Problem solving and behavior modification.

Selectively reviewed problem-solving theory and research for possible applications in behavior modification. Problem solving was defined as a behavioral process which (a) makes available a variety of response alternatives for dealing with a problematic situation, and (b) increases the probability of selecting the most effective response from among these alternatives. 5 stages of problem solving were identified: (a) general orientation or "set," (b) problem definition and formulation, (c) generation of alternatives, (d) decision making, and (e) verification. Training in problem solving was conceptualized as a form of self-control training, I.e., the individual "learns how to solve problems" and thus discovers for himself the most effective way of responding. General guidelines are presented for clinical application with cases characterized by a deficit in effective behavior and its emotional consequences. (2 P. Ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Separability of metacognition and cognition: Problem solving in learning disabled and regular students.

Investigated whether metacognition is a separate factor from cognition by measuring the effects of metacognitive factors in problem solving while attempting to hold relevant cognitive factors constant. 24 2nd–6th graders who were disabled in mathematics were matched to 24 regular students on the basis of both Ss' performance on the same set of 10 mathematics problems and their achievement test scores in mathematics. The 2 groups also did not significantly differ on IQ scores. Results show that the learning disabled Ss were less skilled in 2 forms of metacognition with respect to the set of problems: (a) knowledge about cognition, or in this case knowledge about their problem-solving skills; and (b) regulation of cognition, or in this case the ability to monitor their problem-solving performance. Implications of the results and the adequacy of the matching methodology are discussed. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problem solving: Waking and dreaming.

Investigated whether problem-solving ability is either quantitatively or qualitatively superior following an interval of sleep including dreaming than it is following an equal interval of waking time. 24 college students were tested on matched problems before and after these 2 conditions on 3 problem types: crossword puzzles, Remote Associates Test, and Thematic Apperception Test story completions. These were predicted to show the effects of dreaming in increasing order. Only the story endings changed more following sleep than following an awake period. The direction of the change following waking was toward more successful solutions, and after sleep toward more unsuccessful solutions from the point of view of meeting the heroes' needs. Several interpretations of these findings are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problem solving with equals: Peer collaboration as a context for learning mathematics and spatial concepts.

Assessed effects of peer collaboration on mathematical and spatial reasoning for fourth graders and on learning with logical-physical materials 1 year later. Subjects were 152 fourth graders, randomly divided into 4 groups: mathematics, spatial reasoning, and 2 control groups. In Year 1, pairs in the math and spatial groups worked together for six sessions on math and spatial problems, respectively. In Year 2, pairs of children in the math, spatial, and Control 1 groups worked together on a series of 6 sessions with balance scale problems. Findings from the pretest/posttest data indicated that peer collaboration is an effective learning environment for tasks that require reasoning, but not for tasks that require rote learning or copying. Furthermore, the learning that occurred in the second year was directly related to first-year gains made by pairs in the math group. Pretest gender differences in favor of boys diminished during the intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problem solving in judgment under uncertainty.

This article presents a problem-solving approach to judgment under uncertainty. According to this approach, the application of statistical rules and nonstatistical rules depends on the same general problem-solving factors. The experiments reported herein used base-rate problems to study four such factors: the prior and immediate activation of the rules, their relation to the goal, and their applicability to the givens of the problem. All of the experiments used purely statistical base rates and highly representative case information. Supporting the prior activation assumption, Experiment 1 found that prior use of base rates enhanced subsequent use of other base rates. Consistent with the immediate activation assumption, Experiment 2 showed that the use of base rate increased with their immediate salience. Experiments 3 and 4 demonstrated that the application of inferential rules is goal driven. Specifically, base-rate and case information were used to the extent that they led to satisfactory solutions. Finally, Experiments 5 and 6 demonstrated subjects' sensitivity to restrictions on the application of the relevant statistical and nonstatistical rules. In these experiments, subjects' reliance on base rates increased with the perceived randomness of the process whereby the case was selected from the population and with the perceived unreliability of the source of case information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problem solving in the treatment of childhood obesity.

This study randomized obese children from 67 families to groups that received a 6-month family-based behavioral weight-control program plus parent and child problem solving, child problem solving, or standard treatment with no additional problem solving. The standard group showed larger body mass index (BMI) decreases than the parent?+?child group through 2 years, with significant differences in the percentage of children who showed large BMI changes. Significant statistical and clinical improvements were observed over time in child behavior problems and parental distress. Parent problem solving increased in the parent?+?child condition relative to the other conditions, whereas child problem solving increased equally in all conditions. The bulk of evidence suggests that problem solving did not add to treatment effectiveness beyond the standard family-based treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problem solving and contingency contracting in the treatment of marital discord.

