algorithms are procedures that
garnet a solution to a problem
heuristics
Strategy that works under some
circumstances but does not
guarantee success.
quicker and easier than
algorithms but no guaranteed
accuracy
works by assumption
how people reason
• Deductive reasoning argues from the general to the specific –
All men are mortal – Socrates is a man – So, Socrates is mortal •
But, we tend to use the reverse process, called inductive
reasoning • In inductive reasoning we make generalisations
based on individual instances (“the flowers delighted my mom
on her last birthday, therefore . . . “) • Advantages and
Disadvantages (Hume: drawing uncertain conclusions from
limited experience)
hierarchical process of problem solving
breaking problems down
o subproblems to
becomee routine i.e.
chunking
experts and novices
expertise
Expertise is an unusually high
level of acquired knowledge
or skill in a particular domain.
automaticity
more and faster subroutines, more and bigger chunks
obstacles to problem solving
functional fixedness
Tendency to think of things only in terms of
their usual functions.
mental sets
A mental set narrows our perspective and
restricts our ability to try different
methods.