Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Cognitive Ecology Of Problem Solving, Alan Hartley

Scripps Faculty Publications and Research

This chapter examines the first goal: understanding real-world problem solving. It is particularly concerned with issues of representativeness and what has been called ecological validity. In addition, because there is considerable evidence that there are differences across the adult life span in solving problems, as reviewed by Botwinick (1978), Giambra and Arenberg (1980), and Rabbitt (1977), it will be important to ask whether or not age is an important qualifier to the conclusions that are reached. The first section discusses the problems people actually face and reviews the paradigms used in scientific investigations to represent problems, including studies of age …