memory
...ue that the last item in the list are recalled better because they are still fresh in the memory but the problem with this is that the vacancy effects are often found with this that recency effects are often found in tasks that do not involve short term memory. Solutions can be found in four basic ways. They include: Trial and Error, Algorithm and Heuristics, Insight. Trial and Error: As it sounds, it is the simplest problem solving strategy and is often found to be effective. Thomas Edison, the most prolific inventor in the American history, used this method when he tested thousands of light bulb filaments before finally stumbling on the one that worked. This method exists in a lot of our day to day activities but we’ve gotten so used to it that we hardly notice it. An example of a common occurrence is the furious pecking of our computer keyboard or probing and clicking the mouse hoping to achieve an aim which is not moving fast enough to our satisfaction. The problem with this is the fact that it may take too long to achieve an aim or the strategy may even fail totally. Algorithms and Heuristics: Algorithm is a step by step procedure that is guaranteed to eventually produce a solution. While heuristics can be explained as a mental shortcut it may or may not lead to the correct solution. Although algorithm would have been the best in any problem solving situation, the tend to take too long or at times , are not available to use. Heuristics however, are general in that they can be used to solve a wide variety of problems. One important general heuristic is the mean end analysis (Newell & Simon, 1972) this involves breaking a larger problem into a series of subgoals. At times nested subgoals might get very complex and involved so one needs to carefully evaluate wether each steps brings them closer to the end point because it is possible to loose track of what part of the problem is actually being solved. Analogies is another problem solving heuristic. This involves using an old solution model used for prior similar problem to find a solution to the new problem. Insight: This is a problem solving method in which the solution seems to pop to mind all of a sudden.. It is an experience that seems to arise whenever people at an impasse relax the way they approach a problem, re-frame it, switch from one strategy to another remove a mental block, or identify an analogy from a prior experience (Simon, 1989; Knoblich &Ohlsson,1999). Some researchers claim that the apparent flashes of insight actually result from a gradual step-by-step process but sometimes we’re not just aware of the progress we’re making (Weisberg, 1992). Others find that certain types of tasks do seem to promote a special form of problem solving that has a sudden, all-or-none quality (Smith & Kounios, 1996). It is hard to really say wether insight is truly gradual and nonconscious or if it is truly sudden. but researches has show that when people working on an insight problem are told to describe their feeling along the way, their performance tend to deteriorate and this is attributed to the bringing of the process into consciousness. (2) A reinforcement is any stimulus that strengthens a prior response. It is of two types: Positive; this, is any thing that strengthens a prior response with the presentation of a desirable stimulus and Negative; this strengthens a prior response with the withdrawal of an aversive stimulus. Punishment however is the negative of reinforcement, it has the opposite effect of weakening a prior response and like reinforcement, it comes in two forms (i) Positive; this involves the presentation of an aversive stimulus and (ii) The withdrawal of a desirable stimulus. Both of them can come in two forms because each application of the stimulus can be either positive or negative so far it generates the desired stimulus. The four basic reinforcement schedule includes: (1) Fixed interval: In This type, reinforcement is followed by every response made after a fixed interval has lapsed. e.g. Student whose rate of studying starts slow, increases before midterms and picks up again before finals. (2)Variable Interval: This involves an unpredictable timing of reinforcement in a...