Problem-solving Efforts Research Articles

DYNAMIC SIMULATION MODEL OF BEEF SUPPLY CHAIN TO FULFILL NATIONAL DEMAND

Sustainable food supply chain is required to mitigate supply chain risks, reinforce long-term supplier relationships and build stakeholder and customer trusts. It has a significant role in social welfare, political stability, and economic growth. In this research, we treated beef as a commodity, based on consideration that the demand of this commodity continues to increase in line with population growth and the needs of processed food industries. On the other hand, the supply of this commodity tends to decline. Currently beef production in Indonesia covers only about 60% of the need, i.e. the rest is imported. The beef supply chain is too long, and the demand surges during Eid festivities causing shortages of beef in the market. There is a need to design a program that is strategic and systematic to anticipate shortages of beef production as importing beef product is unable to resolve the issue. One of the problem-solving efforts that can be done is to improve supply chain management. There is a need to plan, build, and integrate aspects of "production-distribution-consumption” at the national level by identifying the stakeholders including regions and distribution channels. By considering the aforementioned problems, the beef supply chain can be improved with the support of simulation model to assess the existing system and to develop some scenarios to improve the system performance. We utilized system dynamics model to accommodate several key variables or parameters that have significant contribution to strategic sustainable development of food supply chain, such as changes and uncertainties in supply (caused by climate change), demand, distribution, as well as internal and external business factors. The research results show that national demand can be fulfilled through several strategic initiatives.

Construction and utilization of problem-solving knowledge in open source software environments

Abstract Open Source Software (OSS) has become an important environment where developers can share reusable software assets in a collaborative manner. Although developers can find useful software assets to reuse in the OSS environment, they may face difficulties in finding solutions to problems that occur while integrating the assets with their own software. In OSS, sharing the experiences of solving similar problems among developers usually plays an important role in reducing problem-solving efforts. We analyzed how developers interact with each other to solve problems in OSS, and found that there is a common pattern of exchanging information about symptoms and causes of a problem. In particular, we found that many problems involve multiple symptoms and causes and it is critical to identify those symptoms and causes early to solve the problems more efficiently. We developed a Bayesian network based approach to semi-automatically construct a knowledge base for dealing with problems, and to recommend potential causes of a problem based on multiple symptoms reported in OSS. Our experiments showed that the approach is effective to recommend the core causes of a problem, and contributes to solving the problem in an efficient manner.

Shared Mental Models in Human-Machine Systems

Abstract: Imagine a future where humans and machines are able to share tasks, to monitor each other’s performance, and to interchange (control) authority whenever required or desired. In aviation, this vision was conceptualized almost twenty-five years ago by the late Charles Billings and is formally known as Human-Centered Automation. Although the aviation community has embraced this perspective, it proves to be difficult to realize this envisioned level of human-machine collaboration, especially for cognitive tasks. To achieve a breakthrough, I argue that we first have to consider what seems to be missing from current forms of automation that is fundamental to effective inter-human collaboration: the possibility to share mental models (or representations) of the problem(s) to solve. When looking at human-human interaction, productive team thinking and problem-solving efforts are accomplished when teammates have a “common ground” or shared understanding of the work to be done and the various ways to do it. Similarly, when work would be distributed over human and automated agents, the constraints introduced by the other agents are properties of the work domain and must therefore be shared. But how can more information be shared while not overloading the human’s capacity to learn and solve problems? In this paper I argue that the Ecological Interface Design paradigm can provide the means and guidelines to pursue shared human-automation mental models that will facilitate productive thinking. I will illustrate this by means of an example in the field of aircraft conflict detection and resolution.

