Everyday Problem Solving Research Articles

대학생의 일상적 문제 해결 창의성에 대한 평가 척도 개발과 타당화

대학생의 일상적 문제 해결 창의성에 대한 평가 척도 개발과 타당화

Augmentation of Everyday Problem Solving Abilities Using Transcranial Electric Stimulation

Augmentation of Everyday Problem Solving Abilities Using Transcranial Electric Stimulation

The ACTIVE conceptual framework as a structural equation model

ABSTRACTBackground/Study Context: Conceptual frameworks are analytic models at a high level of abstraction. Their operationalization can inform randomized trial design and sample size considerations.Methods: The Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) conceptual framework was empirically tested using structural equation modeling (N=2,802). ACTIVE was guided by a conceptual framework for cognitive training in which proximal cognitive abilities (memory, inductive reasoning, speed of processing) mediate treatment-related improvement in primary outcomes (everyday problem-solving, difficulty with activities of daily living, everyday speed, driving difficulty), which in turn lead to improved secondary outcomes (health-related quality of life, health service utilization, mobility). Measurement models for each proximal, primary, and secondary outcome were developed and tested using baseline data. Each construct was then combined in one model to evaluate fit (RMSEA, CFI, normalized residuals of each indicator). To expand the conceptual model and potentially inform future trials, evidence of modification of structural model parameters was evaluated by age, years of education, sex, race, and self-rated health status.Results: Preconceived measurement models for memory, reasoning, speed of processing, everyday problem-solving, instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) difficulty, everyday speed, driving difficulty, and health-related quality of life each fit well to the data (all RMSEA < .05; all CFI > .95). Fit of the full model was excellent (RMSEA = .038; CFI = .924). In contrast with previous findings from ACTIVE regarding who benefits from training, interaction testing revealed associations between proximal abilities and primary outcomes are stronger on average by nonwhite race, worse health, older age, and less education (p < .005).Conclusions: Empirical data confirm the hypothesized ACTIVE conceptual model. Findings suggest that the types of people who show intervention effects on cognitive performance potentially may be different from those with the greatest chance of transfer to real-world activities.

An exploratory study into everyday problem solving in the design process of medical devices

ABSTRACTWe investigated accounts of how individuals in public and private organisations operating in the medical device industry use different forms of capital (social e.g. networks and cultural e.g. knowledge) to solve design based problems. We define capital as resources embedded in social networks, knowledge or economic wealth [Bourdieu 1986. “Forms of Capital.” In Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, edited by J. Richardson, 241–258. New York: Greenwood]. Data were collected from interviews and written diaries from individuals involved in the design process of medical devices using interpretative analysis. Inferences made from our analyses suggested that individuals working in organisations who successfully solve problems may do so by using both social and cultural capital and so may be more likely to engage in innovative activity than others. These exploratory findings suggest workers in large organisations may have the capability to use a greater level of in-house social and cultural capital, whereas those in smaller organisations may be more reliant on high levels of social capital in order to ‘tap into’ cultural capital beyond organisational boundaries.

Cognitive screening and behavioural observation of functional ability in patients with multiple episode schizophrenia: an exploratory study

ObjectivesTo evaluate the usability of a neuropsychological screening instrument and two observation scales of everyday behaviour to describe cognitive and functional capacity of patients with multiepisode schizophrenia and considerable care...

