Working memory, problem solving

Problem solving is well known as a composite activity involving various cognitive functions that depend on the number and quality of available operative schemata in long-term memoiy (see below) and on working memory capacity (Stamovlasis ... 

Rushe TM, Morris RG, Miotto EC, Feigenbaum JD, Woodruff PWR, et al. 1999. Problem-solving and spatial working memory in patients with schizophrenia and with focal frontal and temporal lobe lesions. Schizophr Res 37 21-33. 

Scientific calculators (p. 4) greatly simplify the numerical part of problem solving. However, the seeming infalhbihty of the calculator may lead you to accept an absurd result which could have arisen because of faulty key-pressing or faulty logic. Make sure you know how to use all the features on your calculator, especially how the memory works how to introduce a constant multiplier or divider and how to obtain an exponent (note that the exp button on most calculators gives you 10, not 1 or y so 1 x 10 would be entered as T] exp [T], not 10 exp ). 

Schemas can be instantly modified (e.g., by the incorporation of a new piece of declarative knowledge), and they can be gradually tuned over time, as the result of repeated application. Experimental evidence suggests that schemas can be triggered unintentionally and retrieved deliberately. For instance, in problem solving studies, subjects sometimes recognize some feature in the problem that brings an entire schema into working memory immediately. On the other hand, a subject may be at a loss as to how to proceed and may deliberately and consciously attempt to recall any schemas that he can remember ever using to see if one suffices.

If problems baffle you, learn the technique of problem solving. The principles contained in G. Polya s book, How to Solve It, have helped many of my students. It is available as a paperback and is well worth studying. Work as many problems as possible. Numerical answers to all problems can be found in Appendix VII. Make up your own problems as often as possible. Watching your teacher perform will not make you into an actor problem solving will. To aid in this, get a good scientific calculator (the serious student will want a programmable one with continuous memory) and learn how to use it to the limit of its capability. Reading the instructions will save you hundreds of hours ... 

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