Randomly assigned 10 married couples reporting dissatisfaction with their relationships to an experimental treatment group and a minimal treatment waiting-list control group. The experimental treatment consisted of training couples to interact more positively and behave more efficiently when engaged in problem solving, and teaching them to make written contingency contracts. The groups were compared both on observational and self-report measures. In addition, each couple in the treatment group served as a separate single-S experiment; data collected by spouses at home were subjected to analyses using multiple baselines. On all group measures, the group receiving treatment improved significantly more than the control group. Similarly, most of the multiple baselines corroborated the group comparisons and revealed that desirable behavior changes did occur and that these changes were a function of treatment manipulations. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problem solving as a function of children's defensiveness and parental behavior.

The performance of 2 groups of 16 5th-grade boys, one low defensive and low anxious (LD) and the other high defensive and low anxious (HD) on the Defensiveness and Test Anxiety Scales for Children, was compared on the Porteus Maze Test taken with mothers absent and on a different form of the Porteus plus a jigsaw puzzle test with mothers present. Mothers were rated on a set of rating scales as they helped their sons with the puzzle. The results suggest that (a) discrepancies between ability and qualitative performance in defensive boys are a function of defensiveness whereas such discripancies in quantitative performance are a function of certain salient components of the test situation, and (b) communication is less effective in families of HD boys than in families of LD boys. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problem solving and the quality of invention: An empirical investigation.

Developed an empirical measure of 76 undergraduates' and 301 11th and 12th graders' ability to create new problems and the relationship between this ability and their skill in solving similar types of problems. These issues were examined using items from the Raven Progressive Matrices. It was found that a reliable and valid quality score could be assigned to newly created matrix-type problems and that only a very low correlation existed between the ability to solve existing problems and the ability to invent new ones. Problems creation was found to be a more difficult task than problem solving, thereby supporting the theoretical notions regarding its significance in characterizing human giftedness and creativity. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problem solving: A model for supervision in professional psychology.

Reviews literature on problem-solving models, their application to psychology and other fields, models of supervision, and supervision in psychology. The following processes are addressed: problem identification, generation of alternative solutions, solution evaluation, decision making, performance, and outcome evaluation. Implementation of the problem-solving model and possible sources of difficulty are discussed. This model has the advantages of being atheoretical, systematic, and appropriate for use in clinical, counseling, and school psychology. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enhancing third-grade student' mathematical problem solving with self-regulated learning strategies.

The authors assessed the contribution of self-regulated learning strategies (SRL), when combined with problem-solving transfer instruction (L. S. Fuchs et al., 2003), on 3rd-graders' mathematical problem solving. SRL incorporated goal setting and self-evaluation. Problem-solving transfer instruction taught problem-solution methods, the meaning of transfer, and 4 superficial-problem features that change a problem without altering its type or solution; it also prompted metacognitive awareness to transfer. The authors contrasted the effectiveness of transfer plus SRL to the transfer treatment alone and to teacher-designed instruction. Twenty-four 3rd-grade teachers, with 395 students, were assigned randomly to conditions. Treatments were conducted for 16 weeks. Students were pre- and posttested on problem-solving tests and responded to a posttreatment questionnaire tapping self-regulation processes. SRL positively affected performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problem solving in infancy: The emergence of an action plan.

Young children's strategies were evaluated as they grasped and used objects. Spoons containing food and toys mounted on handles were presented to 9-, 14-, and 19-month-old children with the handle alternately oriented to the left and right. The alternating orientations revealed strategies that the children used for grasping items. Younger children usually reached with their preferred hand, disregarding the item's orientation. In the case of the spoon, this strategy produced awkward grasps that had to be corrected later. Older children anticipated the problem, alternated the hand used, and achieved an efficient radial grip (i.e., handle grasped with base of thumb toward food or toy end) for both orientations. A model of the development of action-selection strategies is proposed to illustrate planning in children younger than 2 years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problem solving in triads composed of varying numbers of field-dependent and field-independent subjects.

Investigated the interactive effects of situational task demands and interpersonal group environment on small group performance. High-structure and low-structure tasks were solved by 3 types of small groups: 3 field-dependent Ss; 3 field-independent Ss; and triads with both field-dependent and field-independent Ss. Ss were 231 male college students who were tested with the Group Embedded Figures Test. The lower and upper third of the test distribution were defined as field dependent and field independent, respectively, and assigned to 1 of the 3 small groups. It was hypothesized that field-dependent Ss would perform tasks more efficiently than would field-independent Ss when the task environment provided structure. This hypothesis was not supported. The field-independent Ss had the fastest completion times, whereas the field-dependent Ss had the slowest times of all. It was also hypothesized that the difference in performance attributable to task structure would be greater for field-dependent Ss than it would be for field-independent Ss. This hypothesis was supported. Results demonstrate the relative ability of field-independent Ss to solve the tasks and the potential for coalition formation within the mixed triads. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problem solving and intervention design: Guidelines for the evaluation of technical adequacy.

