3. A heuristic is a general rule that is usually correct. In problem solving, a heuristic is a strategy in which you ignore some alternatives and explore only those alternatives that are most likely to produce a solution. Examples of the problem solving heuristics are hill-climbing and means-ends. An example of the hill-climbing heuristic is as follows: let’s say I need to clean the house as quickly as possible. I take blind steps to clean the house: I vacuum, dust, start the dishwasher, etc. I vacuum first, but I later realize that it would have been better in the long-run to start this dishwasher first so that I could vacuum while the dishwasher is running. An algorithm is a method that will always produce a solution to the problem, although the process can sometimes be inefficient. One example of an algorithm is exhaustive search, where you try out all possible answers using a specified system. If I had multiple, unidentified packages of different colored flower seeds, I could plant one of every single package and see which one came out red. (Another bad example, but whatever).

4. When using insight problem solving, the problem initially seems impossible to solve, but an alternative approach suddenly bursts into consciousness – immediately realizing that the new solution is correct. Say I have a bunch of flowers that seem impossible to arrange nicely within a vase – and suddenly, out of the blue, I think “Aha! The flower stems are too tall and need to be cut.” Functional fixedness is a problem for insight problems solving – it shows that we tend to use objects and concepts only in their conventional ways. For example, I may need to hang mistletoe at Christmastime but have no tape or tacks. However, there’s a water pipe hanging over my dorm room door, and that will serve just nicely as an anchor for the string attached to my mistletoe. The pipe normally only allows water flow, but now it serves as an anchor. When problem solvers have a mental set, they keep trying the same solution they have used in previous problems, even though the problem could be solved by a different, easier method. In this class, I tend to answer focus questions in their numerical order. The chronology of the focus questions is a little asymmetrical to the chronology of the concepts presented in class, but I answer them in the focus-question-order anyways because that’s what I have always done. Jeremy Jurva is the most awesome hero.