00:01
If there’s a problem in front of
us, we need to use our cognitive
abilities and skills to deal
with that task or problem.
00:07
So the different ways of solving
and trying to approach this
are varied and we’re going to
go through a couple of them.
00:13
One is really commonly used,
that’s trial and error.
00:16
And this approach is characterized
by repeated, varied attempts
which are continued until success or
the individual just gives up, right?
So, say for example, you’re trying to open
the combination on a lock of your locker.
00:30
You know, you’re going to try a certain
combination, that doesn’t work.
00:32
You’re going to try another
combination, that doesn’t work.
00:34
And eventually, you’re going
to get that lock open
or you’re just going to say, “I can’t
open this,” and you walk away.
00:39
So the same holds true for like a
puzzle, a math problem, anything.
00:43
You do this trial and error.
00:44
And that’s -- you know, it
works in a lot of ways,
but there’s a lack
of structure, okay?
Now you can have an algorithm which is
a little bit more organized and it’s
a self-contained step-by-step set of
operations used to reach an end goal.
00:59
So same thing, you have a step-by-step
instruction of what to do.
01:04
So this is quite common
in terms of medical
profession, a treatment
algorithm we call it.
01:10
So say a patient comes into you
and is complaining of depression
and you assess the patient and you agree,
yeah, there’s probably some depression here.
01:20
Let’s say MDD, major
depressive disorder.
01:24
There are sort of guidelines
and treatment algorithms
on how you should probably approach this
treatment strategy with this patient.
01:34
So you’re going to start with one drug,
one medicine, one antidepressant.
01:40
That might not work and then there’s a
step-by-step on what you’re trying to do.
01:43
So the end goal is complete
treatment and remission
and you’re going to go through
this treatment algorithm
in a step-by-step fashion in
order to achieve that end goal.
01:52
So you will do the same thing in
terms of trying to solve a problem.
01:55
So in this case, the problem is the mood
disorder, but it could be anything.
02:01
Next we have something
called a heuristic,
which is any approach that
employs a practical method not
guaranteed to be optimal or
perfect but instead sufficient.
02:12
So, a heuristic is
a mental shortcut.
02:15
So a lot of times this is done just to speed
up the process and these mental shortcuts
ease what we call
the cognitive load.
02:22
And this isn’t necessarily
a good thing,
but it’s more of making
it manageable for you.
02:27
So we call that a rule of thumb
or an educated guess, right?
So you have an idea or shortcut
of what you think it is,
and so you just implement that
idea as opposed to actually
thinking about it and breaking
it down in components.
02:39
So it’s not guaranteed to
be successful every time,
but it is quite quick and a lot of times
it’s sufficient to get the problem done.
02:47
So the problem-solving strategies
may be conscious or unconscious.
02:51
Sometimes we actually encode heuristics
without actually thinking about them.
02:55
Sometimes it is actually
a conscious effort,
we actually are thinking
about what we’re doing.
02:59
Insight occurs when a solution
to a problem presents
itself without warning,
after trial and error.
03:04
We’ve all done this before, where
you’re trying to deal with a problem.
03:08
It might be trying to change
the batteries on your remote.
03:13
And so you can’t
remember how to do it
and you’re trying different things
and you’re squeezing the top
and you’re pinching the side or,
“Honey, get my screwdriver,”
and you’re working
on the remote.
03:22
And all of a sudden, insight, so
something happens and you get that --
that light bulb goes off going, “Oh yeah.
It’s right here.”
And you pop it off and you
change the batteries, right?
So that would be when you get
that kind of the solution
to this problem in front of
you and it comes like it says
without warning after you’ve
been working on the problem.
03:42
Now, what are some of the barriers
to effective problem solving?
Two common cognitive barriers
to problem solving include
confirmation bias and fixation.
03:51
Confirmation bias is a
tendency to search only for
the information that confirms
one’s beliefs or hypothesis.
03:57
So think about all the possible
scenarios that you could have,
all the possible answers
that you can have.
04:03
If you in your mind are
biased towards your beliefs,
thinking, well, I know
this is how you do it.
04:09
And say you’re working on
a puzzle with somebody
and you’re working on that puzzle and
you think that this piece should fit,
and it’s not fitting.
04:17
And somebody else might come in and
say, “Oh, I think you should do it.”
No, no, no. I know what it is. I just
think that I’m not doing it right,”
and you’re not looking at options that
are going to disprove your belief.
04:27
You’re looking at ways that
things that you can do
to confirm your belief that
this piece should fit.
04:32
So you give disproportionately less
consideration to alternative possibilities.
04:36
So we’re saying is you won’t
even consider other options.
04:39
This is it. This is the option
because this is how it should be.
04:42
So it can be prevented by approaching
a problem from multiple perspectives.
04:47
And you see this in a workplace,
you this in the health profession.
04:51
You know, the doctor might be trying one
treatment strategy and it’s just not working,
or they’re trying to see a patient and
the patient just won’t get any better,
and the doctor will then go
on and either get -- you can
yourself say, “Well, maybe
I want a second opinion,”
the doctor might bring
in another doc,
or send the files and say, “Can you take a
look at this and tell me what you think?”
But if you’re following
the confirmation bias,
you tend to not want to
do that and you’ll say,
“Well, no. This is the problem,
so I know the solution,”
as opposed to saying, “Well, maybe I
should get another set of eyes on this.”
And so if you’re emotionally
invested in this
or if you’re really
adamant about something,
you start to get emotionally
involved, that also prevents
you from trying to get
away from that bias.
05:29
It actually strengthens the bias
and it amplifies the effect.
05:33
Now fixation, on the other hand,
is an inability to see the problem
from a fresh perspective.
05:38
Now, these two can be
related that you can have
like a confirmation bias
and you have fixation.
05:44
So you can now tease out
fixation a little bit more.
05:49
It’s a tendency to fixate on
solutions that worked in the past
even though they may not apply
to the current situation.
05:54
So you have a mindset or a
mental set on end result already
and you’re not looking at what’s
in front of you right now.
06:03
So you’re already at the
solution and you haven’t
really established how
to get there just yet
because how you’ve
gotten there in the past
is all you know and it’s
what you’re so fixated on.
06:13
So functional fixedness
is a belief that the
role and function of
objects is unchanging.
06:18
So an example there
would be scissors.
06:21
If I am asking you to
open a box or a package
and you always use your scissors
and that’s what you know is,
“Oh, I got to open this. I need my
scissors. Where are my scissors?”
And you’re sitting there waiting, you’re
looking and you can’t find your scissors.
06:31
And you’re sitting there waiting, you’re
looking and you can’t find your scissors.
06:35
Now, that sucks that you can’t find your
scissors but you have other options.
06:38
And this is when you can start digging
into your pockets and you dig up that key
or a quarter or a screwdriver
and you take that and you start
ripping and opening the package.
06:46
Now, that might not be the primary
function of the car keys,
its job is to start a car, but you
can use it for other things, right?
So that’s called
functional fixedness.