Cognitive Predictors of Everyday Problem Solving across the Lifespan

Background: An important aspect of successful aging is maintaining the ability to solve everyday problems encountered in daily life. The limited evidence today suggests that everyday problem solving ability increases from young adulthood to middle age, but decreases in older age. Objectives: The present study examined age differences in the relative contributions of fluid and crystallized abilities to solving problems on the Everyday Problems Test (EPT). We hypothesized that due to diminishing fluid resources available with advanced age, crystallized knowledge would become increasingly important in predicting everyday problem solving with greater age. Method: Two hundred and twenty-one healthy adults from the Dallas Lifespan Brain Study, aged 24-93 years, completed a cognitive battery that included measures of fluid ability (i.e., processing speed, working memory, inductive reasoning) and crystallized ability (i.e., multiple measures of vocabulary). These measures were used to predict performance on EPT. Results: Everyday problem solving showed an increase in performance from young to early middle age, with performance beginning to decrease at about age of 50 years. As hypothesized, fluid ability was the primary predictor of performance on everyday problem solving for young adults, but with increasing age, crystallized ability became the dominant predictor. Conclusion: This study provides evidence that everyday problem solving ability differs with age, and, more importantly, that the processes underlying it differ with age as well. The findings indicate that older adults increasingly rely on knowledge to support everyday problem solving, whereas young adults rely almost exclusively on fluid intelligence.

The Effects of Cognitive Training on Cognitive Abilities and Everyday Function: A 10-Week Randomized Controlled Trial

With a random groups design, the current study examined whether a 10-week cognitive training could improve healthy older adult's cognitive functions and everyday problem-solving and whether high ecological validity trainings would have greater positive impact upon everyday problem-solving than low ecological validity trainings. Eighty-six healthy Chinese older adult participants were assigned randomly to five groups, including one control group receiving no training and four groups receiving low ecological memory training, high ecological memory training, low ecological reasoning training, and high ecological reasoning training, respectively. Participants were measured pre- and posttraining on spatial working memory, numerical working memory, reasoning, and everyday problem-solving. Results of this study showed that cognitive training significantly improved targeted cognitive functions and everyday problem-solving performance in all the intervention groups. However, high ecological cognitive trainings failed to show superior impact upon everyday problem-solving compared with low ecological cognitive trainings.

Frontal Structural Neural Correlates of Working Memory Performance in Older Adults.

Working memory is an executive memory process that allows transitional information to be held and manipulated temporarily in memory stores before being forgotten or encoded into long-term memory. Working memory is necessary for everyday decision-making and problem solving, making it a fundamental process in the daily lives of older adults. Working memory relies heavily on frontal lobe structures and is known to decline with age. The current study aimed to determine the neural correlates of decreased working memory performance in the frontal lobes by comparing cortical thickness and cortical surface area from two demographically matched groups of healthy older adults, free from cognitive impairment, with high versus low N-Back working memory performance (N = 56; average age = 70.29 ± 10.64). High-resolution structural T1-weighted images (1 mm isotropic voxels) were obtained on a 3T Philips MRI scanner. When compared to high performers, low performers exhibited significantly decreased cortical surface area in three frontal lobe regions lateralized to the right hemisphere: medial orbital frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, and superior frontal gyrus (FDR p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in cortical thickness between groups, a proxy for neurodegenerative tissue loss. Our results suggest that decreases in cortical surface area (a proxy for brain structural integrity) in right frontal regions may underlie age-related decline of working memory function.

Metaphor and analogy in everyday problem solving.

Early accounts of problem solving focused on the ways people represent information directly related to target problems and possible solutions. Subsequent theory and research point to the role of peripheral influences such as heuristics and bodily states. We discuss how metaphor and analogy similarly influence stages of everyday problem solving: Both processes mentally map features of a target problem onto the structure of a relatively more familiar concept. When individuals apply this structure, they use a well-known concept as a framework for reasoning about real world problems and candidate solutions. Early studies found that analogy use helped people gain insight into novel problems. More recent research on metaphor goes further to show that activating mappings has subtle, sometimes surprising effects on judgment and reasoning in everyday problem solving. These findings highlight situations in which mappings can help or hinder efforts to solve problems. WIREs Cogn Sci 2016, 7:394-405. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1407 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.

