Problem Solving
Problem Solving Simulation In order to solve the problem it was necessary to first interpret the scenario. In completing the Riverbank activity, I took the following approach: I imagined the situation I identified the problem I understood the problem I found different strategies I evaluated the progress I eliminated the obstacles I thought about the solutions I implemented a solution The scenario of the problem situation was, a man had a dog, a cat, and a mouse that needed to get across the river one by one on a raft. If the man wasn’t there though, the cat would eat the mouse, and the dog would eat the cat. How does the man get all the animals across without them eating each other? After interpreting the problem, I chose a strategy and evaluated the progress. I took the trial and error approach. My first attempt was to have the man take the cat over and then the dog, but that didn’t work, the dog ate the cat. I then attempted to have the man take the mouse followed by the cat. Again that didn’t work, the cat ate the mouse. I then attempted to send the man with the dog first, but again the cat ate the mouse. After several unsuccessful approaches, I began looking at the problem in a different way. I decided to use heuristics as a solution strategy. Heuristics helps to simplify and solve problems, although it doesn’t guarantee a correct solution. Below are the steps to the solution that I came to: The man takes the cat across then goes back. The man takes the mouse across and the cat back. The man leaves the cat and takes the dog across. He leaves the dog with the mouse and goes back. Then the man takes the cat across The animals are now on the opposite side of the shore and safe. From the problem presented, I learned that solving a problem such as this required me to modify my thought processing skills. In order to help modify my thought
References: Morris, C.G., & Maisto, A.A. (2005) Psychology: An Introduction (12th Ed.)