable within the boundaries of your capabilities and the
tools you possess. Take time to think about your goals and plan your strategy.
Remember, failing to plan is planning to fail.
Goals are never static. Your priorities will change over time, and so will your goals.
The changes may involve a major rethinking of your lifeÊs purpose, or they may
be small refinements to your holiday budget. Whatever the changes may be, it is
essential that you keep your problems and solutions in tandem with your goals.
Whenever we are faced with a problem, an effective solution to the problem can
be developed using the six steps, as shown in Figure 4.6.
Figure 4.6: The six steps in problem solving and decision making
These steps can each be broken down into smaller steps to better enable you to
carry out the problem-solving process. We will look further into each step in the
following subsections.
Obviously, the nature of the problem will determine how much time is spent on
problem exploration. Simple problems may not need extensive exploration while
complex problems may require extensive exploration. Compare, for example, the
amount of exploration needed to determine why a little bulb is not working in
your house and why a car is not working properly. Problem exploration may
involve some steps which include:
With this technique, the problem is broken down into its attributes,
components and general features, so that possible solutions can be
more readily apparent.
(ii) What are the assumptions made about the problem? Under what
circumstances would a solution work?
This step involves the conscious listing of all assumptions that can
be identified. The listing must be impartial, without prejudice or
judgement.
Discussion may help you find a solution from someone else who
has encountered a similar problem or has a different perspective.
ACTIVITY 4.2
Problems constrained by budgetary or legal realities are constantly
encountered by governments and large industries. Can you think of a
few examples from real life? Can you find one or two examples in the
newspapers?
(ii) We may reduce our expectation for practical reasons like the
constraints discussed above but we need not do this until we have
envisioned the ideal scenario.
(iii) Sometimes the ideal scenario, after discussion and analysis, may seem
more achievable than previously thought.
(i) In order for goals to be measured, they must be clear, definite and
precise. A list of such goals can be used to monitor the progress of
problem-solving attempts.
(ii) Setting up goals gives direction to problem-solving tasks and gives the
problem-solver an objective to aim for.
(iii) The goals must be realistic, otherwise achieving the goals will seem an
insurmountable task.
Generate as many ideas of all kinds as possible. This will give you a vast
pool of ideas from which you can choose, adapt or stimulate other ideas.
(c) Allow time for ideas to develop during various stages of idea generation.
Evaluation.
(i) Evaluate the ideas and possible solutions that you have collected so far.
(ii) Set up another possible solution that can be implemented („Plan B‰) in
case your main plan does not work.
(iii) Your evaluation will involve finding the solution that will be the most
effective (works best), efficient (costs the least, in terms of money, time,
etc), and has the fewest side effects.
From the solutions ranked near the top of your evaluation list,
choose one or more to try. (The solution chosen for implementation
is not always, or even necessarily, the very top-ranked one).
(ii) Allow others to see and criticise your selected solution and to suggest
improvements or alternatives.
Do not let criticisms affect your confidence in ideas you believe are
good, but also do not be blind to criticisms that legitimately point
out your weaknesses. Always be willing to incorporate new ideas.
(ii) Remember that the goal is to solve the problem, not to implement the
solution; donÊt expect that your solution will be exactly as you
originally proposed.
(ii) One of the most frequent failures of problem solving is the lack of
evaluation of the implemented solution. The solution may not have
worked or not worked completely or it may have caused other
problems in the process.
In general, RCA works on the principle that systems and events are interrelated.
According to this technique, a symptom can be traced back right to the initial
action that had actually triggered the cascade of events leading to the current
problem. The three basics types of causes that are usually looked at include:
(a) Physical causes ă tangible, material items that failed in certain ways.
RCA has been found to be effective in investigating the patterns of negative effects,
identifying hidden flaws in a particular system, and also uncovering specific
actions that have contributed to the problem. Thus RCA can be applied to
practically all types of problems as long as one is determined to go far in his or her
investigation with a good judgment and common sense. The steps involved in the
RCA process include:
(a) Defining the problem ă in this step you are to observe what is happening and
at the same time look out for specific symptoms.
(b) Collection of data ă this step is important to prove that the problem exists, or
that the problem has been there for a period of time and has created a
particular impact. In this step, assistance from individuals who understand
the situation and are most familiar with the problem will help you in tackling
the problem better. CATWOE is a useful tool that can be employed at this
stage in order for you to look at the problem from different perspectives
[the Customers, the people (Actors) who implement the solutions, the
Transformation process affected, the World view, the process Owner, and
Environmental constraints].
(c) Identification of possible causal factors ă this stage allows you to recognise
the sequence of events that led to the problem, the conditions that permitted
the problem to occur and the other problems that surrounded the occurrence
of the main problem. The most important fact is that one should always look
for as many causal factors as possible.
(d) Identification of the root cause(s) ă this step is carried out to find out the
reason behind the existence of the causal factor and the occurrence of the
problem.
You are encouraged to plan ahead to predict the effects of your solution in order
for potential failures to be spotted even before they occur using tools such as
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Impact Analysis and Kaizen.
4.6 CONSTRAINTS
According to Dörner & Wearing (1995) and Funke (1991) some of the constraints
faced in solving difficult problems include:
(a) Lack of clarity of the situation ă in this case, one may face difficulty in either
initiating or continuing in the problem solving.
(d) Dynamics ă problems that cannot be solved due the insufficient time frame
provided. In certain cases, the exact time required to solve the problem is
unpredictable.
Finally, we will explore the term solution again and relook at planning of the
solution.
Harris conveniently calls these the „stop it‰ and the „mop it‰ approaches
respectively. Each of these approaches has three basic forms.
(i) Preventing a problem from occurring (or recurring) in the first place is
probably the ideal solution.
(ii) This is often done by approaching any task with the desire for utmost
quality, regardless of cost or time.
(ii) We can lessen the impact of practically any problem by reducing its
size. A real-life example is the current approach to the flow of illegal
drugs into many countries. Most governments use reduction strategies
to approach the illegal drug problem. The flow of drugs cannot be
eliminated as long as demand continues, so law enforcement agencies
work to reduce as much as possible the routes of entry, the middlemen
dealing the drugs on the street and the number of end-users.
(i) In this form, the damage caused by the problem is repaired or treated.
(ii) Note, however, that by itself, a „treat it‰ solution is not going to be
nearly as effective as some form of „stop it‰ solution.
The best approach is, of course, the stop-it approach. However, this is not always
possible in all cases, and it may be that the only solution to a problem at hand is
the mop-it one. Nevertheless, an effective problem-solver will always consider
stop-it solutions before exploring mop-it alternatives. It is also important that
problems be solved by treating the root (or underlying) causes rather than merely
addressing the symptoms.
This works best where a team is concerned. Every team member should contribute
one or more suggestions in order for all ideas to be taken into account. This is
important because when all viewpoints are thoroughly considered by the team,
members have a sense of direct ownership in the decision making process.
Eventually, this can assist the team in coming up with a consensus later in the
decision making process.
(a) Defining four or five key causes of the problem, followed by identifying the
intervention needed to resolve them.
(b) There may be several alternatives, with the best one depending on the cost,
effectiveness and forces that favour or impede it.
(c) You can determine the best approach in the following manner:
(i) Write down clearly what you expect your results to be.
(iii) Follow the analysis process to resolve the most important causes of the
problem:
„External locus of control‰ refers to a person who believes that his problems are
caused and determined by external stimulus, which are beyond their own personal
control and hence there is nothing he or she can do to change a situation. This
mindset can be unhealthy in the context of positive thinking.
We should not succumb to defeat with the belief that forces outside of ourselves
affect our ability to succeed.
Problem Exploration;
Goal Establishment;
Idea Generation;
Idea Selection;
Implementation; and
Collection of data;
It is important to plan the solution for the problem before proceeding to the
actual process of solving it.
5. Problem solving centres on thinking about ideal states that one would like to
achieve. How is goal setting useful in enhancing the problem-solving
process?
(e) Implementation
7. What are the three types of causes that are usually looked at in the Root
Cause Analysis (RCA) technique?
10. Describe briefly how to use the SWOT Analysis approach in solution
planning.
Adair, J. (2010). Decision making and problem solving strategies: Learn key
problem solving strategies; Sharpen your creative thinking strategies; Make
effective decisions (2nd ed.). London: Kogan Page.
Bedell, J. R., & Lennox, S. S. (1997). Handbook for communication and problem
solving skills training: A cognitive-behavioural approach (1st ed.). Canada:
John Wiley and Sons.
Dörner, D., & Wearing, A. (1995). Complex problem solving: Toward a (computer-
simulated) theory. In Frensch, P. A., & Funke, J. (Eds.), Complex problem
solving: The European Perspective (pp. 65ă99). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates.
INTRODUCTION
Georgie (a two-year old) wants to throw rocks out of the kitchen window. The
lawnmower is outside. Dad says that Georgie canÊt throw rocks out of the window
because he might break the lawnmower with the rocks. Georgie says „IÊve got an
idea.‰ He goes outside, brings in some green peaches that he had been playing
with, and says: „They wonÊt break the lawnmower‰.
(Waters, 1989, p. 7)
(c) Self-regulation.
