Simplex Creative Problem Solving

Einstein is reputed to have said that if he had one hour to save the world he would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem and five minutes finding the solution. This is the opposite approach to the staff in most public and private offices, factories and construction sites. Simplex creative problem solving process is a system developed by Min Basadur at McMaster University, Ontario that does allow time to spend finding the real problem. It then finds a solution and programmes the implementation.     

Function-Oriented Creative Group Problem Solving

This paper presents the concept of Value Management (VM) – a creative group problem solving technique that has been in use for 50 years and is still gaining in popularity and momentum. The differences between creative problem solving and value management processes are examined. Function analysis – the element that makes VM different from other traditional problem solving methods is examined in great detail. The paper reviews the use of function analysis to define the objectives of a product, project or service. In doing so, unnecessary costs will be removed and better designs or decisions can be made. Since a VM study will capture the input of a wide range of stakeholders, including end-users of products, services and facilities, planners, designers and other decision-makers, this group problem solving technique should have a higher degree of acceptance and implementation rate. A real life case study has been used to illustrate the group dynamics and processes involved in a value management study.     

Creative Problem Solving Preferences: Their Identification and Implications

Creative problem solving has been one of the most widely used and researched creative process models. The purpose of this study was to explore individuals’ preferences for different aspects of this model. The main premise to this research is that the creative problem solving process involves a series of distinct mental operations (i.e, collecting information, defining problems, generating ideas, developing solutions, and taking action) and people will express different degrees of preference for these various operations within the model. This study describes the development of the Buffalo Creative Process Inventory, a measure designed to identify preferences in terms of the major operations within Creative Problem Solving. Factor analysis, and correlations with two established style measures, indicate much promise for this new measure.     

New Developments in Computer Assisted Creative Problem Solving

A new kind of computer assisted creative problem solving method is examined in which visual images are provided to support the process. Until now, much attention has been given to developing programmes which help to structure problems and ideas so that they become more meaningful to the people who are concerned with them. Emphasis has been placed almost entirely on the written word as form of expression. It is argued that a combination of pictorial imagery and written words may be more effective in helping users to gain insights into problems and to come up with ideas or solutions to problems.     

Towards a More Realistic Creative Problem Solving Approach

This paper takes a closer look at the existing multi‐step diamond shaped models for creative problem solving (CPS). A case history of a real‐life technical problem in which CPS techniques were used is our source of inspiration for some new ideas about approaching CPS. We propose three concurrent processes: Content finding, Acceptance finding and Information finding. In concrete in‐company projects, these three processes need to be managed simultaneously, which leads to a fourth overarching process: project management. Content finding is concerned with the process the creative session members are going through based on people's own active knowledge and ideas and on sharing their mental models to get new ideas. Acceptance finding is concerned with the co‐creation of new and additional mental systems that are needed for bringing new ideas into good currency within the existing organization and goes beyond agreement on implementation plans. Information finding is concerned with gathering additional knowledge on the ideas that are not readily available during the session. Finally, Project management is concerned with organizing and leading the creative session and in the embedding of the project into the larger organization.     

The Creativity Continuum: Towards a Classification of Creative Problem Solving Techniques

It can be argued that companies may innovate on a more regular basis if groups and individuals can be encouraged to think more creatively. One method of encouraging novel ideas is to undertake creative problem solving (CPS). There are a number of different techniques that can enhance creative thinking. Some of these techniques require less imagination and produce less novel results than others. Individuals and group facilitators must choose which creative problem solving technique(s) to use for their specific situation. Some techniques, for example, may leave an inexperienced group feeling uncomfortable (e.g. if they are asked to draw pictures or develop fantasies) although they are often more effective than the more analytical methods. It may be helpful, therefore, to classify creative problem solving techniques so that individuals can easily choose an appropriate technique for their specific situation. This paper offers such a classification, which categorises the creative problem solving techniques into paradigm preserving, paradigm stretching and paradigm breaking. Some implications and future research are also presented.     

Adapting Creative Problem Solving to an Organizational Context: A Study of its Effectiveness with a Student Population

Owing to company time restrictions and concentration on project development, we began to reduce the duration of creative problem solving (CPS) sessions, and to give more emphasis to the action planning stage. Several changes in our CPS protocol, as well as in its duration, begged the question as to whether these changes were jeopardizing efficacy. To examine this question, six groups of ten university students, working under two different CPS protocols (a five‐step method and a four‐step method), and three control groups (using no CPS method), were given the same objective and similar conditions. This exploratory experiment compared group performance by change in team commitment, divergent thinking preferences, productivity and the participants' evaluation of the different methods. Results show that the CPS methods were both effective in changing participants' perspectives regarding divergent thinking and team commitment. In the control groups, however, there were no changes as a consequence of the sessions. Results also suggest that the same problem‐solving effectiveness can be attained in a shorter time than that traditionally used, and without prior training in CPS. These findings open the door to developing new problem‐solving techniques and team work processes, and to more efficient organizational creativity and innovation methodologies.     

