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Barriers to Effective Problem Solving

This document discusses four common barriers to effective problem solving: 1. Mental set, which is the tendency to solve problems in the same way based on past experience, can make one blind to alternative approaches. 2. Functional fixedness occurs when we only think of an object's typical use and cannot see other potential solutions. 3. Unnecessary constraints, like thinking a line must stay within dots in the nine dot problem, can limit potential solutions. 4. Irrelevant information, like details in the seven wives problem, can distract from the actual problem if one gets focused on unimportant details.

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SATWIK AGRAWAL
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82 views7 pages

Barriers to Effective Problem Solving

This document discusses four common barriers to effective problem solving: 1. Mental set, which is the tendency to solve problems in the same way based on past experience, can make one blind to alternative approaches. 2. Functional fixedness occurs when we only think of an object's typical use and cannot see other potential solutions. 3. Unnecessary constraints, like thinking a line must stay within dots in the nine dot problem, can limit potential solutions. 4. Irrelevant information, like details in the seven wives problem, can distract from the actual problem if one gets focused on unimportant details.

Uploaded by

SATWIK AGRAWAL
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Module 6:Problem Solving and Decision Making

Barriers to Problem Solving

Made by
Dr. Mohd Owais Khan
Assistant Professor Senior Grade I
School of Social Sciences and Languages (SSL)
Vellore Institute of Technology
Barriers to Problem Solving
There are numerous obstacles to solving a problem.
Some barriers do not prevent us from finding a
solution, but do prevent us from finding the most
efficient solution.
Four of the most common processes and factors are
mental set, functional fixedness, unnecessary
constraints and irrelevant information
Mental set
Mental set is the tendency to solve certain problems in the
same way based on how you have solved similar problems
in the past. Mental set makes you blind to any alternative
approaches
Examples
You pull on a door handle to open it. The door doesn’t
open. You pull on it a few more times before you try to
push, failing to notice the “push” sign on the door.
Your computer freezes, so you automatically push the
power button without trying to close a few windows or
find another, potentially more efficient solution — one
that doesn’t involve losing your work. After all, restarting
has always solved the problem before.
Functional Fixedness
 Functional fixedness occurs when we only think about the most
common purpose of an object.
 It is type of mental set that involves only being able to see
solutions that involve using objects in their normal or expected
manner.
Example
 Amar noticed that a screw in his desk is loose and he needs to
tighten it. But he doesn't have a screwdriver. What can he do?
 Normally he will start looking for screwdriver and he doesn’t
have at home then will try to arrange from neighborhood and
will go to market to purchase a new one. It will consume lot of
energy and time.
 Suddenly he noticed he is carrying coins in his pocket which
can also be used to tighten the screw.
Unnecessary Constraints
Another type of barrier is called unnecessary
restraints. The most famous example is the nine dot
problem. You have a pen and you must connect all of
the dots without lifting the pen from the paper once
you begin to connect them.
The constraint in this problem is that when you see the
nine dots and think of it as a box, and strangely enough
you don't want to draw a line outside of it, but that's
exactly what you have to do in order to connect all the
dots.
Irrelevant Information
Irrelevant information often acts as a barrier when you get
anchored to all of the irrelevant information and lose sight
of the real problem. A classic example of irrelevant
information is the seven wives problem.
“As I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with seven wives.
Every wife had seven sacks, every sack had seven cats,
every cat had seven kits. How many were going to St.
Ives?”
In order to solve this problem, you must disregard all the
information about the number of wives, sacks, etc. Once
you do, it is easy to see that just the person talking is going
to St. Ives. The man and all his wives are going in the
opposite direction
Assumptions
When dealing with a problem, people can make
assumptions about the constraints and obstacles that
prevent certain solutions. Thus, they may not even try
some potential options.

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