Describes suggested guidelines for evaluating the technical adequacy of problem solving and intervention design. The problem- solving process, viewed as a structural aspect of validity, provides an overarching set of rules through which assessment information is transformed into professional inferences, actions, and outcomes. The article defines key concepts, including decision making, consequences, and problem solving. These concepts are then used to illustrate potential points of analysis for each step of the problem-solving process, including problem identification, problem analysis, plan development and implementation, and plan evaluation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problem solving and suicidality among prison inmates: Another look at state versus trait.

Examines the relationships between means–ends problem solving and suicidality among adult male prison inmates in light of new evidence based on inpatient and college student populations suggesting that state, rather than trait, vulnerabilities may be responsible for problem-solving deficits and differences. Using the Means–Ends Problem-Solving Procedure with 93 state prison inmates, it was found that among inmates with a history of parasuicide, current suicidality did not affect problem-solving performance. Among nonsuicidal inmates, parasuicide history had no effect on problem solving or affect–suicidality measures. Although these results support new research suggesting that trait problem-solving deficits are not causally linked to suicidality, they raise questions about the potentially unique relationships among suicidality, problem solving, depression, and hopelessness in incarcerated populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problem solving in video-based microworlds: Collaborative and individual outcomes of high-achieving sixth-grade students.

The effect of collaboration on problem-solving performance and learning was investigated in the context of a complex, video-based mathematics problem. Ninety-six high-achieving 6th-grade students were randomly assigned to collaborative or individual problem-solving conditions. Two hypotheses were tested: (a) that triads would perform better than individuals when first presented with the problems and (b) that students who had first worked in triads would perform better than students who had worked individually when asked to solve the same problem and a near-transfer problem on their own. Three measures of problem solving and planning were used. Students in the collaborative condition outperformed students in the individual condition on their initial attempt at the problem. In addition, students in the collaborative condition performed better on the mastery and near-transfer problems on 2 out of 3 performance measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improving classroom learning by collaboratively observing human tutoring videos while problem solving.

Collaboratively observing tutoring is a promising method for observational learning (also referred to as vicarious learning). This method was tested in the Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center’s Physics LearnLab, where students were introduced to physics topics by observing videos while problem solving in Andes, a physics tutoring system. Students were randomly assigned to three groups: (a) pairs collaboratively observing videos of an expert human tutoring session, (b) pairs observing videos of expert problem solving, or (c) individuals observing expert problem solving. Immediate learning measures did not display group differences; however, long-term retention and transfer measures showed consistent differences favoring collaboratively observing tutoring. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit learning in problem solving: The role of working memory capacity.

Participants solving the Balls and Boxes puzzle for the first time were slowed in proportion to the level of working memory (WM) reduction resulting from a concurrent secondary task. On a second and still challenging solution of the same puzzle, performance was greatly improved, and the same WM load did not impair problem-solving efficiency. Thus, the effect of WM capacity reduction was selective for the first solution of the puzzle, indicating that learning to solve the puzzle, a vital part of the first solution, is slowed by the secondary WM-loading task. Retrospective verbal reports, tests of specific puzzle knowledge, and a recognition test of potential strategies all indicated that participants were unaware of their knowledge of the puzzle, suggesting that it had been learned implicitly. Concurrent protocols collected from participants supported this conclusion and further suggested that participants were not aware of learning to solve the puzzle as this learning occurred. These results provide evidence that implicit learning depends on WM capacity and that implicit memory can play an important role in problem solving. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problem solving by schizophrenic and schizoaffective patients on the Wisconsin and California Card Sorting Tests.

The performance of patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective illness was compared with that of age- and education-matched normal controls on the Wisconsin and California Card Sorting Tests (WCST and CCST). On the WCST, both groups of patients achieved fewer than the normal number of categories and made more perseverative responses and errors. On the complete and short versions of the CCST, both patient groups generated, identified, and executed fewer than the normal number of concepts; provided less accurate and less complete verbal explanations for the correct concepts they did generate; and made more verbal and nonverbal perseverative responses than did the controls. There were no differences between patient groups on either test. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive technology: Some procedures for facilitating learning and problem solving in mathematics and science.

An argument is detailed for modifications to some traditional procedures of mathematics and science instruction. It is suggested that cognitive research findings, in revealing the essential domain specificity of problem-solving skills, have pointed to negative aspects of some traditional emphases. As a major example, conventional problem solving frequently can interfere with the acquisition of knowledge. Alternatives to problem solving such as studying worked examples can be equally ineffective unless they are designed in accordance with current findings. It is concluded that if material is structured with learning rather than goal attainment in mind, problem-solving skills can be enhanced substantially. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)