Does Lifelong Learning Experience Influence Coping Flexibility in Everyday Problem Solving? A Preliminary Study

Using data from 593 at-risk adolescents (12–17 years) this article reports on an examination of the psychometric properties of a reduced version of the Youth Services Survey (YSS), a youth self-report measure of service quality. The paper reports on the content validity, internal validity, reproducibility, floor and ceiling effects and responsiveness of the measure. The analysis supports the use of a 13-item version of the YSS as a valid and reliable measure of service quality. The YSS-13 is broadly consistent with “The Big Three” principles of PYD. Therefore the measure can be used to assist service providers in assessing the extent to which their service delivery aligns with these principles and to identify areas where service delivery can be strengthened.

Cross-syndrome comparison of real-world executive functioning and problem solving using a new problem-solving questionnaire

BackgroundIndividuals with neurodevelopmental disorders like Williams syndrome and Down syndrome exhibit executive function impairments on experimental tasks (Lanfranchi, Jerman, Dal Pont, Alberti, & Vianello, 2010; Menghini, Addona, Costanzo, & Vicari, 2010), but the way that they use executive functioning for problem solving in everyday life has not hitherto been explored. The study aim is to understand cross-syndrome characteristics of everyday executive functioning and problem solving. MethodsParents/carers of individuals with Williams syndrome (n=47) or Down syndrome (n=31) of a similar chronological age (m=17 years 4 months and 18 years respectively) as well as those of a group of younger typically developing children (n=34; m=8years 3 months) completed two questionnaires: the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF; Gioia, Isquith, Guy, & Kenworthy, 2000) and a novel Problem-Solving Questionnaire. ResultsThe rated likelihood of reaching a solution in a problem solving situation was lower for both syndromic groups than the typical group, and lower still for the Williams syndrome group than the Down syndrome group. The proportion of group members meeting the criterion for clinical significance on the BRIEF was also highest for the Williams syndrome group. While changing response, avoiding losing focus and maintaining perseverance were important for problem-solving success in all groups, asking for help and avoiding becoming emotional were also important for the Down syndrome and Williams syndrome groups respectively. Keeping possessions in order was a relative strength amongst BRIEF scales for the Down syndrome group. ConclusionResults suggest that individuals with Down syndrome tend to use compensatory strategies for problem solving (asking for help and potentially, keeping items well ordered), while for individuals with Williams syndrome, emotional reactions disrupt their problem-solving skills. This paper highlights the importance of identifying syndrome-specific problem-solving strengths and difficulties to improve effective functioning in everyday life.

성인자녀-부모관계와 부모의 인지기능: 구조적·연계적 결속을 중심으로

This study examined whether structural (coresidence, proximity) and associational (frequency of face-to-face contact, frequency of contact via phone, email or letter) solidarity between adult children and older parents may influence older parents' cognitive functioning. Adult children may help delay older parents' cognitive decline by promoting healthier lifestyle, engaging parents in complex everyday problem solving, and providing emotional support. The data consisted of men and women 65+ at Wave 1 who had at least one child 20+ and participated in at least two waves of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA, N=3,961). Cognitive functioning was measured with the Korean version of the Mini Mental State Examination. Fixed effects models were estimated using the xtreg procedure in STATA. Findings suggest that increases in proximity with at least one adult child may lead to enhanced cognitive functioning among older parents. Neither transitioning to coresidence with at least one adult child nor increases in frequency of contact with at least one non-resident adult child was associated with changes in older parents' cognitive functioning. With older parents' increasing preference for living close by, but not necessarily living with adult children, greater proximity may provide more opportunities for reciprocal support exchanges between the two generations, leading to better cognitive functioning of older parents.

