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Do you use a problem-solving process?

Resources: Ch. 7 (pp. 273-86) in Psychology: An Introduction (12th ed.); Web site:

Review the section in your text on problem-solving. As you review, consider the following question: Do you use a problem-solving process?

Complete the activity at

Answer the following questions:

o How did you interpret the problem?
o What strategy did you use and how did you evaluate your progress?
o Did you encounter any obstacles while solving the problem?
o Where you aware of this thought process as you worked through the problem?

Solution Preview

This was a very interesting puzzle. It took a little less than 5 minutes to solve, but I had to "think out of the box" -- find a different way to solve the problem than in a linear fashion. I'll explain what I mean. Instead of answering each of the questions for you (which would be "doing your homework for you"), I'll explain what happened to me and how I progressed through the puzzle. That way you can use this information to answer the four questions yourself. That's just the way we must do these here at BrainMass.

Initially, I interpreted the question in a simple linear fashion. Take one animal. Then take the next animal. Then take the final animal. Simple. I would use logic to address the "obvious solution."

So, what I did was think through the problem sequentially. If I took the dog across first, I would be leaving the cat and the mouse alone on the right side of the riverbank. Clearly, that wouldn't work since the cat would eat the mouse. Therefore, I concluded correctly that I can't take the dog across the river first.

Next, I also knew that I couldn't take the mouse across the river first because then I would be leaving the dog and the cat on the right side of the ...

Solution Summary

This solution contains a detailed, two-page (900 word) response explaining how one's mind works step by step to find a solution to a particularly difficult problem or challenge.