Theories of Problem Solving

** teori problem solving dtg dr 2 ni je..yg lain2 tu model..paham takkkkk..jgn kompius lagi

** sbb research focus ialah PS strategy..kita pilih Newell & Simon (1972) hoccay..ingat tuu

Many current views of problem solving, such as described in Keith Holyoak and Robert Morrison'sCambridge Handbook of Thinking and Reasoning (2005) or Marsha Lovett's 2002 review of research on problem solving, have their roots in Gestalt theory or information processing theory.

Gestalt Theory. The Gestalt theory of problem solving, described by Karl Duncker (1945) and Max Wertheimer (1959), holds that problem solving occurs with a flash of insight. Richard Mayer (1995) noted that insight occurs when a problem solver moves from a state of not knowing how to solve a problem to knowing how to solve a problem. During insight, problem solvers devise a way of representing the problem that enables solution. Gestalt psychologists offered several ways of conceptualizing what happens during insight: insight involves building a schema in which all the parts fit together, insight involves suddenly reorganizing the visual information so it fits together to solve the problem, insight involves restating a problem's givens or problem goal in a new way that makes the problem easier to solve, insight involves removing mental blocks, and insight involves finding a problem analog (i.e., a similar problem that the problem solver already knows how to solve). Gestalt theory informs educational programs aimed at teaching students how to represent problems.

Information Processing Theory. The information processing theory of problem solving, as described by Allen Newell and Herbert Simon (1972), is based on a humancomputer metaphor in which problem solving involves carrying out a series of mental computations on mental representations. The key components in the theory are as follows: the idea that a problem can be represented as a problem space—a representation of the initial state, goal state, and all possible intervening states—and search heu-ristics—a strategy for moving through the problem space from one state of the problem to the next. The problem begins in the given state, the problem solver applies an operator that generates a new state, and so on until the goal state is reached. For example, a common search heuristic is means-ends analysis, in which the problem solver seeks to apply an operator that will satisfy the problem-solver's current goal; if there is a constraint that blocks the application of the operator, then a goal is set to remove the constraint, and so on. Information processing theory informs educational programs aimed at teaching strategies for solving problems.

source:http://www.education.com/reference/article/problem-solving1/