基于网络的科学问题求解环境研究

科学问题求解环境以一套高效的科学计算工具集为基础,为求解科学问题提供了一个方便易用的平台。把传统的科学问题求解环境同网络的共享与协同特征相结合,为满足科学问题求解过程中普遍存在的知识复用与大规模计算的需求提供了新的机遇。该文介绍了科学问题求解环境的发展历史及存在的问题,在此基础上提出了一种解决方案——基于网络的科学问题求解环境(Grid-PSE)。     

Improving Group Productivity with Group Support Systems and Creative Problem Solving Techniques

Organisations today utilise teams to undertake problem solving and opportunity finding tasks. There have been a number of variables that have been posited by theorists that can influence group productivity. Two of these – namely group technology and creative problem solving (CPS) techniques – are explored in this paper. Studies have found that group support systems tend to improve group productivity because they can reduce evaluation apprehension, production blocking and free riding. These systems, however, tend to utilise Electronic Brainstorming in modes that fail to deliver some advantages of other CPS techniques. The paper suggests how developers of group support systems could incorporate new creative problem solving modules into their software.     

Creative Problem Solving as a Technology of Expert Behaviour within Marketing Management

This paper presents a case based on the notion that rule based systems or ‘technologies’ designed to promote creativity may be seen as a way of short-cutting the training route to domain specific cognitive expertise in Marketing Management. The paper draws on multi-disciplinary research from different but thematically parallel research programmes in expertise and cognitive science, creativity, and problem solving. The argument proceeds with an examination of the construct of ‘creativity’ and its role in management domains in general and the marketing domain in particular. A review of psychological findings concerning expertise is then undertaken to draw out the common features between creativity in problem solving and high level expertise. Finally, these common features are synthesised in a speculative model which describes the complex of cognitive strategies and beliefs about problem solving which may characterise expert problem solvers in marketing management—a move towards a potentially testable ‘metacognition’ of expertise in marketing.     

一种解稳定性问题的迭代法

本文提出一种确定特征多项式的全部根是否位于左半平面的迭代法，方法简单，敛速高。     

Cashing in on Caching: An Architecture for Time-Bounded Knowledge-Based Problem Solving

Knowledge-based computing, in general, suffers from an inherent open-endedness that precludes its application in time-bounded domains where an answer must be computed within a stipulated time limit. We examine a two-way improvement of the shortcomings: a knowledge representation scheme that provides easy access to relevant knowledge and thereby reduces search time, and a reasoning scheme that is algorithmic in nature and thus makes computational requirements meaningfully estimable.In this work, we offer a cache-based architecture that is capable of both storing knowledge in different formats (e.g. rules, cases), and invoking an appropriate reasoning scheme to fit the available computing time. The cache helps in retrieving the most relevant pieces of knowledge (not only exact matches) required for solving a given problem. This cache relies on a reasoning tactic, knowledge interpolation, that can generate a solution from two near-matches in an algorithmic way, to generate time-bounded solutions. We illustrate the design of such a cache for solving resource allocation problems in the domain of shortwave radio transmission and evaluate its performance in observing imposed temporal bounds.     

Purchase behavior in virtual worlds: An empirical investigation in Second Life

Virtual worlds are an emerging online transaction context in which millions of players around the world participate and trade virtual items with one another. However, little research has been conducted into purchase behavior in this new context. To address this gap, we developed and tested a conceptual model of purchase behavior in virtual worlds using a combination of existing and new constructs. An online survey was conducted within Second Life (n = 250) and tested using structural equation modeling. We conclude with implications for practice and research limitations.     

求解长方体Packing问题的高效算法

对典型的NP难度问题--著名的长方体Packing问题,通过观察体会人类几千年来在砌石头下围棋等活动中形成的经验和智慧,受到谚语"金角银边草肚皮"的启发,并将它发展提高到"价值最高钻石穴",提出了一种最大穴度的占角动作优先处理的拟人算法.计算了Loh和Nee提出的15个代表性的算例,算法在合理的时间内得出了高空间利用率的布局,其精度达到了国际先进的纪录.     

An Algorithm for Solving the Factorization Problem in Permutation Groups

The factorization problem in permutation groups is to represent an elementgof some permutation groupGas a word over a given setSof generators ofG. For practical purposes, the word should be as short as possible, but must not be minimal. Like many other problems in computational group theory, the problem can be solved from a strong generating set (SGS) and a base ofG. Different algorithms to compute an SGS and a base have been published. The classical algorithm is the Schreier–Sims method. However, for factorization an SGS is needed that has all its elements represented as words overS. The existing methods are not suitable, because they lead to an exponential growth of word lengths. This article presents a simple algorithm to solve the factorization problem. It is based on computing an SGS with elements represented by relatively short words over the generators.     

Agent在问题求解中的应用研究

基于Agent的技术和方法已被应用于许多领域,包括软件工程、系统仿真以及复杂问题求解等.对Agent的概念以及基于Agent的技术和方法作介绍,重点介绍其在问题求解中的一些应用.     

一种求解TSP问题的改进蚁群算法

针对基本蚁群算法存在收敛速度慢,易陷于局部最优解等缺点,提出了一种求解旅行商(TSP)问题的改进蚁群算法.通过在基本蚁群算法中提出保留最优解和引入个体差异策略的改进方法,有效地抑制了算法收敛过程中的停滞现象,提高了全局搜索能力和解的质量.TSPLIB的实例验证了该改进算法的有效性.     

一种求解TSP问题的改进蚁群算法

针对基本蚁群算法存在收敛速度慢,易陷于局部最优解等缺点,提出了一种求解旅行商(TSP)问题的改进蚁群算法。通过在基本蚁群算法中提出保留最优解和引入个体差异策略的改进方法,有效地抑制了算法收敛过程中的停滞现象,提高了全局搜索能力和解的质量。TSPLIB的实例验证了该改进算法的有效性。