It is found that different aspects are more significant at different stages of life, as
summarised in Table 5.1.
Table 5.1: Significant Stage in Life for the Three Aspects in the Development of
Problem Solving
One of the most promising evidence for representation of goals in the first six
months of life is illustrated in the experiment carried out by Rovee-Collier (1987).
In her experiment (Figure 5.1), infants learned very quickly that the act of kicking
made the mobile (attached to their leg by a string) move in different ways. Various
ways of evaluating the infantsÊ thinking abilities included varying the
characteristics of the mobile as well as the setting in which the mobile was
presented, and the amount of time between the sessions.
The study carried out by Mast et al. (1980) revealed that infants as young as
three months maintain a representation of a reinforcement contingency for up to
24 hours, and at the same time become emotionally disturbed when they could
only obtain a poor estimation of their original goal. In a separate study, Tronick
(1989) reported that the behaviours of infants are a kind of problem solving
strategy, and that the degree to which they engage in them indicate how successful
they are likely to be. Case (1985) suggested that the ability to represent how an
action meets a goal affects attainment of novel strategies. Although when there is
a model to copy and the actions are within the infantsÊ range of tasks, infants are
able to use other individuals, especially their mothers, to help them as tools in
problem solving (Papousek & Papousek, 1987). This is in line with the findings of
Rogoff et al. (1992) where infants exhibited strategies to obtain the help of adults
in manipulating objects in ways that would have been impossible for the infants
themselves to do. Infants have the ability to use simple forms of means-end
analysis in the second half of the first year as reported by Wilats (1989).
Inhelder & Piaget (1958) employed the balance scale model as a means of
examining formal operation reasoning (Figure 5.2). One reason for the widespread
interest in balance scales is the simple, hierarchically related sequence of rules
through which children of different ages progress on the task (Siegler, 1976),
summarised in Table 5.2.
Figure 5.2: The balance scale ă the problem shown is a distance problem, with equal
numbers of weights placed at different distances from the fulcrum
Source: Inhelder & Piaget, 1958
Table 5.2: Rules Employed by Children at Different Ages on the Balancing of the Scale
Rule Description
No rule used The majority of the 3-year-olds do not employ any systematic rule; they
either guess or switch frequently among alternative approaches.
I A few 3-year-olds and more 4-year-olds employ a partially systematic
approach (Richard & Siegler, 1981).
More advanced 4-year-olds and a majority of 5-year-olds employ a
consistently systematic approach (Siegler, 1976).
II Most 8 or 9-year-old children employ more sophisticated rules that take
into account of the weight on each side as well as the distance from the
fulcrum (Siegler, 1976).
III An approach whereby only the distance is considered when the weight
on both the sides is equal.
IV An approach whereby understanding of the relative weight and distance
of both the weights from the fulcrum has been achieved.
(a) Alone;
He concluded that:
(a) In the absence of feedback, pairs of beginners do not usually move to a more
advanced level.
(b) In the absence of feedback, the only children who make progress are
beginners that are paired with relative experts.
(c) When one partner is more expert than the other one, the highest rule
achieved is that of the more advanced partner.
(Miller & Brownel, 1975; Mugny & Doise, 1978; Mackie, 1983; Russell et al.,
1990; Radziszewska, 1993).
A majority of the studies involving collaborative problem solving did not furnish
children with feedback on the correct answer. Generally, feedback provides a basis
for choosing among alternative perspectives and also provides an attractive
method for children to adopt an approach without seeming to „give in‰ to the child
or children who generated it. Ellis et al. (1993) worked on the beneficial effects of
collaboration in combination with feedback that stressed on childrenÊs
comparisons of the relative sizes of decimal fractions. These researchers observed
that:
(a) About 50% of the children who worked with a partner and obtained feedback
constantly performed the post-test correctly.
(b) Less than 25% of those who worked on their own and received feedback did
similarly well.
(c) None of the children (either working alone or with a partner) who did not
receive feedback fared well.
Thus, students who worked with a partner and received feedback, performed best.
This translates to the fact that feedback may be critical both for the generation of
good ideas and their adoption. Ellis et al. (1993) also reported that children who
worked with a partner who employed the correct rule on both occasions were
expected to adopt the correct rule on their own during the post-test as compared
to those with a partner who used the correct rule only at a later opportunity (67%
versus 15%). This is due to the fact that partners who employed the correct rules
on both instances exhibited higher convincing arguments for it; whereas children
who used the correct rule only during the later occasion and also debated in favour
of it, however appeared less expressive and convincing in motivating the less
expert partner to adopt it. This indicates that feedback is not compulsory for
beginners to adopt a new, superior approach to solving mathematical problems.
In addition, it also points out that either external evidence of the validity of the
better approach (provided by feedback) or convincing arguments (made by
children who employed the correct rule on both occasions) appear important for
good strategies to constantly win out.
ACTIVITY 5.1
As they come closer to completing their first year of life, children show the ability
to walk or crawl to rooms or places that they cannot see at the beginning of their
journey, in order to get hold of toys or things that they are not able to see at the
beginning (Benson et al., 1989). Subsequently, by 18 months, they start taking steps
that help them maintain representations that otherwise may become inaccessible.
Allowing toddlers to remember goal-directed actions modelled by adults or peers
is one part of how increasing representation skills contribute to development of
problem solving (Meltzoff, 1985; Hannah & Meltzoff, 1993). Furthermore,
increasingly specific and durable representations permit toddlers to take on the
path to specific goals within an activity, rather than focusing on the activity as a
whole. It was found that positive affective reactions such as smiles and abrupt
movement of hands and arms to accomplishment of the tasks increased with age.
It appears that part of development of problem solving in the range of one and
three years of age include representing specific goals more prominently in
memory, and following the goals more single-mindedly.
SELF-CHECK 5.1
In the experiment carried out by DeLoache (1987), the 2.5-year-olds
showed difficulties in translating between the model and the room. What
could be the source of young childrenÊs difficulty with the scale model?
Suggest other tools that may be easier to be used than the scale model as
a representation of another object.
Unlike the language, mental imagery and spatial representations that are acquired
in the first two years of the childÊs life, specialised representations are acquired
much later in life. In addition, the acquisition of specialised representations has a
tendency to be less universal and more variable in timing than acquisition of the
broadly used ones. Speech, mental imagery and spatial representations observed
in all children are the results of the interaction between biological maturation and
general experience. On the other hand, the ability of a child to learn how to write;
to draw maps and diagrams; to understand graphs and number lines; to use
conventional measurement devices; and to perform controlled scientific
experiments are dependent upon the childÊs particular experiences.
Maps are one important specialised and often used representation. The functions
of maps include:
SELF-CHECK 5.2
According to Brown et al. (1989), the main difference between school and „real-
world‰ problems is the frequent difficulty in school in identifying what exactly the
problem is. Children often reinterpret problems in ways that make sense to them
rather than solving the problem as originally presented. When children were
presented with a hypothesis that seemed intuitively unlikely, they circumvented
the suggestion that they test the hypothesis and instead produced a more
intuitively likely hypothesis and concentrated on collecting confirmatory evidence
for it. On the other hand, adults tested the hypothesis that was suggested,
regardless of its initial plausibility, and usually discovered that the seemingly
unlikely hypothesis was in actual fact correct. Hence, part of development of
problem solving among older children involves accepting goals set by the social
environment when the task calls for it (Klahr et al., 1993).
ACTIVITY 5.2
5.1.3 Self-regulation
The ability of children in effectively regulating their thinking activities becomes
increasingly central to their problem solving as they attain both increasing
numbers of strategies and representational capacities. One of the key self-
regulatory processes is planning, as it can be employed in many different
circumstances to prevent potentially costly errors. The Tower of Hanoi puzzle was
invented by the French mathematician Edouard Lucas in 1883 where a child is
presented with a tower of five disks, initially stacked in increasing size on one of
three pegs. The main objective is to transfer the entire tower to one of the other
pegs (the rightmost one in Figure 5.4), moving only one disk at a time, never a
larger one onto a smaller and using the minimum number of steps as possible.
Knowing which first move is correct, nevertheless, demands working through the
problem from starting to the end. Hence, solving such a problem in a continuous
manner requires planning the entire sequence of events before carrying out any of
them.
Most of the problem solving activities carried out by children in their day-to-day
lives take place with adults, rather than on their own. In these circumstances,
adults frequently plan the activities in such a way that remove the burden of
planning from the children, thus benefiting them. The term used to describe what
has been carried out by an adult to facilitate problem solving among children is
called „scaffolding‰ which involves the utilisation of specific strategies focused at
simultaneously allowing children to participate, maintaining their interest and at
the same time increasing their competence. (Wood et al., 1976). In general, adults
usually carry out the most crucial and difficult part of the tasks such as dividing
the tasks into sub-goals, coming up with the plans for achieving them and keeping
track of the success of different strategies whereas children are allowed to carry
out the parts of the task they can complete successfully (Wertsch, 1978). As the
child exhibits increasing skill on the particular task, the adult slowly lets go until
the child is carrying out the task independently both the actions and the self-
regulatory aspects of the task. Studies carried out have indicated that scaffolding
is both an all-encompassing activity in the daily environment and that it assists
children to learn planning and other self-regulative skills. Adults frequently
provide preschoolers with scaffolded instruction and modify the type of
instruction given according to the competence of the learner (Wertsch et al., 1980;
Rogoff et al., 1984; Gauvain, 1992). Moss (1992) found that parents, particularly
mothers, provide scaffolding where he observed three strategies:
(a) A mother instructs the child with strategies it would not otherwise know and
not able to actually manage unaided for some time.
