scholarly journals It is magic! How impossible solutions prevent the discovery of obvious ones?

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (12) ◽  
pp. 2481-2487 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cyril Thomas ◽  
André Didierjean ◽  
Gustav Kuhn
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Optimal Solution ◽  
Psychological Processes ◽  
Insight Problem ◽  
The Real ◽  
Magic Trick ◽  
Simple Exposure ◽  
Alternative Solutions

When confronted with an insight problem, some factors limit our capacity to discover the optimal solution. Previous research on problem solving has shown that the first idea that comes to participants’ minds can inhibit them from finding better alternative solutions. We used a magic trick to demonstrate that this mind fixing effect is more general than previously thought: a solution that participants knew to be incorrect and impossible inhibited the discovery of an easy alternative. We show that a simple exposure to an obvious false solution (e.g., the magician hides the card in the palm of his hand to secretly transfer it to his back pocket) can inhibit participants from finding the real secret of the trick (e.g., he used a duplicate card), even if the magician proves that this false solution is impossible (e.g., he shows his hand is empty). We discuss the psychological processes underlying this robust fixing effect.

In Search of Somatic Precursors of Spontaneous Insight

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wangbing Shen ◽  
Yuan Yuan ◽  
Chaoying Tang ◽  
Chunhua Shi ◽  
Chang Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Electrodermal Activity ◽  
Cardiovascular Responses ◽  
Solution Time ◽  
Problem Solution ◽  
Insight Problem ◽  
Creative Insight ◽  
Insight Problem Solving ◽  
Analytic Problem

Abstract. A considerable number of behavioral and neuroscientific studies on insight problem solving have revealed behavioral and neural correlates of the dynamic insight process; however, somatic correlates, particularly somatic precursors of creative insight, remain undetermined. To characterize the somatic precursor of spontaneous insight, 22 healthy volunteers were recruited to solve the compound remote associate (CRA) task in which a problem can be solved by either an insight or an analytic strategy. The participants’ peripheral nervous activities, particularly electrodermal and cardiovascular responses, were continuously monitored and separately measured. The results revealed a greater skin conductance magnitude for insight trials than for non-insight trials in the 4-s time span prior to problem solutions and two marginally significant correlations between pre-solution heart rate variability (HRV) and the solution time of insight trials. Our findings provide the first direct evidence that spontaneous insight in problem solving is a somatically peculiar process that is distinct from the stepwise process of analytic problem solving and can be represented by a special somatic precursor, which is a stronger pre-solution electrodermal activity and a correlation between problem solution time and certain HRV indicators such as the root mean square successive difference (RMSSD).

scholarly journals A Multi-Resolution Approach to GAN-Based Speech Enhancement

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 721
Author(s):  
Hyung Yong Kim ◽  
Ji Won Yoon ◽  
Sung Jun Cheon ◽  
Woo Hyun Kang ◽  
Nam Soo Kim
Keyword(s):  
Speech Enhancement ◽  
Optimal Solution ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Generative Adversarial Networks ◽  
The Real ◽  
Multi Scale ◽  
Adversarial Networks ◽  
Speech Characteristics ◽  
Conventional Methods ◽  
Convex Property

Recently, generative adversarial networks (GANs) have been successfully applied to speech enhancement. However, there still remain two issues that need to be addressed: (1) GAN-based training is typically unstable due to its non-convex property, and (2) most of the conventional methods do not fully take advantage of the speech characteristics, which could result in a sub-optimal solution. In order to deal with these problems, we propose a progressive generator that can handle the speech in a multi-resolution fashion. Additionally, we propose a multi-scale discriminator that discriminates the real and generated speech at various sampling rates to stabilize GAN training. The proposed structure was compared with the conventional GAN-based speech enhancement algorithms using the VoiceBank-DEMAND dataset. Experimental results showed that the proposed approach can make the training faster and more stable, which improves the performance on various metrics for speech enhancement.

Alice in the Real World

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (7) ◽  
pp. 410-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Parker
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Real World ◽  
Mathematical Problem ◽  
Computer Application ◽  
Mathematical Problem Solving ◽  
The Real ◽  
Programming Knowledge

A computer application promotes programming knowledge and allows students to create their own worlds through mathematical problem solving.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH, DELIBERATION, AND INNOVATION

Episteme ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Brad Wray
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Research Team ◽  
Team Work ◽  
Research Teams ◽  
Course Of Action ◽  
Wrong Direction ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Alternative Solutions

AbstractI evaluate the extent to which we could learn something about how we should be conducting collaborative research in science from the research on groupthink. I argue that Solomon has set us in the wrong direction, failing to recognize that the consensus in scientific specialties is not the result of deliberation. But the attention to the structure of problem-solving that has emerged in the groupthink research conducted by psychologists can help us see when deliberation could lead to problems for a research team. I argue that whenever we need to generate alternative solutions or proposals, groupthink is a genuine threat, and research teams would be wise to allow individuals opportunities to work alone. But the benefits of team work emerge when scientists seek to evaluate the various proposals generated, and determine a course of action. Then the group is less prone is groupthink, and the interaction of group members can be an epistemic asset.

scholarly journals Insight and Search in Katona’s Five-Square Problem

2014 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 263-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Öllinger ◽  
Gary Jones ◽  
Günther Knoblich
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Cognitive Model ◽  
Search Space ◽  
Problem Representation ◽  
Problem Space ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Insight Problem ◽  
Insight Problem Solving ◽  
Representational Change ◽  
Human Thinking

Insights are often productive outcomes of human thinking. We provide a cognitive model that explains insight problem solving by the interplay of problem space search and representational change, whereby the problem space is constrained or relaxed based on the problem representation. By introducing different experimental conditions that either constrained the initial search space or helped solvers to initiate a representational change, we investigated the interplay of problem space search and representational change in Katona’s five-square problem. Testing 168 participants, we demonstrated that independent hints relating to the initial search space and to representational change had little effect on solution rates. However, providing both hints caused a significant increase in solution rates. Our results show the interplay between problem space search and representational change in insight problem solving: The initial problem space can be so large that people fail to encounter impasse, but even when representational change is achieved the resulting problem space can still provide a major obstacle to finding the solution.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document