A Review of “The Politics of Sustainability: Philosophical Perspectives”

Concerns about sustainable development are not a recent phenomenon. Societal problem-solving efforts within this realm have focused on concrete problems such as the preservation of fisheries, forests and national reserves. 'The Politics of Sustainability' has been discussed extensively in literature, particularly after the publication of the Brundtland Commission's 'Our Common Future' report in 1987 [1] emphasizing inter-generational responsibilities involving economic, environmental and social aspects. Among other areas, the authors of the report highlighted the challenge of global climate change resulting from, amongst other things, unsustainable patterns of consumption. 'The Politics of Sustainability: Philosophical Perspectives', edited by Dieter Birnhacher and May Thorseth, brings a new angle into the discussion of the politics of sustainable development: ethical considerations.

About mitigation, adaptation and the UNFCCC’s 21st Conference of the Parties

Concern over global climate change increases daily as extreme weather events multiply and scientific evidence accumulates on planetary borders, challenging humankind to take effective measures to both counteract the drivers of ongoing climate change and improve public response to its consequences. Global governance on this matter is critical and the Conference of the Parties (COP) is the highest decision-making body of the UN Convention Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). All the States that are part of the Convention are represented in the COP, whose main tasks are to review the implementation of the Convention and any other legal instruments that the COP adopts, and to take decisions necessary to promote the implementation of the Convention. As shown in Annex, there have been twenty Conferences between 1995 and 2014 and overall results have admittedly been less than spectacular. Well-known political obstacles and the general lack of enthusiasm at the level of participating countries for necessary measures in the economic domain are generally at the root of these disappointments. This note, however, focuses on two other less prominent aspects of the negotiations that have obstructed analyses and problem-solving efforts at the technical level: the failure to deal with mitigation and adaptation within a balanced approach and the insufficient consideration of population dynamics in the overall structure of both problems and solutions in mitigation and adaptation.

How to Eat the Elephant in the Legal Academy

Persistent discrimination is one of the elephants in the legal academy. We need to eliminate it, and we all know that the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. So here goes: I'm Susan Rozelle, and I have begun to note all the ways in which United States law schools' institutional culture presumes the Ideal Worker: white, male, middle-class, middle-aged, and married to a woman who manages his home and his family life for him. We blindly continue to follow a variety of existing structural systems that both create and reinforce challenges for the many members of our community who fail to meet this embedded stereotype. Workers are expected to be available by phone and email at all hours, though I humbly suggest that we in the academy very rarely face problems that cannot wait until morning. Events need attending in the early morning and in the evening, in conflict with child- or eldercare drop-offs, pick-ups, and bedtimes. We are measured first by the amount of scholarship we produce, which is written during our free time, and of course those with fewer personal life obligations--as well as those with fewer teaching and service obligations--therefore are at an advantage. Who carries a disparate burden in these arenas? Women, minorities, and those who teach legal skills. We are measured second by our teaching evaluations and by our collegiality, both of which fluctuate with the presence of implicit bias and how well we perform our types (a woman who is perceived either as too masculine or too feminine, for example, will suffer in those arenas). And that is on top of my personal pet peeve: the abysmal lack of any sort of paid family leave at many schools, the lack of quality childcare options nationwide, and the persistent, unconscious discrimination documented in Presumed Incompetent (1) and addressed by the panelists prior to this open mic portion of the program. So, how to eat this elephant? I would like to begin instituting--slowly, at a pace people can absorb--small changes that might add up to real benefits. And I am hopeful that we are beginning a real brainstorming session here, to generate lots of ideas. So just to get us started, here are some ideas I have had. Be kind; this is just brainstorming, and I would like to invoke the protections of the brainstorming stage of any collaborative problem-solving effort to insulate myself from criticism--or from the nasty kind of criticism, at least. I'm not committed to these, but I do want to start the conversation about where to take a first bite. In that spirit, then, maybe we should consider: * A shift from a facetime mindset that centers on when and where work is accomplished to a results-oriented mindset that centers on the actual work accomplished, with more reasonable expectations about what the appropriate quantity of that work is; * Individualized attention to scheduling more generally, beginning with giving preference to those with caregiving responsibilities; * And (now we get to the pie in the sky moment) maybe even an actual cap on the amount of scholarship that counts for tenure and other reviews, and some method of capping service obligations, too, together with normed limits on the work day that would make it okay to let email sit unanswered after hours, whatever those hours may be, such that the incentive to work incessantly for both men and women is at least lessened; * As well as sensible, academy-wide, paid family leave policies, and onsite daycare options. …