(b) A mother encourages the child to keep using useful strategies that the child
has demonstrated.
(c) A mother persuades the child to not implement strategies they consider
developmentally immature.
In addition, Conner et al. (1997) found that fathers are as good as mothers at
scaffolding. They also found that children that have received scaffolding show
longer-term improvements in skills as well as immediate improvements.
SELF-CHECK 5.3
When faced with several strategies in solving a problem, children use conscious,
explicit, metacognitive knowledge about problems they are presented, available
strategies and their own cognitive capacities (Flavell& Wellman, 1977). Generally,
strategies that worked in the past are also selected. As children grow up, they
become increasingly skilled at monitoring their plans and adjusting them
according to the circumstances (Gardner & Rogoff, 1990). In contrast, younger
children do not modify their plans according to the different instructions.
However, several researchers have reported the failure of school age children to
plan various tasks such as writing (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1987) route planning
(Gauvain & Rogoff, 1989), instructing other children (Ellis & Rogoff, 1986) and
referential communication (Cosgrove & Patterson, 1977). Planning has both its
advantages and disadvantages, as shown Table 5.3.
Advantages Disadvantages
Making accurate and direct solutions Time consuming and tedious.
possible.
Allows problem to be solved in a Does not directly bring goal attainment.
systematic manner.
Interaction with adults is one of the main factors that results in planning among
children. Hudson & Fivush (1991) found that children were more likely to plan
when they worked together with an adult as compared to when they worked on
their own. In addition, the experience of planning with adults also results in
more sophisticated planning when they later solve problems by themselves
(Radziszewska & Rogoff, 1988; Gauvain, 1992). On the other hand, experience with
peers and older children was found to be not as effective as experience with adults.
This may be due to the fact that adults discuss the strategies with the younger
children than peers, reminding them frequently about the goals of the task and
monitoring their progress more closely. Furthermore, adults are more sensitive in
modifying the type of help they provide according to the requirement of the child.
(Rogoff et al., 1984; Gauvain, 1992).
Blaye et al. (1991) reported that children working in pairs fared better in solving
problems as compared to peers who worked on their own, and performed better
on an individual post-test as well. This is because when children worked in pairs,
they realise the importance of dividing the problem into sub-goals, thus
channelling their thinking activity in fruitful directions. Nevertheless, children
below schooling age rarely collaborated successfully due to their difficulty in
thinking analytically about the other personÊs reasoning (Azmitia & Perlmutter,
1989; Perlmutter et al., 1989).
SELF-CHECK 5.4
„The effects of collaboration between young children who are beginners
and older children who are more expert tend to benefit the beginners less
than when they solved the problem with adults.‰ Discuss the above
statement.
SELF-CHECK 5.5
Most of the studies involving collaborative problem solving have not furnished
children with feedback on the correct answers.
The progress in problem solving among children after the first year arises from
the improved ability to internally represent goals, actions, objects and events.
Unlike the language, mental imagery and spatial representations that are
acquired in the first two years of the childrenÊs life, specialised representations
are acquired much later in life.
The main difference between school and „real-world‰ problems is the frequent
difficulty in school in identifying what exactly the problem is.
2. Problem-solving strategies exist since birth. Explain this statement using the
Rovee-Collier experiment. In your explanation, illustrate what is meant by
representational skills.
3. The Tower of Hanoi design using a single peg and three pegs is used to create
toys for children of different age groups. Discuss the respective skill
development and the suitable age group for both toys.
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Child Psychology, 49: 58ă78.
Siegler, R. S., & Jenkins, E. A. (1989). How children discover new strategies.
Hilsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Sternberg, R. J. (1998). Thinking and problem solving (2nd ed.). London, UK:
Elsevier.
Wellman, H. M. (1990). The childÊs theory of mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Wertsch, J. V., Mc Namee, G. D., McLane, J. B., & Budwig, N. A. (1980). The adult-
child dyad as a problem-solving system. Child Development, 51: 1215ă1221.
INTRODUCTION
In Topic 4, we have seen two different guidelines in solving a problem (refer sub-
topic 4.4). These guidelines are based on existing concepts. We will explore other
forms of conceptualisation before looking at a number of strategies in problem
solving. These strategies are meant for the most important step in the problem-
solving process; and concerns your action plan. This is an interesting topic that can
be very useful in your personal life as well.
Bransford and Stein (1984) proposed another conceptualisation that is based on the
acronym below:
ACTIVITY 6.1
Make an Internet search and briefly explain George PólyaÊs list of mental
operations involved in problem solving called „PUPILS‰.
ACTIVITY 6.2
There are several ways to do problem decompositions, the most well-
known probably being recursive decomposition, data decomposition,
functional decomposition, exploratory decomposition and speculative
decomposition. Carry out an Internet search and briefly explain the
various strategies.
(b) Work out the journey backwards, from point B to A (as illustrated in
Figure 6.3).
In addition, one can work backwards not only from the final goal but also from an
intermediate goal state, especially in circumstances where there is a way to identify
these intermediate states.
SELF-CHECK 6.1
Joe forgot to check how much money he began the day with. During the
day, he spent $8.00 on breakfast, withdrew $40.00 from the ATM, got his
dry cleaning for $12.00, and bought 5 shirts for $22.00 a piece (plus 8%
sales tax). At the end of the day, he had $100.00, how much did he start
the day with? Use the working backwards strategy to solve this problem.
SELF-CHECK 6.2
You are required to use the hill climbing strategy in the river crossing
problem. There are a number of predators and prey on one side of the
river and there is a boat with a limited capacity. The goal state is to have
everyone on the opposite side of the river. Explain how you will employ
this strategy. You must be able to identify the initial state, the goal and
the fact that the boat used has a limited capacity for transporting
individuals. Will the „downhill‰ step be necessary in solving this
problem?
(a) By taking a step that will cause the current state to be as similar to the goal;
or
(b) By working backward where one will bring the goal closer to the current
state.
One can be stranded if one sticks too obsessively to the rule of not taking a step
that decreases the disparity between the current state and the goal. According to
Anderson (1993), means-end analysis is a natural component of the thinking
machinery for both human beings as well as primates. Means-end analysis is vital
to solve daily problems such as getting the right train connection. Basically, first of
all, you have to figure out where you catch the first train and where you want to
arrive. Then you have to look for possible changes just in case you do not get a
direct connection. Finally, you have to figure out what are the most suitable times
of departure and arrival, on which platforms you leave and arrive and make it all
fit together.
ACTIVITY 6.3
Carry out a search in the Internet on the ability of infants to employ
simple forms of means-ends analysis in the second half of the first year.
Briefly explain this phenomenon.
This strategy is usually used by experts and not beginners who are more inclined
to employ strategies such as means-end analysis and working backwards (Larkin
et al., 1980a, 1980b). This is due to the fact that experts have the ability to categorise
problems in terms of basic principles and their knowledge of strategies that work
for specific problem types that makes this possible. However, when individuals
were provided with more practice with problems of a particular type, they were
inclined to change spontaneously from a means-end strategy that they were using
to the forward-chaining strategy.
Six people are in an elevator. Can you demonstrate that it must be the case that
either at least three of them are mutual acquaintances or at least three are
complete strangers to one another?
[Adapted from: Poundstone (1990)]
Poundstone uses a graphical analogue (Figure 6.6) to solve the above problem that
may look logically difficult at a first glance. According to his analogy, let the six
people in the elevator be represented by six different dots on a piece of paper. These
dots can be located in any fashion, except that no three of them should be on the
same line. Allow a solid line between any two dots to symbolise acquaintance
between the people represented by those dots, and let a dashed line indicate that the
individuals are strangers. Using this system, a solid triangle represents three mutual
acquaintances whereas a dashed triangle symbolises a trio of strangers. The main
question at this instance is, using either a solid or dashed line between any given
pairs of dots, is it possible to connect every dot with every other dot in such a fashion
that no solid triangles and no dashed triangles appear in the result? Basically, this
particular problem is indeed similar to the elevator problem and that the solution to
one will automatically reveal the solution to the other.
Thus, it can be clearly observed that the dot-connecting problem is much easier to
solve than the elevator problem, and this is the main principal of this strategy
where the former is a helpful analogue of the latter. The main disadvantage in
using this strategy lies in the fact that identification of an analogue to the problem
one wishes to solve in certain cases may seem to be analogous in the correct way(s)
but in actual fact it is not.
SELF-CHECK 6.3
SELF-CHECK 6.4
The comparison of the two lever situations shown in Figure 6.7 explains this point.
Generally, students based on their intuition, very well know that it will be much
simpler to lift the load in Case A as compared to Case B. Hence, it can be concluded
that as the distance from the load to the fulcrum decreases, the force required to
carry the load will also decrease.
