The way I interpreted this problem was it being hard, but with using problem representation, and just a little thought it was easy. I reviewed the problem and automatically understood that the three animals shouldn't be together because they do not get along. The dog will fight the cat, the cat will eat the mouse, and the only animals that would get along together in this situation was the mouse and dog. This problem was a mind problem you just had to put a little thought into it for it to all come together.
2.What strategy did you use and how did you evaluate your progress?
The strategy I used was the Trial and Error strategy, even though it states that it is a waste of time, it was in my opinion a better option. I had to try different ways to figure out the problem. This just seemed like a more logical method being the fact I had to try quite a few ways to solve this problem. The task was to try and get all the animals across without leaving the one's that do not get along together. I evaluated my progress by trying different ways until I finally found one that worked for it.
3.Did you encounter any obstacle while solving this problem?
I did encounter a big obstacle,but I used the mental set to help me accomplish my goal. The obstacle I encounterd was not being able to get all the animals across without them not getting along, I believe this happened because I didn't take the time out to really look at the big picture or think about options that would have made sence. I just tried to move the one animal first that didn't get along with all of the animals which was obviously the cat, them I tried the dog and they faught, last I tried the mouse and I guess the cat ate the mouse. But then something made sense to me after the fact, if I moved the cat first, then move either the dog or mouse, and bring one of them back and then switch I would be able to get all the animal across the river.
4.Were you aware of this