Calculus Students’ Visual Thinking of Definite Integral

Visualization as both the product and the process of creation, interpretation and reflection upon pictures and images, is gaining increased visibility in mathematics and mathematics education. The use of diagrams to visualize definite integral concept, however, is problematic for many students and may actually hinder their problem-solving efforts. The purpose of this study, not only extends our understanding of students’ difficulties and strengths associated with visualization but also identifies types of visual image they utilized while solve integral problems. Through the detailed analyses of students' work and verbal protocols, the students with high visualization ability use of imagination images in high percentages along with algebraic representations and linking these two representations lead to the success of problem solving. The students with low visualization ability use of memory images. It is discovered that students can produce imagination images that play a significant role in a problem solving process. As such, a process of visualization allows an articulation between representations to produce another representation that could help students solve given problems.

Emotions during Non-Lucid Problem-Solving Dreams as Evidence of Secondary Consciousness,

Emotions dreamers experience in dreams are considered simple experiential awareness and theorized as primary consciousness. The current study investigated emotions as part of a core variable of the problem-solving phenomenon. 979 dreams were analyzed by the method of grounded theory with questions applied through constant comparative analysis to individual instances of dreamers' problem solving. The 29 dreams yielded represent the core variable with 86 different components of cognitive and psychological processes accompanied by dreamers' emotional awareness in emotional signaling, stimulating, self-regulating, or action prompting or preventing roles. The critical emotional awareness during efforts to resolve difficult situations alerts dreamers and allows them to shift from being a passive recipient in the mode of primary consciousness with simple awareness of emotions into the active initiatory and participatory mode of secondary consciousness in which dreamers enrich their problem-solving efforts by reflective and intellectual abstract analyses. These mental efforts are considered an adaptive, self-organizing, goal-oriented process. Future isomorphically based prospective investigations of problem-solving dreams could focus on neural correlates of emotional awareness as a critical component of non-lucid dreamers' capacities to use secondary consciousness.

Problem-solving effort and success in innovation contests: The role of national wealth and national culture

Innovation contests allow firms to harness specialized skills and services from globally dispersed participants for solutions to business problems. Such contests provide a rich setting for operations management (OM) scholars to explore problem solving in global labor markets as firms continue to unbundle their innovation value chains. In this study, we examine the implications of specific types of diversity in innovation contests on problem-solving effort and success. First, we conceptualize diversity among contestants in terms of national wealth (measured as gross domestic product per capita (GDPP) adjusted for purchasing power parity) and national culture (measured using the culture dimensions of performance orientation and uncertainty avoidance) and examine how such factors influence problem-solving effort. Next, we examine how differences between contestants and contest holders in terms of the above factors influence contest outcomes. Using data from a popular online innovation contest platform and country-level archival data, we find that contestants from countries with lower levels of GDPP are more likely to exert greater problem-solving effort compared to other contestants. With regard to national culture, we find that performance orientation and uncertainty avoidance have positive and negative effects, respectively, each of which weakens with increasing levels of GDPP. Finally, our analysis provides evidence of homophily effects indicating that contestants who share greater similarities with the contest holder in terms of national wealth and national culture are more likely to be successful in a contest. We discuss the implications of the study's findings for contest holders and platform owners who organize innovation contests, and for emerging research on innovation contests.

