Stephen Babbitt

Problem-Solving Strategies

P1014/22/2014

Take out a FULL SHEET of paper, please!* • Please put your name and date at the top!

• Tell me what you know about Trial and Error, Algorithms, and Heuristics. Definition of these?

• *YOU WILL NEED THIS PAPER LATER!

What exactly is problem-solving? (pg.281)• Thinking and performing a behavior directed toward attaining a goal

that is not readily available.

• Some examples of problem solving? (These are what I will be covering)• Trial and Error• Algorithms• Heuristics (Availability and Representative)

Trial and Error! (pg.281)• A problem-solving strategy that involves attempting different

solutions and eliminating those that do not work.

• PROCESS OF ELIMINATION!

Trial and Error!• When is this useful?

• When you have a relatively small amount of options. YOU DO NOT WANT TO USE THIS IF YOU HAVE A HUGE AMOUNT OF OPTIONS!

• Why? It simply takes way to long go through every single option!

Trial and Error!• Example?

• When to use Trial and Error: Say if I am cooking spaghetti and I want to taste it to see if it has enough sauce. If there are 4 plates of spaghetti to taste the sauce Trial and Error would be great!

• When to NOT use Trial and Error: Say if I am cooking spaghetti again the next day (way to much spaghetti in two days) for my fraternity and I have 40 plates to taste. This would take FOREVER. This is not when you should use Trial and Error.

• If not then what should I use? Algorithms

Algorithms! (pg.282)• A problem-solving strategy that involves following a specific rule,

procedure, or method that inevitably produces the correct solution.

• This is guaranteed to work!

• Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0xgjUhEG3U

Algorithms!• Even though Algorithms are guaranteed to work, they sometimes are not always

practical.

• Example: Imagine you are at the SRSC or SPH and you check out a lock from the checkout desk. You get to your locker and you realize that the lock did not come with a combination. And because you really do not want to go back to the checkout desk because your pre-workout is kicking in and you want to get a proper pump in. You frantickaly begin to try combos starting from 0-0-0 all the way to 36-36-36. The total amount of combinations just solely changing the combo by 1 tick is a total 46,656 potential combinations.

• This is just ridiculous, what should I use now? Heuristics!

Heuristics! (pg.282)• A problem-solving strategy that involves following a general rule of

thumb to reduce the number of possible solutions.

• The general definition is “general rule of thumb”.

Remember that sheet of paper?*• Take that full sheet out again!• This is going to be a interactive activity over Algorithms and

Heuristics.

• *DO NOT PUT THIS PAPER AWAY YOU WILL NEED IT LATER!

Algorithm: find the biggest number1) Write down these number

in the order they are in!2) Assume the first item is

largest. 3) Look at each of the

remaining items in the list and if it is larger than the largest item so far, make a note of it.

4) The last noted item is the largest in the list when the process is complete.

156126

459,784

20.3598

Heuristic: find the biggest number

15612645

9,7842

0.3598

• You know that numbers with a lot of digits in them are big.• Look to see which number has the most

digits.- The number should pop-out at you because it’ll take up more space than the other numbers.

Availability Heuristic!• A mental shortcut that relies on immediate examples that come to

mind. It operates on the notion that if something can be recalled, it MUST be important.

• Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_wkv1Gx2vM

Which is more common:murder or suicide?

Suicide is twice as common…And the ratio is probably seriously underestimated• overdoses• single-car

accidents

Why would people think that murders are more common?It is easier torecall!

Availability Heuristics!We rely on the “ease of retrieval” of examples to generate probabilities.What proportion of crimes are committed by ex-mental patients? By certain ethnicities?• news outlets often mention if a criminal suspect has been

hospitalized in a mental institution.• news outlets often mention if a criminal suspect is

White/Black/Asian.• The media tells us the information, thus we are more likely

to recall that information because it is emphasized.

Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOzAxhu6w2s

Illusory Correlations (tied into Availability Heuristics)• This is the perception of a relationship between two variables when

only a minor or absolutely no relationship actually exists.

• Full moons and crazy people?

• Achy joints and weather?

Why do we form illusory correlations?• The reason is that our minds are AMAZING at tracking patterns, events.

• If a pattern of an event is rare and it takes place our minds will remember that and thus a illusory correlation is established. RARE=MEMORABLE

• We become biased to the events because we have been exposed to them.

• Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxPMq331xH8

Representative Heuristics!• This heuristic is one type of heuristic that we use when making

judgments. In a particular example, we estimate the likelihood of an event by comparing it to an existing prototype (or most typical instance of a concept) that already exists in our minds. Our prototype is what we think is the most relevant or typical example of a particular event or object.• When we make decisions based on representativeness, we may be

likely to make more errors and more likely to overestimate the likelihood that something will occur. Just because an event or object is representative does not mean that it is more likely to occur.

Consider the following description.• Sarah loves to listen to New Age music and faithfully reads her

horoscope each day. In her spare time, she enjoys aromatherapy and attending a local spirituality group.

• Is Sarah more likely to be a school teacher or a holistic healer?

Answer to the Sarah problem.• Many people would identify her as a holistic healer based on

representativeness. She fits in with our existing ideas of how a holistic healer might behave. In reality, it is far more likely that Sarah is actually a school teacher based purely on probability. School teachers are far more common than holistic healers.

Another example of Representativeness.

Which birth order sequence is most likely (B=Boy, G=Girl):

• BBBGGG or BGGBGB

• They are equal (50/50). There are 3 Boys and 3 Girls. The second option just appears to be more representative of our idea of random.

The verdict?• The verdict of problem-solving. You should employ one problem-

solving strategy (or more if needed) as you see fit for the problem and coming to a proper conclusion. All this can be found on pages 280-282.

• Trial and Error • Algorithms• Heuristics (Availability and Representative)

Results?• I am a UTA and this was my project, giving a lecture, and I was curious if you guys

grasped the topic I presented. Please answer these questions!• 1. What is Trial and Error, Algorithms, and Heuristics (general definition!)? • 2. Did you grasp the material?• 3. How did I do? Good or bad?• 4. Room for improvement? • 5. Did you enjoy the presentation?

• Please turn these in to me on the front table.• Have a great rest of your day!