Thinking
Thinking questions test problem-solving strategies, reasoning types, decision biases and creativity dimensions.
Problem solving
Trial and error is slow but simple. Algorithms guarantee a solution but are effortful. Heuristics are mental shortcuts: means-end analysis reduces the gap between current and goal state; working backward starts from the goal; insight is a sudden restructuring. Functional fixedness and mental set block solutions.
Reasoning
Deductive reasoning moves from general premises to a specific conclusion; if the premises are true and the logic valid, the conclusion must be true. Inductive reasoning moves from specific observations to a general conclusion and is probabilistic.
Decision making
Availability heuristic judges likelihood by ease of recall; representativeness judges by similarity to a prototype; anchoring is over-reliance on an initial value. Framing changes choices by presenting gains or losses. Confirmation bias favours supporting evidence.
Creative thinking
Divergent thinking generates many ideas; convergent thinking selects the best. Guilford identified fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration; Torrance developed creativity tests.
Worked example
A person must attach a candle to a wall using a box of matches and a box of tacks. They try to tack the candle directly and fail; the solution is to empty the box and tack the box to the wall as a holder. Reasoning: functional fixedness, seeing the box only as a container, blocks the solution until the object is redefined.
Traps
- Algorithms guarantee answers; heuristics are faster but error-prone.
- Deductive reasoning goes general to specific, not the reverse.
- Divergent thinking seeks many answers; convergent seeks one best answer.