It is believed that the extreme case can furnish one of the „data points‰ required to
deduce the more general direction of change relation. This function should be
more useful in mastering the basic ideas in science, in which such relations are
often present. In addition, it can be debated that such relations also give an
intuitive foundation for the understanding of mathematical relations in science.
ACTIVITY 6.4
Dave goes to a museum and meets a lovely lady. Wasting no time, Dave
asks the lady for her phone number. He copies the number down. But on
the walk home, the paper flies from DaveÊs pocket, blowing the phone
number, along with his hopes, into the East River. Dave ponders his
situation on the train ride home and manages to remember all seven
digits (4, 3, 7, 8, 2, 6, 5) of the womanÊs phone number. However, he does
not remember the sequence of the numbers. Dave is determined to sit in
front of the phone all night if necessary to contact this lovely lady. How
many telephone numbers must Dave dial?
Besides the strategies presented in this topic, there are various other strategies that
have been developed for problem solving. However, the ones mentioned here are
among those that have received the most amount of attention. Various writers
have emphasised on the importance of a particular strategy but none of them have
proposed that one specific strategy is sufficient to ensure successful problem
solving. In certain cases, it would be more beneficial if one could employ a
combination of strategies in problem solving. The following are examples of
combinations that complement one another:
SELF-CHECK 6.5
4. Identify the two main actions that can be taken to reduce the
distance between the current state and goal in the means-end
analysis method.
The more widely applicable a particular strategy, the less field dependent the
strategy is.
Working backwards involves solving a problem from the goal to the initial
state.
(a) Decomposition
Bransford, J. D., & Stein, B. S. (1984). The ideal problem solver: A guider for
improving thinking, learning and creativity. New York: Freeman.
Larkin, J. H., McDermott, J., Simon, D. P., & Simon, H. A. (1980a). Expert and
novice performance in solving physics problems. Science, 208: 1335ă1342.
Larkin, J. H., McDermott, J., Simon, D. P., & Simon, H. A. (1980b). Modes of
competence in solving physics problems. Cognitive Science, 4: 317ă345.
Mason, J., Burton, L., & Stacey, K. (1985). Thinking mathematically. Menlo Park,
CA: Addison-Wesley Publishers.
Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)
TOPIC 6 PROBLEM-SOLVING STRATEGIES 129
Newell, A., & Simon, H. A. (1972). Human problem solving. Eaglewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice hall.
Pólya, G. (1957). How to solve it: A new aspect of mathematical method. Garden
City, NY: Doubleday.
Zietsman, A., & Clement, J. (1997). The role of extreme case reasoning in
instruction for conceptual change. The Journal of the Learning Sciences 6(1):
61ă89. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
INTRODUCTION
In this section, we will look at a set of tools often used to aid the process of problem
solving. These tools will help you understand complicated and difficult situations.
Without these tools, some problems might seem overwhelming and complex. If
used properly, these tools can help to break down problems into manageable
components and aid in the development of suitable solutions. We will start with
the simplest and probably most common tool used which is brainstorming, and
gradually move on to more complex tools such as benchmarking, cause and effect
diagrams, flow charts, SWOT analysis and prioritisation matrix.
7.1 BRAINSTORMING
(a) What is Brainstorming?
Brainstorming is a lively technique that helps a group to generate as many
ideas as possible in a short time. We actually use brainstorming in an
informal manner in many situations in our everyday life. LetÊs say you are
with a group of friends and are trying to decide where to go for a meal. You
might engage in a very rudimentary form of brainstorming whereby
everyone gives suggestions of where to eat and the one most of you agree
upon is chosen.
(i) Define and agree on the objective. Explain to the members of the team
what the purpose of the session is.
(ii) Explain the method to be employed. Tell the team members that you
are open to any ideas and thoughts so that the team can come up with
many creative ideas.
(iii) Allow time to reflect on the purpose of the session. Ask the team
members to think about the proposed objective or topic in a given time
frame.
(iv) Generate ideas. This is the brainstorming portion of the session. The
team members shall pitch in ideas and possible solutions while you jot
down all of them on a flip chart.
(v) Discuss the ideas. Once the list is completed, confer with your team to:
Remove the ideas that are totally out from the topic.
(vi) Come to a consensus. As you discuss with others in the team, there will
be differing opinions about ideas and issues raised. Nevertheless, make
sure that the team agrees on what ideas are to be accepted from the
brainstorming session. Allow yourselves 5-15 minutes. Finally, the idea
that most of you agree on will be the best solution to your problem.
(v) The session should be recorded for subsequent evaluation. This can be
done by taking notes but would ideally involve audio or visual
recordings to truly capture the creative atmosphere and help point out
the most creative individuals.
(ii) In contrast, group brainstorming may generate fewer ideas but tends
to develop ideas in more depth as various levels of creativity and
knowledge among the group members tend to allow more exploration
of any ideas. One problem with group brainstorming is that highly
creative but quiet or shy individuals tend to under-contribute.
ACTIVITY 7.1
In brainstorming sessions, there is always a tendency to dismiss
seemingly „poor‰ ideas, even though there may be a conscious attempt
not to do so.
Think of rules that you can implement to discourage this from happening
during brainstorming sessions (e.g. idea-stoppers must stay back to clean
up the meeting room). You may even want to brainstorm for ideas on
this!
7.2 BENCHMARKING
(a) What is It?
Benchmarking is the process of measuring and comparing an organisationÊs
internal processes with those of another organisation that has outstanding
practices in order to study ways to improve those processes. It is a technique
used to develop new ideas for improvement by identifying, understanding,
and adapting the selected processes.
(v) Decide a meeting, visit the benchmark organisation and gather the
answers to your questions.
(vii) Analyse the differences in processes between your organisation and the
benchmark organisation.
(viii) Present the results to the team, set new targets and use the results in
the process of improvements.
Figure 7.2: An example of a complex fishbone diagram. Note the number of causes or
factors that can be included in such a diagram and how the diagram can help in
identifying the cause of a problem
SELF-CHECK 7.1
Problem: More schoolchildren are patronising cybercafés after school.
Use the fishbone diagram to identify the root causes of the problem. In
Figure 7.2, the causal factors are categorised under the 4 MÊs (Manpower,
Machines, Methods, Materials). Other major categories typically used
are:
You may use one of the four categories above, combine them in any
fashion or make up your own. The categories are not cast in stone; they
are to help you organise your ideas.
(ii) Three main symbols are used in drawing flowcharts, namely, elongated
circles that are used to represent the start or end of a process; rectangles
that show instructions or actions; and diamonds that represent
decisions to be made (see Figures 7.3 and 7.4).
(iii) Each of these symbols is labelled to show what it represents and all are
connected to one another by arrows to show the progression of a
process.
(i) Begin by listing all the tasks associated with the process you are
examining;
(ii) Draw and label the START of the flowchart (an elongated circle shape);
(iv) Continue making the flowchart until you reach the end. Label the last
task END (an elongated circle shape as used for the start); and
(v) Try your best to fit every process on only ONE piece of paper. If your
process is too complicated for this, consider revising it. However, if the
flowchart must continue beyond one sheet of paper, use symbols
known as connectors in the form of numbered circles to connect
separate flowcharts.
Figure 7.4: A simple flow chart illustrating a process and identifying how it proceeds.
Note the use of the shapes
SELF-CHECK 7.2
Process: How to make three different cups of coffee: (i) With no milk or
sugar (ii) With milk and sugar (iii) With milk but no sugar.
SWOT analysis enables you to uncover opportunities that you may have
been unaware of and helps you to prepare to face any threats or dangers that
may lie ahead.
SWOT analysis can be used in many different contexts but is most effective
when used as a tool in a situation where there is competition from others.
This includes not only the business environment but also activities such as
sports (especially team sports like football). See Figure 7.5 for further
understanding about SWOT analysis.
Figure 7.5: Illustration of SWOT analysis, leading to a full analysis of the entire situation
(ii) External Analysis: From the main points in the environmental analysis,
identify the opportunities and threats open to your organisation.
Additional information may be obtained from your users or customers
by means of a survey or by using a tally sheet.
(iv) With the information gathered in the first two steps, enter the data into
a table.
ACTIVITY 7.2
Find out more about SWOT analysis at the following website and discuss
with your coursemates:
http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/swot/
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm
(ii) In the first column, write down the problems that were mentioned in
the brainstorming session.
(iv) You can develop any criterion you feel is vital for your problem. Other
criteria often used include cost, value, safety, timing and duration.
(v) Once you have completed defining the criteria, allow for a vote where
every individual participating in the development of a solution gets to
vote (usually three times) for each criterion. Totalling these votes
allows you to prioritise your problem.
Total
Problems Frequency Importance Feasibility
Points
1. No appointments for the 5 0 0 5
afternoon
2. Delays in registration 6 1 5 12
3. Incomplete laboratory analysis 9 11 6 26
4. Insufficient care in dentistry 10 12 8 30
5. Not enough doctors 6 0 5 11
6. Not enough materials for the lab 3 0 0 3
7. Broken down ambulance 0 3 0 3
8. Segregation of patients 7 12 11 30
9. Long waiting time 7 14 15 36
10. Disrespect of patients 4 6 10 20
ACTIVITY 7.3
Feel free to explore the Web for other problem-solving tools. Some interesting tools
that you might want to look up include:
(a) If the problem you are trying to solve has already been solved by others, by
all means learn that solution first, even if you intend to improve on it.
