The acquisition and utilization of information in problem solving and thinking

Abstract

Some of the logical consequences of drawing a distinction between the following two aspects of problem-solving behavior are explored: (a) actions directed toward the acquisition of information to guide future actions toward valuable goals; (b) actions directed toward the utilization of accumulated information to attain a valuable goal. An experimental paradigm accomplishing this separation is described for the case of an environment of periodic sequences of binary events. A general way of describing behavioral strategies is developed in terms of: (a) a plan for when to acquire information, to guess an outcome, or to guess at the solution; and (b) a program for how to compute guesses from the information accumulated. The structure of the binary environmental sequences, the structure of these behavioral strategies, and the relations between them are analyzed, and certain strategies which maximize value are suggested. Computing machine interpretations of certain specific strategies for a restricted kind of experiment are displayed, and predictions from these are compared with experimental data from pilot studies performed with human subjects. © 1958.