Blog Post #10

One of the things that I was able to learn from chapter 9 was about Solving Problems. I found out that there are many ways we go about in trying to find out the answer to problems. I found it interesting the types of strategies we use to solve problems. One of the ways we try to solve problems is by using algorithms, which are step by step procedures that guarantee a solution. This kind of strategy is kind of like a guess and check, you will usually find your answer, but not after a lot of work and time. This type of strategy is usually exasperating and time consuming. Another way we solve problems is by using a heuristic approach. This is where we use a simply thinking strategy to help us make judgments and solve problems. This method is usually faster, however is more prone to error than the algorithm approach.


They explained the differences of these two ways of solving problems by discussing how we shop for items in the store. An algorithm approach to shopping would be going down each isle in search of what you need. You know eventually you will find what you are looking for. With a heuristic approach to shopping you narrow down you options and you go for the area that you know has the item you are looking for. For me personally when I shop I use a heuristic approach because I’d rather get in and get out.


Another way to solve problems is insight this is where you have a sudden and often novel realization of a solution to a problem. This helps when looking at jumbles words and being able to tell what the real word is or be able to take a word fragment and relate it to something. There was a lot more to problem solving and the obstacles of problem solving, but these were the ideas that I found the most interesting and pertained to me.


Creative Intelligence is being able to generate and adapt novel or important ideas. I think that creativity can be a number of things not just artistically, but it can also be physical creativity. I think that dance is a great way to show creativity. I love to dance although many people don’t get the opportunity to see me dance, I dance a lot. I am able to choreograph dances steps and routines (mainly in my basement ) and that I would consider to be creative. I am not very good at drawing, but when it comes to dancing and acting like a fool, that would be me. I also think creativity is something that can be like creative thoughts, being able to come up with a funny story or write a book that has a great meaning to it. Those things require creative abilities. Along with this I also thing that I am emotionally intelligent because I can tell the moods people are in sometimes and make their days better when I joke around (or worse ), but I would consider myself more creative over emotionally intelligent.


One thing that I learned from chapter 10 that I found very interesting was the gender differences and similarities. It seems that in every chapter that gender makes a big difference in how we act and perceive situations. I know most girls think that we are always smarter than the boys, but it was interesting to find out the different areas that the different genders were better at. Even to our dismay girls and boys have ranked practically the same on Intellectual tests for overall intelligence, however there were differences that occurred. Females are better at spelling than and at the end of high school there were only 30 percent of U.S. males that were better than the average female. That was really interesting. Females also ranked higher in areas such as verbal ability, nonverbal memory, sensation, and Emotion-detecting ability. One of the very interesting areas was mathematics. Studies showed that when males and females were tested in mathematics their scores were practically identical. However, when in math competitions females had more of an edge, where as males were able to gain higher scores in the math problem solving. It was fascinating that in Western Countries all prodigies participating in the International Mathematics Olympiad were males. The last bit of information they gave that I found interesting with a bit of a comical twist (my strange humor) was that there is a greater male variability than females. When tested males’ scores were more varied with having multiples of boys on the high end and low end. There concluding thought was “Boys are, therefore, more often found in special education classes. They talk later. They stutter more.” I find this very interesting because I don’t see very many females in special education classes, but I didn’t know that the outnumbering of boys could affect this outcome. This was quite fascinating.