The Psychology of Problem Solving

The following sections are included:

• Preface
• About the Authors
• Contents

Problem solving is a part of everyday life. We solve innumerable problems throughout our day, such as splitting the bill at a restaurant, finding the best route to avoid traffic when driving, ordering enough food for everyone at a party, arranging furniture, and decorating the house. For many people, these problems are manageable and solved without significant mental effort or anxiety. However, more complex situations involving multi-step problems inevitably exist, including planning and sticking to a schedule, meeting deadlines at work or school, and managing finances. Although some people excel at conquering such intricate problems, these situations are usually perceived as more challenging…

Humans are problem-solving animals. Aristotle defined humans as Zoon Logikon, which is loosely translated as the rational animal, although rationality was hardly defined at that time. And, what better evidence is there that we are rational animals than our long history of interest in games, mysteries, and puzzles throughout the evolution of human civilization. Beyond the sheer utility of being a good problem solver, humans have been fascinated and entertained with problem solving throughout recorded history and probably even before that point. Such activities generate suspense that calls for relief: a carthesis — the emotional relief that comes from watching a tragic drama, unraveling a great mystery, and solving challenging problems. One example of the history of humans’ fascination with problem solving is the riddle of the Sphinx from the ancient legend of Oedipus. The Sphinx, a monster with the head and breast of a woman, the body of a lion, and wings of a bird, accosts all who dare enter Thebes by posing a riddle: “What is it that has four feet in morning, two feet at noon, and three at twilight?” Failure to solve the riddle results in death; the correct solution destroys the Sphinx. Oedipus answers, “Man, who crawls on four limbs as a baby (in the morning of life), walks upright on two as an adult (at the noon hour of life), and gets around with the aid of a stick in old age (at the twilight of life); thus, he unknowingly unlocks the riddle of his tragic past and future”…

In life, we are surrounded by many types of problems. Some are big, like deciding on a career or what kind of car to buy; we clearly know these are problems and consciously struggle with solutions. Other problems are practical: what to wear; how to cross the street, or where to eat tonight? Such problems we hardly recognized as problematic until our typical solution doesn’t work (Americans often recall that after a late-night flight to London, walking out of a hotel and crossing a large street, looking first to the right, then to the left, but quickly realizing the need for a new solution to the typical, everyday problem of crossing the street in the United States or the European continent). Then there are specific problems that challenge us, like those we encounter in math classes and other educational situations. These problems often seem artificial or contrived to help us learn a routine or skill for finding solutions. And, then, sometimes we entertain ourselves with problems like trying to do a crossword puzzle or playing Sudoku. But before we talk about finding solutions, we need to define the different types of problems we encounter throughout our lives…

The activity of thinking takes many forms. To start, people often draw judgments based on their experienes — judgments about a person’s personality, where to have dinner, or how the weather will be for an upcoming vacation? Can we count on these judgments? How exactly — and how well — do we learn from past experience? Then, once we form judgments, we take another step and think through the implications of our new beliefs. How do we go beyond the information gained from our experienes? Finally, we make countless decisions everyday based on our beliefs about our past experience. Many are trivial, such as having soup or salad? Others can change our lives in important ways — where to go to school, whether to marry, etc. In this chapter, we will consider the psychological aspects of forming judgments, and reasoning from our beliefs, and making decisions.

As stated previously, there are several psychological factors that contribute to one’s ability to effectively and efficiently solve problems. Most of the factors that were listed in the introduction (e.g., focused attention, planning) involve complex intellectual processes. It is possible to possess many of these intellectual factors already and still have trouble solving problems. You might wonder, what else could be getting in the way? That is why we will now discuss one of the most important factors that impede one’s problem-solving abilities: anxiety.

Even when one is naturally skilled at problem solving, effectiveness and efficiency may be hindered if distractions are present or you forget key aspects needed to solve the problem. Inattention and forgetfulness are problems that appear to occur frequently in many individuals. Inattention is the inability to sustain attention for periods of time, while forgetfulness is the forgetting of already learned information…

Most of us readily accept the old proverb that the best way to acquire a skill or get new information is through experience: “Experience is the best teacher.” If you want to be good at problem solving, work on as many varied problems as you can. Practice, practice, practice! Yet, it is not that simple. Repeated unsuccessful experiences can add to frustration. Anticipating failure adds anxiety. And, the rote repetition of a solution hardly amounts to knowledge or understanding. Some sort of guidance is needed to benefit from experience…

The following sections are included:

• Endnotes
• Index