1. Functional Fixedness
A man walked into a bar and asked for a glass of water. The bartender pulled out a gun and pointed it at him. The man said thank you and left.
Why did the man say thank you and leave when the bartender pointed the gun at him?

2. Overcoming Rigid Thinking
A man walked into a bar and said “ouch.” He did not trip over anyone, bump into anyone, stub a toe, or stumble through a door.
Why did the man say “ouch?”

3. How do we achieve the goal of improving our problem solving ability?

4. Objectives
To demonstrate the effect of functional fixedness on problem solving
To understand factors that hinder finding solutions to problems
To learn terms relating to creativity and problem solving
To apply problem solving principles

5. Understanding and Diagnosing
Problems vary in degrees from well defined – nature of the problem and info. Needed to solve it are available and clear
2. ill defined – nature of problem is unclear and info. To solve it is not obvious

6. Kinds of Problems
There exist three categories in which problems fall under
1.Arrangement
2.Inducing structure
3.Transformation
Solving each requires somewhat different kinds of psychological skill

7. Arrangement Problems
Require that the group of elements be rearranged or recombined in a way that will satisfy a certain criteria.
There are usually several different possible arrangements that can be made, but only one or a few will produce a solution

8. Arrangement Problems
Rearrange in each set to make an English word

9. Arrangement Problem
Two strings hang from a ceiling but are too far apart to allow a person to hold one and walk to the other. On the floor are a book of matches, a screwdriver, and few pieces of cotton. How might they be tied together?

10. Problems of Inducing Structure
A person must identify the relationships that exist among the elements presented and construct a new relationship among them.
Examples
What # comes next?
Complete analogies!
Baseball is to bat as tennis is to__________
Merchant is to sell as customer is to___________

11. Transformation Problems
Consist of an initial state, agoal state, and a series of methods for changing the goal state into the initial state

12. Transformation Problem 1
Hobbits and orcs: three hobbits and three orcs want to cross a river. However, they have only one boat, which will hold just two individuals. There is no other way to cross the river. If more Orcs than Hobbits are left on either bank, the Orcs will eat the hobbits. What is the most efficient way all six can get to the other side without harm?

13. Transformation Problem 2
Water jars: A person has three jars with following capacities.
28 oz.
7 oz.
5 oz.
How can a person measure exactly 11 oz.