Arguments for the Effectiveness of Human Problem Solving

The ability to solve problems effectively is one of the hallmarks of human cognition. Yet, in our opinion it gets far less research focus than it rightly deserves. In this paper we outline a framework in which this effectivity can be studied; we identify the possible roots and scope of this effectivity and the cognitive processes directly involved. More particularly, we have observed that people can use cognitive mechanisms to drive problem solving by the same manner on which an optimal problem solving strategy suggested by Solomonoff (1986) is based. Furthermore, we provide evidence for cognitive substrate hypothesis (Cassimatis, 2006) which states that human level AI in all domains can be achieved by a relatively small set of cognitive mechanisms. The results presented in this paper can serve both cognitive psychology in better understanding of human problem solving processes, and artificial intelligence in designing more human like intelligent agents.