Rejuvenate and Restart

IN 8 B.C., Augustus Caesar finished the calendar reform work of Julius Caesar, and in the process he named the eighth month of the year, August, after himself. In much of Europe and the Americas, August is the vacation month for workers. In the United States, August is deemed back-to-school month, as well as the month of preparation for anxious parents and their children as they are about to begin their formal schooling years in kindergarten. Vacations help with rejuvenation, and returning to school marks a restart for the education process. For readers of Performance Improvement, it is a good time to push the restart button and begin the article that you have been intending to write. Your work and ideas are valued; August is indeed a time for you to commit to sharing your knowledge and skills with your colleagues through our journal's pages. If you are hesitant or unsure, please contact me via the telephone or through email. I will be most pleased to discuss your ideas with you and walk you through the writing and publishing processes that we use with Performance Improvement. My contact information is, James (Jim) A. Pershing, pershin@indiana.edu, 812-339-3226. We begin this issue of Performance Improvement with an essay on performance improvement by Roger Addison and Carol Haig titled “An Essay on Performance Improvement.” Roger and Carol make a strong case that the practice of performance improvement is an integrative approach that unites a number of initiatives that organizations use to improve workers, work, and the workplace and also to have a positive impact on the world. They note some basic tenets of performance improvement and argue that the practice of performance improvement works best when it integrates a broad range of approaches and recognizes its symbiotic relationships and commonalities with related endeavors ranging from Six Sigma to human resource development to organizational development. Visiting ideas and principles from the past that apply to performance and learning can be a very good thing. Often we are so involved with and enamored by the latest and greatest ideas and trends that we forget about the time-tested knowledge that our field has accumulated. In a relatively simple and straightforward piece titled “Pragmatism: Making the Most Out of Training,” Jodi Beuder reminds us of the tenets of pragmatism and John Dewey's views about experiential education. She provides some sensible explanations about the power of learning by doing and related principles that we can all use to make the most out of our training. In our third article, Sultan Alarifi and Amr Alamri, two emerging professionals, share with us their views about the differences between human performance technology (HPT) and Six Sigma. While students at Wayne State University, Sultan studying performance technology and Amr studying industrial and systems engineering, they engaged in a spirited discussion about HPT and Six Sigma over a cup of coffee. This led to their working together to develop their article that compares and contrasts these two approaches to improving performance. It is interesting to learn of their takes on the similarities and differences between the two approaches, the limitations of each, and how they advocate for an integrated approach combining HPT and Six Sigma. Often in our thinking and in presentations in our business textbooks, leadership and management are treated as separate and distinct phenomena. John Schultz, in his article titled “Two Sides of the Same Coin,” presents a different view. He argues that leadership and management are not separate or distinct but are integrated competencies that can be mastered through learning and discipline. John notes that all too often managerial thinking fails when it focuses its problem-solving efforts on individuals, isolated events, and snapshots in time rather than on the dynamic complexities, trends, and series of events that organizations experience. He concludes that, at the root of many problems and challenges, the culprits are most often processes and the system itself. Email, is it a curse or a blessing? In our work as performance improvement specialists, all of us have been faced with this question whether it was in our own work or in the lives of workers whom we have encountered in our performance improvement projects. In a piece titled “Managing Email Overload in the Workplace,” Kim McMurtry provides us with an updated literature review that addresses this problem and reviews relevant research studies that focus on email overload. Because we face these issues as performance technologists, Kim provides us with a ready-to-use literature review that frames the issues and provides research-based strategies for designing and developing workable interventions. publications@ispi.org

Sustainability appraisal of water governance regimes: the case of Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

Sustainability appraisals produce evidence for how well water governance regimes operate and where problems exist. This evidence is particularly relevant for regions that face water scarcity and conflicts. In this study, we present a criteria-based and participatory sustainability appraisal of water governance in a region with such characteristics-the dry tropics of NW Costa Rica. Data collection included 47 interviews and three stakeholder workshops. The appraisal was conducted through a collaborative and iterative process between researchers and stakeholders. Out of the 25 sustainability criteria used, seven posed a significant challenge for the governance regime. We found challenges faced by the governance regime primarily clustered around and were re-enforced by failing coordination related to the use, management, and protection of groundwater resources; and inadequate leadership to identify collective goals and to constructively deliberate alternative ways of governing water with diverse groups. The appraisal yielded some positive impact in the study area, yet we found its application provided only limited strategic information to support broader problem-solving efforts. Insights from this study suggest key starting points for sustainable water governance in the Central American dry tropics, including investing in increasingly influential collective organizations that are already active in water governance; and leveraging policy windows that can be used to build confidence and disperse more governing authority to regional and local governing actors that are in-tune with the challenges faced in the dry tropics. We conclude the article with reflections on how to produce research results that are actionable for sustainable water governance.