Positive affect predicts everyday problem-solving ability in older adults

Objectives: Increased symptom endorsement on the short form of the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale has been previously associated with lower everyday problem-solving (EPS) ability in older adults. However, given the multifactorial and complex nature of depressive symptoms, it remains unclear whether certain symptoms/aspects of depression account for this relationship. We examined established factor scores on the full version of the CES-D to assess their utility as predictors of EPS in an older adult cohort.Methods: Community-dwelling older adults (n = 103; age: 51–91) were administered the CES-D along with a measure of EPS ability assessing both social and practical EPS. Regression analyses were used to determine the relationships between variables.Results: Analyses revealed that increased CES-D scores predicted worse EPS ability in older adults (β = −.17, p < .05) beyond the effects of age, gender, and education. Regression analyses examining each CES-D factor score revealed that decreased positive affect (loss of hope/enjoyment in life; β = −.21, p < .01) remained the only significant predictor of decreased overall EPS scores beyond demographic variables, while depressed affect, interpersonal, and somatic factors were not significant predictors. Positive affect predicted both practical, as well as social EPS scores.Conclusions: Current results extend previous findings by showing that the relationship between increased depressive symptoms and decreased EPS ability in older age may be primarily driven by anhedonia as opposed to other depressive symptoms.

Differences and Similarities of Participant Experiences in Simulation of Problem Solving : Exploring Implications from a Case of CPX in Medical Education

전문교육영역에서 많은 교육 프로그램들은 실제 세계에 직접적으로 노출됨 없이도 실제 세계를 모사하여 학습자가 획득하고자 하는 내용을 보다 효과적으로 재생할 수 있도록 하는 시뮬레이션의 성격을 갖는다. 학습이나 평가 프로그램의 설계와 운영에서의 중요한 관건은 학습자로 하여금 관련 현장에서 활용하는 지식이나 기법을 얼마나 실제 답게 경험하도록 하느냐에 달려 있다. 본 연구에서는 의학교육에서 임상수행평가를 사례로 하여 참여자가 시뮬레이션 프로그램을 어떻게 경험할 수 있는지 살펴보았다. 이를 위해서는 재생산하고자하는 경험이나 지식의 동일성을 전제로 하지 않고, ‘사태를 있는 그대로’ 사태들간의 유사성과 차이가 무엇인지 면밀히 관찰 분석해 보고자 하였다. 실제 상황과 모사 상황은 각각의 상황이 노정하는 총체적 이해의 지평에 따라 다르게 경험될 수밖에 없다. 그럼에도 불구하고 시뮬레이션 프로그램이 모종의 교육적 기능을 할 수 있는 것은 전달하고자 하는 지식이 구현하고자 하는 실제의 모사 여부 수준보다는 참여자들의 실제적인 추론과 행위를 어떻게 지속적으로 유발시킬 수 있을 것인가에 달려 있다. 본 연구 결과는 상황주의 패러다임에 따른 교육 프로그램의 개발 및 학습전이 연구에 시사점을 제시해 줄 것이다.

People underestimate the value of persistence for creative performance.

Across 7 studies, we investigated the prediction that people underestimate the value of persistence for creative performance. Across a range of creative tasks, people consistently underestimated how productive they would be while persisting (Studies 1-3). Study 3 found that the subjectively experienced difficulty, or disfluency, of creative thought accounted for persistence undervaluation. Alternative explanations based on idea quality (Studies 1-2B) and goal setting (Study 4) were considered and ruled out and domain knowledge was explored as a boundary condition (Study 5). In Study 6, the disfluency of creative thought reduced people's willingness to invest in an opportunity to persist, resulting in lower financial performance. This research demonstrates that persistence is a critical determinant of creative performance and that people may undervalue and underutilize persistence in everyday creative problem solving.

Memory Constraints on Hypothesis Generation and Decision Making

Hypothesis generation is the process people use to generate explanations for patterns of data, which is an act vital to everyday problem solving. It is the basis for decision making in many professions, such as medicine, intelligence and reconnaissance analysis, auditing, and fault detection in nuclear power plants. Even laypeople’s impressions of acquaintances’ personalities based on behavioral patterns can be considered a case of hypothesis generation. This article provides an overview of research elucidating the cognitive processes that underlie hypothesis generation and decision making.