Ć Problem-solving tools range from simple commonly used techniques like flow
diagrams to specific techniques like SWOT analysis.
Ć These tools are used to conduct a rigorous analysis of problems to help you
look at as many factors as possible in a structured and methodical way.
Ć Problem-solving tools can be divided into two categories. The first set
comprises general tools that can be used to resolve any situation. These
include: brainstorming; benchmarking; cause and effect diagrams; and flow
charts.
Ć The second set of tools is applied to specific situations. These include: SWOT
analysis; forecasting with spreadsheets; and risk analysis.
Ć Cause and Effect Diagrams help you to think through the causes of a problem
thoroughly. This approach combines brainstorming with the use of a concept
map. Cause and Effect Diagrams are also called Fishbone Diagrams and
Ishikawa Diagrams.
Ć Flow charts are diagrams showing how steps in a process fit together. This
makes them useful tools for communicating how processes work and for
clearly documenting how a particular job is done.
Ć A Prioritisation Matrix is a useful technique you can use with your team
members to achieve consensus about an issue. The Matrix helps you to rank
problems or issues (usually generated through brainstorming) by a particular
criterion that is important to you.
1. Problem-solving tools can be divided into two categories. What are these
categories? Give some examples of tools in each category.
2. Before you can solve a problem and before you can select the most suitable
tool to solve the problem, you need to plan the solution. Why is it important
to plan the problem-solving process?
5. Cause and Effect Diagrams help you to think through the causes of a problem
thoroughly. This approach combines brainstorming with the use of a concept
map. Their major benefit is that they push you to consider all possible causes
of the problem, rather than just the ones that are most obvious. These are
called Fishbone Diagrams and Ishikawa Diagrams. How are these diagrams
constructed? Briefly describe the steps involved and draw a diagram to
depict it.
6. What are flow charts? Can you develop a simple flow chart to show any basic
process of your choice?
8. A Prioritisation Matrix is a useful technique you can use with your team
members to achieve consensus on an issue. How does it work in prioritising
issues that need to be addressed?
INTRODUCTION
„Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to
decide.‰
(Napoleon)
Good decision making is an essential skill for personal and career success and is
also particularly useful for effective leadership. We are required to make decisions
daily and if we can learn to make timely and well-considered decisions, then we
can often lead ourselves or our team to success. However, if we make poor
decisions, we inevitably risk failure.
You will also be introduced to the concept of decision stream, as well as the role of
risk. Our discussion will conclude in Topic 10 where you will be introduced to
some decision-making tools.
You will notice that these definitions share in common the finality of the decision
event. Decisions are often made at the culmination of debates, events, contests and
so on. In our case, decisions are made at the end of the problem-solving cycle.
Decision making can thus be regarded as a problem-solving activity which is
terminated when a satisfactory solution is found.
With the above in mind, two standard definitions of decision making that can be
accepted are as follows:
(a) Decisions „whether‰ are basic: yes/no, either/or and neither/nor decisions
that must be made when we come to the selection between two alternatives.
This includes basic decisions we make daily such as, „Should I go to the
movies?‰ and „Should I buy a car?‰
(b) Decisions „which‰ are decisions involving a choice of one or more options
from a selection of possibilities.
ACTIVITY 8.1
You are the chief executive of a large pharmaceutical company. You have
invested RM100 million of the companyÊs money in a research project to
develop an anti-HIV vaccine. When the project is 90% completed, another
firm starts marketing the very same type of vaccine that your company
is developing. Furthermore, your competitorÊs vaccine is more effective
and less expensive than the one being developed by your company.
Biases also influence our ability to make decisions. These biases constantly
contribute to our decision-making processes and often distort our decision-making
and judgemental processes. Biases can lead to falsified perceptions and
judgements which can seriously undermine the effectiveness of sound decision
making.
Behaviourist Isabel Briggs Myers cites some of the more common sources of bias
in our decision-making processes:
(a) Selective search for evidence: Tendency to gather facts that support certain
conclusions.
(b) Premature termination of search for evidence: Tendency to accept the first
alternative.
(f) Repetition bias: Bias to believe information that we hear most often.
Now let us look at theories where decision making is affected by our thinking
processes:
(b) Bias Blind Spot: We do not compensate enough for our own bias whereby
we consider ourselves as being rather unbiased compared to others.
(f) Information Bias: Searching for facts even when they are irrelevant and
redundant when making decision.
ACTIVITY 8.2
1. The process of deciding which candidate to vote for in an election
is never free of bias. Consider the results of the 2013 General
Elections. Discuss the likely sources of voter bias and how such bias
has influenced voting decisions.
Figure 8.1: The Four Quadrant Model of the Brain, also called Ned HerrmannÊs Whole
Brain Model
Adapted from: Models of the Brain: Theories of Brain Organisation by Charles Cave
(a) A person using the analytical quadrant A would think: „I want this computer
because for $2,000, I can get a 3 GHz processor, 10/100 Ethernet, 4 GB of
RAM, 80 GB hard drive, 2 GB of DDR2 memory, rewritable DVD drive and
a Vista operating system.‰
(b) A person using the organised quadrant B would think: „I want this computer
because it was voted best value by Consumer Reports; it has a three-year
limited warranty and it has lifetime technical support.‰
(c) A person using the emotional quadrant C would think: „I want this
computer because I like the colour. I also want to buy this because the
salesman was so nice and said I could always call him if I had a problem.‰
(d) A person using the conceptual quadrant D would think: „I want this
computer because I love this new design and the fact that the speakers
simulate holophonic sound which means I can meditate listening to my
meditation CDs without having to put on headphones.‰
The HBDI has proven quite useful in corporate business culture, fostering
communication between people with different mental preferences. When these
differences in workers are brought together, misunderstandings are decreased and
teamwork is enhanced. A synergy takes place and a much fuller potential in the
workplace is realised.
ACTIVITY 8.3
Suppose you want to buy a new car. List your reasons for choosing that
particular car, and not some other car. Based on the reasons for your
decision, identify your thinking type according to the HBDI model.
Though these mechanisms for making decisions are effective, they do not allow us
to make optimal decisions and during the worst of times can result in us making a
very bad decision. As much as possible, a proper decision-making process should
be followed whenever possible.
ACTIVITY 8.4
Consider your decision to take the course you are now studying. List the
factors that influenced your decision. If you were given the chance to do
it all over again, write down the steps you would now take to arrive at
your decision this time. See if both decisions are the same.
This cycle comprises a sequence of steps that must be followed to produce well-
made and effective decisions (Figure 8.2).
The steps of the Evidence-driven Decision-making Cycle can be grouped into three
main stages. We will now explore these stages in brief by looking at the steps
inherent in every stage.
(i) Assembly: This is the process of getting together all the data and
evidence that you will use in the decision-making process.
(ii) Analysis: This is the processing of the data and information collected
above to search for trends and to answer questions you may have set.
(iii) Interpret: This is the gathering of answers from the analysis above.
What does your data tell you? What conclusions can you make? What
action can you propose based on the data you have gathered? At this
stage, it is vital to critically examine the information available to ensure
you reach accurate and reliable conclusions.
(ii) Evaluate: This stage allows you to assess how good the decisions you
made were and whether the original trigger was addressed.
(iii) Reflect: This is the final step of the process and involves assessment of
errors, lessons learnt and future improvements. Reflection allows for
constant improvement of any process for better results if the same
situation is encountered in the future.
The process can be seen as a cycle as illustrated in Figures 8.3 and 8.4. Note that in
Figure 8.4, the trigger box and the subsequent steps including the exploration and
collection of data and the subsequent analysis, lead to intervention and
culmination in evaluation and reflection.
ACTIVITY 8.5
Find out more on the Internet about Evidence-Driven Decision Making
and discuss it with your coursemates.
SELF-CHECK 8.1
1. Can you give two standard definitions of decision making?
2. There are a few basic kinds of decisions ă decisions whether,
decisions which and contingent decisions. Differentiate between
the three kinds of decisions.
3. „Decision making is a recursive process.‰ What do you understand
by this statement?
4. Give some examples of biases that can influence our decision-
making processes.
5. List the four quadrants of the brain and briefly explain the thinking
characteristics of each quadrant. Use examples to help you illustrate
this. What kind of thinking style do you possess?
6. How do you make decisions in everyday life? Are your everyday
decisions generally effective or do you feel there is room for
improvement?
7. What is the Evidence-Driven Decision-Making Cycle? Briefly explain
the steps involved in this cycle. Make up an imaginary example,
possibly from your own real-life experience, where the evidence-
driven decision-making cycle was or could have been used for
effective decision making.
