Problem Solving

On still a larger scale, we might observe that the history of civilization is itself a history of problem solving and innovation. Indeed, since the discovery of fire and the invention of the wheel, man's capacity for imagination and ingenuity has led to astronomical levels of convenience and scientific achievement.

Of course, not only medicine and rocketry demonstrate imaginative problem solving. One has only to thumb through any issue of Time or Newsweek to witness up-to-the-minute innovations in the literary, performing, and graphic arts, in education, always in consumer products and their promotions, sometimes in the ministry, and all too often in military gadgetry.

In view of the conspicuous importance of human problem solving and creativity, then, it is not surprising that psychologists and many others have devoted large portions of their professional lives to unraveling these fascinating behaviors. While the mysteries of creative problem solving - like human consciousness itself - probably will not be totally understood in this century, many inroads have been made into the psychological and environmental conditions that promote problem solving and creative behavior.

There are, of course, a great many other laboratory problems. Always, however, the experimental psychologist seeks to identify and evaluate basic or "pure" problem-solving variables, to examine repetitive problem-solving phenomena and behaviors, and occasionally to develop a theory of human problem solving. Some of these theories are general speculations on the nature of human mental life. For example, Kohler used observations from his chimp studies to help formulate his perceptual reorganization (Gestalt) viewpoints on thinking. Also, Hull (1934) developed the habit-hierarchy concept of thinking and problem solving: the notion - based partly on rat research - that a stimulus situation will elicit first the strongest habits and later the weaker responses, strength being determined by the organism's history of reinforcement. Other problem-solving theories are task-specific, as when Ronning (1965) formulated a rule-out explanation of anagram solving, based on the notion that the solver rules out unlikely letter combinations (such as QL).

While industry and education seem to differ in most of their major goals, they are rather united in their common in terest in tutoring skills of effective and imaginative problem solving. However, major developments in education have been noticeably slower than in the business world. In fact, even though many flexible teachers improvise their own strategies for stimulating thinking, problem solving, or creative experiences, only a handful of theory-based and field-tested educational materials exist. Of these, a pitiful number are commercially available for wide distribution.