The relevance of logical thinking and cognitive style to everyday problem solving among older adults

Adults are effective day-to-day problem solvers throughout their lifespan but the specific mechanism on how they solve everyday problems is not fully understood. The goal was to investigate the effects of logical thinking and cognitive style on the ability to solve everyday problems among older adults. What we test is the intuition that the person’s cognitive style is related to solve day-to-day problems. However, we argued also that one needs a good dose of pragmatism, as measured by logical thinking. We administered an everyday problem-solving test alongside measures of cognitive styles and logical thinking to a sample of 210 community-dwelling older adults of Southeastern Italy. The results, by structural equation modeling, indicated that logical thinking mediates the relationship between cognitive style and everyday problem solving. We discuss the possibility that older adults who have preserved intact logical thinking abilities are more likely to see the multifaceted reality of everyday problems.

Lesion mapping of social problem solving.

Accumulating neuroscience evidence indicates that human intelligence is supported by a distributed network of frontal and parietal regions that enable complex, goal-directed behaviour. However, the contributions of this network to social aspects of intellectual function remain to be well characterized. Here, we report a human lesion study (n = 144) that investigates the neural bases of social problem solving (measured by the Everyday Problem Solving Inventory) and examine the degree to which individual differences in performance are predicted by a broad spectrum of psychological variables, including psychometric intelligence (measured by the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale), emotional intelligence (measured by the Mayer, Salovey, Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test), and personality traits (measured by the Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness Personality Inventory). Scores for each variable were obtained, followed by voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping. Stepwise regression analyses revealed that working memory, processing speed, and emotional intelligence predict individual differences in everyday problem solving. A targeted analysis of specific everyday problem solving domains (involving friends, home management, consumerism, work, information management, and family) revealed psychological variables that selectively contribute to each. Lesion mapping results indicated that social problem solving, psychometric intelligence, and emotional intelligence are supported by a shared network of frontal, temporal, and parietal regions, including white matter association tracts that bind these areas into a coordinated system. The results support an integrative framework for understanding social intelligence and make specific recommendations for the application of the Everyday Problem Solving Inventory to the study of social problem solving in health and disease.

Fostering intentional learning with systems dynamic modeling

The intent of this paper is to suggest the dimensions of intentional learning and identify the key cognitive benefits of systems modeling with regard to intentional learning through a review of related studies. The authors propose that intentional learning occurs when learners realize the need for refining their conceptual understanding, relate learning to their everyday experiences, possibly through everyday problem solving, and activates or develops metacognitive processes in the course of learning. When engaged in intentional learning, learners’ epistemological beliefs are also challenged. The authors also discuss how systems modeling could potentially foster domain knowledge, systemic thinking, and conceptual change. The second section of this paper describes a technology-enhanced learning environment that fosters intentional learning.

Neurocognitive enhancement in older adults: Comparison of three cognitive training tasks to test a hypothesis of training transfer in brain connectivity

The ultimate goal of cognitive enhancement as an intervention for age-related cognitive decline is transfer to everyday cognitive functioning. Development of training methods that transfer broadly to untrained cognitive tasks (far transfer) requires understanding of the neural bases of training and far transfer effects. We used cognitive training to test the hypothesis that far transfer is associated with altered attentional control demands mediated by the dorsal attention network and trained sensory cortex. In an exploratory study, we randomly assigned 42 healthy older adults to six weeks of training on Brain Fitness (BF—auditory perception), Space Fortress (SF—visuomotor/working memory), or Rise of Nations (RON—strategic reasoning). Before and after training, cognitive performance, diffusion-derived white matter integrity, and functional connectivity of the superior parietal cortex (SPC) were assessed. We found the strongest effects from BF training, which transferred to everyday problem solving and reasoning and selectively changed integrity of occipito-temporal white matter associated with improvement on untrained everyday problem solving. These results show that cognitive gain from auditory perception training depends on heightened white matter integrity in the ventral attention network. In BF and SF (which also transferred positively), a decrease in functional connectivity between SPC and inferior temporal lobe (ITL) was observed compared to RON—which did not transfer to untrained cognitive function. These findings highlight the importance for cognitive training of top–down control of sensory processing by the dorsal attention network. Altered brain connectivity – observed in the two training tasks that showed far transfer effects – may be a marker for training success.