(a) A delay in the decision-making process due to the time spent gathering
information or analysing excessive information;
(b) Information overload, resulting in the inability to manage and process the
information, and causing the decision-making process to be ineffective or
flawed;
(d) Selective use of information due to inability to objectively approach too much
information; and
(e) Decision fatigue or decision paralysis following too many decisions and too
many choices, resulting in rushed and poorly made decisions.
(c) Menu 3 gives 10 items, giving the item names and ingredients; and
(d) Menu 4 includes 20 items, giving item names, ingredients, calorific counts,
recipes, time taken to cook, weight, colour, etc.
I think most of us would find Menu 1 extremely easy to use and Menu 4 absolutely
impossible to use. WouldnÊt you agree?
The third point is particularly important to consider when you are making
decisions that affect a lot of people. For a decision to be implemented, it is vital
that those who implement it or those on whom it will affect, accept the decision
both on an emotional and an intellectual level. A decision that is excellent on paper
may be completely impractical for a number of social reasons. It is because of this
reason that governments often make decisions that appear to be less than perfect
when viewed from our individual perspectives. Remember, a government often
has to please millions of people and what may appear to be obvious and
straightforward to them may not always be acceptable to all.
8.11 RISK
Risk is an important component of decision making because the outcome of a
decision inevitably involves some uncertainty. Do not seek to completely avoid
risk when making your decisions because if you do, you are likely to eliminate any
radical but potentially excellent options. Rather, aim to minimise risk as much as
possible while continuing to make decisions based on correct and logical steps.
Generally, before you jump into a dangerous and reckless situation, there are a few
points to remember regarding risk-taking:
(a) Decide whether the risk is necessary or desirable.
(b) Risk for the right reasons and when you are calm and thoughtful.
(c) Have a goal.
(d) Determine the possible loss as well as the gain.
(e) When possible, take one risk at a time.
(f) Use imaging or role-playing to work through the various possibilities.
(g) Use a plan.
(h) Act decisively.
(i) Do not expect complete success.
To minimise risk, there are a few risk management strategies to consider:
(a) Dismiss extremely remote or unrealistic possibilities.
(b) As far as possible, avoid catastrophes.
(c) Recognise the tradeoffs.
(d) Maximise expected values.
ACTIVITY 8.6
Most people have insurance. Insurance is a form of risk transfer, whereby
the insured transfers the risk of a contingent loss to the insurer for a
premium.
Does having insurance mitigate risk? How does being insured for a
particular risk affect decision making associated with that risk? Discuss.
Ć There are three basic kinds of decisions ă decisions whether, decisions which
and contingent decisions.
Ć Biases constantly creep into our decision-making processes. Some of the more
common sources of bias in our decision-making processes include selective
search for evidence, premature termination of search for evidence, inertia,
recency and repetition bias.
Ć Some cognitive theorists believe that the human brain is divided into four
thinking-style quadrants ă Analytical/Logical (Upper Left); Organisational
(Lower Left); Emotional/Interpersonal (Lower Right); and Conceptual/
Imaginative (Upper Right). Learning which quadrant is dominant in your
brain is vital to the decision-making process.
Ć Many decision makers tend to seek more information than required to make a
good decision. This leads to a delay in decision making.
Ć All decisions involve a certain amount of risk. This risk must be considered
and managed whenever possible.
Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)
TOPIC 8 DECISION MAKING 165
2. There are a few kinds of decisions ă decisions whether, decisions which, and
contingent decisions. Can you differentiate among these?
5. What are the four quadrants of the brain and what thinking characteristics
does a person dominated by any one of these quadrants possess?
7. „Decisions are actually made in the context of other decisions.‰ What does
this statement mean to you?
9. Every decision involves an element of risk. What are some of the points to
consider before jumping into a dangerous and reckless situation?
Bellamy, L., Evans, D. L., Linder, D. E., McNeill, B. W., & Raupp, G. (1994).
Team training workbook. Arizona State University. Retrieved from
http://www.eas.asu.edu/~asufc/teaminginfo/teamwkbk. pdf.
Beyth-Marom, R., Fischhoff, B., Jacobs-Quadrel, M., & Furby, L. (1991). Teaching
decision making to adolescents: A critical review. In J. Baron, & R. V. Brown
(Eds.), Teaching Decision Making to Adolescents, (pp. 19ă60). Hillsdale, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Swinton, L. (n.a.). Kurt LewinÊs force field analysis: Decision making made easy.
Retrieved from http://trans4mind.com/counterpoint/swinton4.html
Von Winterfeldt, D., & Edwards, W. (1986). Decision analysis and behavioral
research. New York: Cambridge University Press.
INTRODUCTION
„I donÊt need more decisions! I need more men!‰
(Unnamed General at the siege of Stalingrad during World War II)
In the previous topic, we introduced the decision-making process and the different
kinds of decisions we have to make daily. We then explored how our thinking
styles, based on the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument, affect our decision-
making process. We discussed the Evidence-driven Decision Making Cycle that
can be a helping tool in making sound and effective decisions. We concluded by
discussing the qualities of a good decision.
This topic will focus on how to make that final decision through some approaches
and strategies. We will then compare the processes of individual and group
decision making and conclude by introducing a number of decision-making tools
that are routinely used in business and political decision making.
In our own personal lives, we will most often be the ones to make the final decision
about the issues and choices that we face. In teams, organisations or businesses
where there are several individuals involved in day-to-day operations, decision
making can be done at either one of the two following levels:
(a) Authoritarian
In authoritarian decision making, the leader or authority figure makes the
final decision based on his or her judgement or after discussion with his
colleagues and co-workers. The leader must then explain the decision to the
rest of the team involved and see it through from acceptance to
implementation and evaluation.
(b) Group
In group decision making, several people constituting a group share their
input in making the final decision. They can reach this decision by
exchanging ideas and analyses and eventually, agreeing on details of
implementation and follow-up.
Group decision making can be reached through at least two types of decision-
making processes:
(a) Free discussion: A problem is openly and freely discussed within a group
and a variety of approaches to solve the problem are sought;
(d) Consequences of making the wrong choice (especially in the case of decisions
affecting human health or life); and
It is vital to consider all the constraints faced in implementing any decision without
losing track of the goals. With this in mind, there are several strategies used in
choosing the optimal solution:
(a) Maximin (maximise the minimums): The worst possible outcome of each
decision is analysed and the decision with the least detrimental possible
outcome is chosen. This strategy is particularly useful when the
consequences of a wrong decision are highly undesirable.
(b) Maximax (maximise the maximums): The alternative with the maximum
possible payoff is selected. This strategy is useful as risk-taking is most
acceptable and least likely to result in extreme negative consequences.
(c) Optimising: The best possible solution to the problem is selected. This is a
strategy that assumes unlimited resources and capability to solve any
particular problem.
Johnson & Johnson (2000) describe seven methods that a group can use to make
effective decisions. These can be summarised as follows:
Though each of the methods above has specific strengths and weaknesses, the last
method, decision by consensus, is often the most effective method and the method
that yields the best results over the long term. As such, if you are ever in a position
to guide or regulate a group decision-making process, try to steer it into a direction
whereby your final decision will be made by group consensus.
SELF-CHECK 9.1
1. There are two major approaches to decision making. These are
authoritarian decision making and group decision making.
Compare these two approaches. Which of the two, in your opinion,
is better? Why do you think so?
2. We have discussed four decision-making strategies. Briefly explain
each strategy and compare them.
3. We have looked at five ways to make a decision. Can you list and
briefly explain each of them?
4. We have also discussed seven methods that can be used in group
decision making. Can you recall all of them? Which method would
you most likely use if you were in a group that needed to make a
decision? Elaborate on your choice.
ACTIVITY 9.1
1. Explore
http://www.foundationcoalition.org/home/keycomponents/tea
ms/decision2.html and make a note of the advantages and
disadvantages (called Strengths and Weaknesses in the tables
shown in the Web page) of each of these seven methods of group
decision making. Note the most appropriate time for using each of
the methods. Using that information, discuss with your coursemates
examples of real-life situations where any of the methods can be
used for best results and where some of the methods above would
prove to be particularly ineffective.
2. Making the right decision is often a matter of life and death for
soldiers in battle. Choose three methods of group decision making
that can be used in a battle situation. Explain why you think the
methods work.
(d) Force Field Analysis: Analysing the pressures for and against change;
(g) Six Thinking Hats: Looking at a decision from all points of view; and
(a) List your options as a row on a table and list your factors as columns;
(b) Decide on the importance of each factor and assign it a number that reflects
its importance relative to others;
(c) Score each option for each factor on a scale of 0 (poor) to 5 (very good) until
the table is completed;
(d) Multiply the score for each option by the weight assigned to each factor in
No. 2 above; and
(e) Add the weighted scores for each option and compare the overall results to
reach your decision.
Table 9.1: Grid Analysis Showing Weighted Assessment of How Each Type of Car
Satisfies Each Factor
Source: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_03.htm
ACTIVITY 9.2
Using Table 9.1 as a template, construct a grid analysis to reach a
decision. A good example is to decide, just as the above, on what car to
buy for yourself; assuming you were going to buy a new car. Fill in a
similar table to show how you will make a decision.
