Table Of Content

ThePsychologyofProblemSolving Problems are a central part of human life. The Psychology of Problem Solving organizes in one volume much of what psychologists know about problem solving and the factors that contribute to its success orfailure.Therearechaptersbyleadingexpertsinthisfield,includ- ingMiriamBassok,RandallEngle,AndersEricsson,ArthurGraesser, NorbertSchwarz,KeithStanovich,andBarryZimmerman. The Psychology of Problem Solving is divided into four parts. Fol- lowinganintroductionthatreviewsthenatureofproblemsandthe historyandmethodsofthefield,PartIIfocusesonindividualdiffer- encesin,andtheinfluenceof,theabilitiesandskillsthathumansbring toproblemsituations.PartIIIexaminesmotivationalandemotional statesandcognitivestrategiesthatinfluenceproblem-solvingperformance,whilePartIVsummarizesandintegratesthevariousviewsof problemsolvingproposedintheprecedingchapters. Janet E. Davidson is Associate Professor of Psychology at Lewis & Clark College. She conducts research on several aspects of problem solving,includingtherolesthatinsightandmetacognitiveskillsplay inproblemsolving. RobertJ.SternbergisIBMProfessorofPsychologyandEducationat Yale University and Director of the Yale Center for the Psychology of Abilities, Competencies and Expertise (PACE Center). Professor Sternberg is Editor of Contemporary Psychology and past Editor of PsychologicalBulletin. Together,ProfessorsDavidsonandSternberghaveeditedtwoprevi- ousbooks,ConceptionsofGiftedness(Cambridge,1986)andTheNature ofInsight(1995). The Psychology of Problem Solving Editedby JANET E. DAVIDSON Lewis&ClarkCollege ROBERT J. STERNBERG YaleUniversity    Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge  , United Kingdom Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521793339 © Cambridge University Press 2003 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2003 -  isbn-13 978-0-511-06314-5 eBook (NetLibrary) -  isbn-10 0-511-06314-8 eBook (NetLibrary) -  isbn-13 978-0-521-79333-9 hardback -  isbn-10 0-521-79333-5 hardback isbn--13 978-0-521-79741-2 paperback -  isbn-10 0-521-79741-1 paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of s for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Contents Contributors pagevii Preface ix part i introduction 1 Recognizing,Defining,andRepresentingProblems 3 JeanE.Pretz,AdamJ.Naples,andRobertJ.Sternberg 2 TheAcquisitionofExpertPerformanceasProblem Solving:ConstructionandModificationofMediating MechanismsthroughDeliberatePractice 31 K.AndersEricsson part ii relevant abilities and skills 3 IsSuccessorFailureatSolvingComplexProblemsRelated toIntellectualAbility? 87 DoritWenkeandPeterA.Frensch 4 Creativity:ASourceofDifficultyinProblemSolving 127 ToddI.LubartandChristopheMouchiroud 5 InsightsaboutInsightfulProblemSolving 149 JanetE.Davidson 6 TheRoleofWorkingMemoryinProblemSolving 176 DavidZ.HambrickandRandallW.Engle 7 ComprehensionofTextinProblemSolving 207 ShannonWhittenandArthurC.Graesser part iii states and strategies 8 MotivatingSelf-RegulatedProblemSolvers 233 BarryJ.ZimmermanandMagdaCampillo v vi Contents 9 FeelingandThinking:ImplicationsforProblemSolving 263 NorbertSchwarzandIanSkurnik 10 TheFundamentalComputationalBiasesofHuman Cognition: Heuristics That (Sometimes) Impair Decision MakingandProblemSolving 291 KeithE.Stanovich 11 AnalogicalTransferinProblemSolving 343 MiriamBassok part iv conclusions and integration 12 ProblemSolving–Large/Small,Hard/Easy, Conscious/Nonconscious,Problem-Space/Problem-Solver: TheIssueofDichotomization 373 KennethKotovsky Index 385 Contributors MiriamBassok UniversityofWashington MagdaCampillo GraduateSchoolandUniversityCenter, CityUniversityofNewYork JanetE.Davidson Lewis&ClarkCollege RandallW.Engle GeorgiaInstituteofTechnology K.AndersEricsson FloridaStateUniversity PeterA.Frensch Humboldt-UniversityatBerlin ArthurC.Graesser TheUniversityofMemphis DavidZ.Hambrick MichiganStateUniversity KennethKotovsky CarnegieMellonUniversity ToddI.Lubart Universite´ Rene´ Descartes,Paris ChristopheMouchiroud Universite´ Rene´ Descartes,Paris vii viii Contributors AdamJ.Naples YaleUniversity JeanE.Pretz YaleUniversity NorbertSchwarz UniversityofMichigan IanSkurnik UniversityofMichigan KeithE.Stanovich UniversityofToronto RobertJ.Sternberg YaleUniversity DoritWenke Humboldt-UniversityatBerlin ShannonWhitten TheUniversityofMemphis BarryJ.Zimmerman GraduateSchoolandUniversityCenter, CityUniversityofNewYork Preface Almost everything in life is a problem. Even when we go on vacations toescapeourproblems,wequicklydiscoverthatvacationsmerelybring problems that differ in kind or magnitude from the ones of daily living. In addition, we often find that the solution to one problem becomes the basisofthenextone.Forexample,closingonahousesolvestheproblem ofbuyingahouse,butusuallymeanstheinitiationofawholenewsetof problemspertainingtohomeownership. Becauseproblemsareacentralpartofhumanlife,itisimportanttoun- derstandthenatureofproblemsolvingandthesourcesthatcanmakeitdif- ficult.Whenpeoplehaveproblems,howdotheyidentify,define,andsolve them?Whenandwhydotheysucceedatproblemsolvingandwhenand whydotheyfail?Howcanproblem-solvingperformancebeimproved? Ourgoalforthisbookistoorganizeinonevolumewhatpsychologists knowaboutproblemsolvingandthefactorsthatcontributetoitssuccess or failure. To accomplish this goal, we gave each of our contributors the followingproblem:“Useyourareaofexpertisetodeterminewhatmakes problem solving difficult.” By examining why problem solving is often difficultforpeople,wehopetodiscoverhowtomakeiteasierandmore productive.However,thebook’sfocusisnotadiscouragingonethatem- phasizesonlyfailuresinproblemsolving.Instead,itprovidesabalanced viewofwhyproblemsareandarenotsolvedsuccessfully.Therefore,the bookisorganizedbyfactorsthataffectproblem-solvingperformance,such asintellectualabilities,workingmemory,motivation,andtransferoftrain- ing,ratherthanbyareaofendeavor,suchasmathematics,socialscience, naturalscience,andhistory.Eachchapterfocusesononeormorefactors that are common to the solution of a wide range of problems. However, theextenttowhichthesefactorsaffectproblem-solvingperformancecan varyfromonetypeofproblemtoanother. The book is divided into four parts. Part I comprises the introduction to the book and to the field of problem solving. In chapter 1, Jean Pretz, ix