Figure 9.1 shows what a simple decision tree would look like. To draw a decision
tree, follow these steps:
(a) Represent your decision with a simple square on the left of a sheet of paper;
(b) Draw lines leading to the right from this square to illustrate each possible
decision;
(c) At the end of each line, consider the result of the decision. If the decision
leads to a clear outcome, make this the end of the line. If the decision leads
to an unclear outcome, show this by drawing a circle. If another decision
needs to be made, show this by drawing another square; and
(d) Continue this process until you have all your outcomes clearly illustrated.
Decision trees can get extremely complicated and can even include calculated
values for each node. Visit this website for more information and examples
on how to build an effective decision tree: http://www.time-management-
guide.com/decision-tree.html
Source: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_05.htm
ACTIVITY 9.3
There are several other decision-making tools that we have not discussed. These
include Pareto Analysis, Paired Comparison Analysis, Force Field Analysis, Six
Thinking Hats Technique and Cost/Benefit Analysis. You can explore these
techniques by searching for information on the Internet. Some of these techniques,
like Cost Benefit Analysis, are very specific to business scenarios while others, like
the Six Thinking Hats Technique, may be useful in making individual decisions.
Use the Web pages below as a starting point for getting more information on these
techniques:
ACTIVITY 9.4
Recall the time you made the decision to take up the course you are now
studying. Use the decision-making tools given in this section to view
your decision from different perspectives. Would your decision have
been different if you had applied these tools then?
Ć Refrain from making hasty decisions. Decide quickly on reversible ones, but
take your time on irreversible ones.
Ć Decide while you still have time, since making the right choice at the wrong
time is no better than making the wrong choice at the right time.
Ć Write down your thoughts as you make your decision. Your notes and ideas
will help you consider all the relevant information as you make your final
choice.
Ć Your thinking will become clearer and the arguments more lucid if you list the
pros and cons of each line of action. This will also make your decision a
stronger one.
Ć Do not let little decisions accumulate into one big, complex decision, which can
be burdensome and harder to cope with. Make the little decisions as you go
along.
Ć You can never be absolutely sure that you have made the correct decision since
the consequences of that decision will only occur in the future. Make the
decision and do not worry about it.
Ć Trust yourself to make a decision and then to be able to field the consequences
appropriately.
Ć Do not waste your time making decisions that do not have to be made.
Ć You should move forward once a decision is made. The consequences of that
decision have already been set in motion, so do not look back or regret it. It
was the right move then. What should be the right move now?
Ć Make a mental picture of how you would implement your decision and
imagine the outcomes.
Ć You can get commitment from your staff, in addition to fresh ideas, if you rope
them in your brainstorming sessions.
Ć Do not take too long to deliberate, agonise and mull over your decision. Just
make it, and carry it through.
Ć After a decision is made, leave the „what ifs‰ behind and commit yourself to
your action plan.
Ć There are several strategies used for choosing from among several decisions ă
Optimising, Satisficing, Maximax and Maximin.
Ć There are many ways to make a final decision, to decide on a solution or come
to agreement. Some of the most popular ways of making the decision include
consensus, compromise, majority vote, decision by leader and arbitration.
Ć There are several tools or techniques that can be used to help you come to an
appropriate decision. These tools help you to map out the likely consequences
of decisions, work out the importance of individual factors, and choose the best
course of action to take. Examples of such decision-making tools include:
Six Thinking Hats: Looking at a decision from all points of view; and
2. There are several strategies used for choosing decisions. Give one example
and briefly explain it.
4. There are several tools that can be used to come to an appropriate decision.
These tools help you to map out the likely consequences of decisions, work
out the importance of individual factors and choose the best course of action
to take Illustrate with an example the use of one of these tools.
6. What is the PMI decision making technique? When is it best to use it?
Bellamy, L., Evans, D. L., Linder, D. E., McNeill, B. W., & Raupp, G. (1994). Team
training workbook. Arizona State University. Retrieved from
http://www.eas.asu.edu/~asufc/teaminginfo/teamwkbk.pdf.
Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, F. P. (2000). Group theory and group skills (7th ed.).
Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Swinton, L. (n.a.). Kurt LewinÊs force field analysis: Decision making made easy.
Retrieved from http://trans4mind.com/counterpoint/swinton4.s html
INTRODUCTION
Mental representations and mental computations are the two main issues that
characterise modern psychology. Most individuals feel that thinking is solely
related to something internal or cognitive rather than behavioural. In other words,
thinking is something that takes place almost invisibly and, therefore, we have no
direct observational access to it. Thoughts about thinking date back to early
philosophers like Aristotle. We will discover some of the modern theories about
thinking in this topic. And we will explore a little further on the research about the
thinking process related to problem solving and reasoning later.
ACTIVITY 10.1
The thinking routine is a helpful tool in making thinking a visible
process. One thinking routine that we have found to be useful in many
settings involves two key questions: „What's going on here?‰ and „What
do you see that makes you say so?‰ Discuss these two key questions in a
classroom setting.
10.1.1 Associationism
Associationism, the first movement within science and philosophy to describe in a
formal sense the problems of representation and computation that extends as far
back to Aristotle, states that the world is represented within ourselves, and our
behaviour is guided by associations formed among these ideas. According to John
Locke (Figure 10.1), an English philosopher who characterised psychology as the
study of mental life, exerts that the mind represents the world as a network of
ideas, interrelated to another through experiences. An idea can be defined as the
irreducible representational unit of human thought that represents meaning,
knowledge and abstraction. Whatever the human mind can comprehend is
represented by a set of complex ideas that is analysable into its component
elemental ideas. Locke went on by insisting that ideas are not inborn or innate, but
rather developed from experiences (Boring, 1950). Locke, states that the human
mind without experience is like a blank slate; thus experience both engraves its
message on this slate and leaves behind signs of itself which translates into ideas.
Complex ideas are the result of the binding and association of simple ideas. The
level of complexity and connectedness among ideas develop from childhood into
adulthood through experiences. The two experimental sources of simple ideas are
our senses that notice changes in our surroundings and the mind itself, through
reflection upon its own activity. Hence, the mind is able of being conscious of its
own matter and processes; a phenomenon known as introspection. Due to the fact
that the mind is fundamentally independent of obvious behaviour, an individualÊs
capability to explain it seems to be the only way its activity can be known. This
again assumes a certain degree of awareness of mental representation and/or
computation.
The principles that ruled the association of ideas and have stood the test of time
and data include:
(a) Contiguity: Two ideas that happen together in time or in space are likely to
be associated or linked;
(b) Similarity: The higher the degree of similarity between two ideas, the greater
their probability of being associated; and
(c) Repetition: The more frequent two ideas come about together, the greater
their strength of association.
Subsequently, British philosophers, James Mill and his son John Stuart Mill,
differentiated between sensations and ideas as basic classes of elements in the
mind. According to them, sensations are the primary elements of consciousness
from which ideas, which are pure abstractions, are drawn from. They developed
the criteria of strength which included:
(a) Permanence: The more persistent an association as time passes by, the
greater its initial strength;
(b) Certainty: The more confident the individual of an association, the greater
the strength; and
(c) Facility: The greater the speed and effortlessness with which an association
comes by, the greater its strength.
SELF-CHECK 10.1
Aristotle introduced another principle to govern the association of ideas
called the „The Law of Contrast‰. What do you understand from this
theory?
ACTIVITY 10.2
Brown extended the principles of Associationism by being the first to
identify the secondary laws of Association. Primary laws accounted for
the transformation of simple ideas into complex ideas. The secondary
laws, however, explained why one association would be stronger than
another. Carry out a search on the internet on these six secondary laws
of association.
10.2.2 Functionalism
Functionalism mainly focused on consciousness and Elementism, and was led by
William James and John Dewey. JamesÊs principles were the foundation of
Functionalism, however, they were enhanced by the insights and observations of
Dewey and others.
(ii) Location and definition of the problem and the isolation of its relevant
features;
SELF-CHECK 10.2
1. Define the term „pragmatism‰. In what way was William James a
pragmatist?
2. You are having tough time thinking about your current job due to
the heavy workload and the difficult attitude of your boss. Explain
how you would apply DeweyÊs theory of thinking in handling the
above scenario.
10.2.4 Behaviourism
The system introduced by Watson (1924), called Behaviourism, placed behaviour
or performance as the focus of attention; making it the fundamental element in
psychology. According to behaviourists, it is of no use trying to understand
the inaccessible and possibly non-existing consciousness when the real data of
psychology are open, observable and available to direct measurement. The Law of
Effect: Pain avoidance vs. Pleasure theory was formalised by Edward L. Thorndike
(Figure 10.2) who suggested that behaviour, which results in pleasing outcomes,
tends to be repeated; while behaviour that leads to distasteful consequences, does
not.
Watson is of the opinion that inferred conscious states and processes are
excess baggage, while knowledge of the regularities of performance is all that a
psychologist really requires to be interested in.
Watson further added that we should eventually find out that much of what is
considered mentalistic is in reality unspoken or miniaturised motor activity,
mainly in the voice mechanism. Words, also known as symbols, are responses that
we have learned to apply to objects and events in the environment.
One can think of these objects or events in terms of their verbal counterparts. When
we „think to ourselves‰ about them, we are basically suppressing the obvious
verbal response of naming to a point where it becomes difficult or impossible for
others to find out. However, with suitable sensitive recording and measuring
equipments, we should find proof of them in tiny laryngeal movements. Hence,
thinking is actually sub-audible speech or what is known as the motor theory of
thinking, which places the emphasis on muscular or glandular changes rather than
on central or ideational changes.
Results carried out by Jacobson (1930) revealed that specific patterns of muscular
activity accompany and correlate with the content of thought process. In addition,
Freeman (1931) reported that elementary mental activities could be facilitated by
inducing an increase in generalised muscular tone in the subject. This leads to
the conclusion that there is a correlation between muscular (especially vocal)
movements and thinking. In other words, it may be that mental activity is in some
sense dependent on certain specific muscular tones. Nevertheless, the evidence has
been inadequate to convince all psychologists that thought and action are identical
or that thought can be represented completely by patterns of peripheral activity.
(b) Evaluation
The emphasis of Gestalt psychologists on the fundamental and basic
importance of insight as a principle of learning has got them involved in a
long-standing controversy with individuals who regard learning as a
gradual process. The arrival of Gestalt psychology was during the times
when experimentalism was strongly in the grip of Behaviourism that
pictured the organism as a machine, subject to the many different sources of
external stimulation and responding to them in an indispensible automatic
fashion. Overall, Gestalt theory assisted psychology to attain a more
balanced and practical view of complex human behaviour that would have
been difficult to be described solely on the basis of Behaviourism.
SELF-CHECK 10.3
(a) Hint: Do the 11 objects that appear as a single unit look alike?
(b) Hint: Although the panda is not complete, enough is present for the
eye to complete the shape; the viewerÊs perception completes a
shape.
Heidbreder (1946) explained the idea that concepts can be based on different kinds
of criteria. Nevertheless, none of the concepts she demonstrated was based on
common physical elements; in fact, the categories were based on either concrete
objects (e.g., trees), spatial forms (e.g., anything circular) or numbers (e.g., five
objects). According to HeidbrederÊs research, members of a concept always
had „something in common‰, however, that „something‰ may be complex and
abstract. As for Osgood, coming up with a common symbolic response to
physically different stimuli was essentially different from responding to common
physical elements.
Both Hull (1920) and Heidbreder (1924) had contradicting views on the concept-
learning process. In HullÊs approach, learning was passive where stimulus
elements get conditioned to responses in an automatic fashion. On the other hand,
Heidbreder reported two types of behaviour, namely participant and spectator
behaviour. As for participants, they formulated and actively tested hypotheses on
the basis of the concepts they were learning. In contrast, spectators, normally after
a series of wrong responses, responded „randomly‰ in categorising stimuli,
waiting for a new hypothesis to suggest itself.
The two important conclusions that we can arrive at this points are that:
(a) Concept learners at times actively pursue their ideas about what a particular
concept might be; and
ACTIVITY 10.3
Link up with a friend and simulate BrunerÊs procedure in the following
way: Take a pack of playing cards which has attributes of suits (hearts,
diamonds, spades and clubs), colours (black and red) and numbers (ace
to ten, Jack, Queen and King). Ask your friend to select a concept and go
through BrunerÊs procedure. First, get your friend to point out a positive
example of the concept selected, then select further cards and for each
ask, „Is that one?‰ Take both of the strategies described above in turn and
decide for yourself which is the most effective one.
Thorndike observed that over repeated trials, the catsÊ behaviour gradually
changed, and after many trials the animals would make relatively direct efforts to
activate the door-opening mechanism. He observed in this behavioural pattern,
no proof of the cat „seeing through‰ the problem. In fact, problem solving was
regarded as a process in which unsuccessful responses were gradually eliminated
and successful responses „stamped in‰. An important characteristic of the puzzle-
box problems was that the solution mechanism was concealed and the critical
elements of the situation were not readily available for inspection.
Woodworth and Schlosberg (1954) stated clearly that trial and error can at times
be necessary, as a strategy of exploring the environment and obtaining information
necessary. In addition, even hypothesis testing could be regarded as a form of trial
and error.
10.4.2 Insight
Thorndike concluded that no perception of critical relations was involved. On the
other hand, Yerkes (1916) reported a sudden shift from trial and error to solution
in chimpanzees, who exhibited good retention of solutions and some transfer to
new situations. Kohler (1925; 1976) realised that when presented with a problem,
the apes tried several different methods such as stretching, jumping, reaching out
for or even bashing any objects that were handy enough. After a certain amount of
time, these chimpanzees would go into a period of calmness, perhaps thinking
thoroughly on its mission. Eventually, with a sudden and planned movement, the
ape would utilise the critical object(s) to obtain the particular fruit (Figure 10.5).
Figure 10.5: KohlerÊs most well-known work on chimp cognition was in the use of tools
to gain access to food
Source: http://wkprc.eva.mpg.de/english/files/wolfgang_koehler.htm
Kohler indicated that there was a significant variation in the time required to arrive
at a solution where some animals solved the task in less than 15 minutes while
some required hours before being able to find a solution. Furthermore, Kohler also
observed that the positioning of the objective and the implement in the animalÊs
visual field was vital. The positioning of the fruit and the critical implement at
opposite ends of the cage drastically reduced the attainment of the solution due to
the fact that the animal was not able to look at both these objects simultaneously.
Hence, the effect of visual separation was particularly crucial on the first exposure
to a problem situation, a finding that is in harmony with the notion that solving a
problem involves a change in perception of the situation.
Figure 10.6: Classic candle box experiment that illustrates functional fixedness
He found that the most of the subjects either tried to nail the candle directly to the
wall or to glue it onto the wall by melting it. In fact, very few of them came up with
the idea of using the inside of the nail box as a candle-holder and nailing this to
the wall. In DunckerÊs terms the participants were „fixated‰ on the boxÊs usual
function of holding nails and could not re-conceptualise it in an approach that
allowed them to solve the problem.
SELF-CHECK 10.4
Imagine that you have three jars, A, B and C. For each of the seven
problems below, the capacity of the three jars is listed. You must use these
jars in order to obtain the amount of liquid specified in the Goal column.
You may obtain the goal amount by adding or subtracting the quantities
listed in A, B and C.
Problem A B C Goal
1 24 130 3 100
2 9 44 7 21
3 21 58 4 29
4 12 160 25 98
5 19 75 5 46
6 23 49 3 20
7 18 48 4 22
Premise 1: All X is N.
Premise 2: Some N is Y.
Conclusion: Some X is Y.
The conclusion given is invalid as the conclusion does not logically follow the
premises presented. Studies have shown that people frequently accepted
conclusions that are invalid.
Woodworth and Sells (1935) suggested that the atmosphere created by the
premises was a vital determinant of these errors. Generally, the atmosphere
indicated the modifiers found in premises (all, some, no) with the view that
negative premises created a negative atmosphere and so on. It is believed one
negative premise is able to determine the atmosphere, and hence conclude the type
of invalid conclusion individuals would accept. In addition, Sells (1936) found that
invalid conclusions were frequently accepted if supported by the atmosphere.
Premise 1: Amar knows that one needs winter clothing in cold weather.
Premise 2: It is very cold in London during winter.
Conclusion: Amar needs winter clothing in London.
In contrast, the process where simple observations of a particular type are made
and applied through generalisation to a totally different problem in order to make
a decision is called inductive reasoning. A good example of inductive reasoning is
given as follows:
Premise: All grasshoppers seen by Eric and his wife are green.
Conclusion: Therefore, they reason that all grasshoppers on earth are green.
Figure 10.7 shows the relationship between deductive and inductive reasoning
whereas Table 10.2 exhibits the differences between both types of reasoning.
SELF-CHECK 10.5
1. Adam: IÊve noticed previously that every time I kick a ball up, it
comes back down, so I guess this next time when I kick it up, it will
come back down, too.
A. Your first quiz grade usually indicates how you will do in the
course.
Associationism states that the world is represented within ourselves and our
behaviour is guided by associations formed among these ideas.
Learning and problem solving are gradual processes based on the increasing
strength of the connection between the stimulus situation and certain response
possibilities.
Trial and error is linked with the view that obtaining a solution is a gradual,
undirected process that does not involve perception or comprehension of the
problem requirements or structure.
Functional fixedness refers to the fact that an object with a strong expected
function cannot be observed as playing a different role.
Associationism Elementism
Atmosphere effect Functional fixedness
Behaviourism Functionalism
Common elements Gestalt psychology
Content effects Inductive reasoning
Consciousness Successive scanning
Conservative focusing Syllogism
Deductive reasoning Trial and error
2. Describe the principles that ruled the association of ideas and have stood the
test of time and data.
8. State the three major differences between habitual directions and new
directions.
Bruner, J. S., Goodnow, J. J., & Austin, G. A. (1956). A study of thinking. New York:
Wiley.
Newell, A., Shaw, J. C., & Simon, H. A. (1958). Elements of a theory of human
problem solving. Psychological Review, 65, 151ă16.
Yerkes, R. M. (1916). The mental life of monkeys and apes, a study of ideational
behavior. Behavior Monographs, No. 12.
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