Pancasila, Keadilan Sosial, dan Persatuan Indonesia

The rise of separatism that raises with the emergence of separatist groups with their idealistic-communal ideas to create a more democratic and more equitable life recently is quite apprehensive. It is felt in the midst of efforts from various parties—both the government and non-government—to preserve the unity and unification of Indonesia. Should this problem be solved with horizontal conflict and separation option (disintegration) regarding that conflict can’t be and will never be the best solution for problems. This article was made as a response to the related nationality problem with the expectation that this can be one alternative solution for an existing problem-solving effort.

Contextual political economy, not Whig economics

The paper has three objectives. First, it seeks to resuscitate a methodology of the history of economic thought that takes account of the problem-solving efforts of political economists rather than concentrating entirely on the putative advances in techniques of analysis, detaching them from their political and social context. Second, it seeks to establish the priority of two Italian savants in theorising some basic features of capitalist growth long before its prime movers had been conceptualised in the eighteenth century. Third, it puts colonialism and imperialism as the ever-present components of capitalist development on centre stage. Contextual political economy would be a study of the capitalist system as it has really operated, i.e. as a system characterised by enormous turbulence superimposed on growth, in which formal and informal colonialism and speculation have played major roles.

Effects of workplace, family and cultural influences on low back pain: What opportunities exist to address social factors in general consultations?

Social factors are widely acknowledged in behavioural models of pain and pain management, but incorporating these factors into general medical consultations for low back pain (LBP) can be challenging. While there is no compelling evidence that social factors contribute to LBP onset, these factors have been shown to influence functional limitation and disability, especially the effects of organisational support in the workplace, spousal support, family conflict and social disadvantage. A number of barriers exist to address such social factors in routine medical encounters for LBP, but there is emerging evidence that improving social and organisational support may be an effective strategy to reduce the negative lifestyle consequences of LBP. For clinicians to address these factors in LBP treatment requires a clearer psychosocial framework in assessment and screening, more individualised problem-solving efforts, more patient-centred interventions involving family, peers and workplace supports and a less biomechanical and diagnostic approach.

Measuring Congruence between Property Crime Problems and Response Strategies: Enhancing the Problem-Solving Process

Property crime in Lowell, Massachusetts is fueled primarily by burglaries, motor vehicle crimes, and larcenies. The Lowell Police Department utilized the Smart Policing Initiative (SPI) to focus problem-solving efforts on property crime hot spots. Problem-solving is an effective crime reduction tool but deficiencies remain in implementing the problem-solving process. This article discusses how Lowell operationalized problem-solving in crime hot spots, focusing on the alignment between property crime problems and response strategies selected to achieve results. We apply the congruence model of organizational behavior, analyzing quantitative and qualitative data to measure the fit between problems and responses. We found a high degree of congruence between the SPI problem-solving components, which likely produced the positive crime reductions observed in the outcome data. By applying the concept of congruence, we offer a framework for strengthening problem solving at the outset through alignment of response strategies to crime problems.

Understanding Amsterdam Airport Schiphol through Controversies

The question of how to organize collaborative problem-solving efforts when collective action is necessary has received considerable attention in the scientific literature. More recently, it is even argued that to organize successful collaborative arrangements, the complex system characteristics of the governance system in which such an arrangement is applied needs to be taken into account. This would trigger a bandwagon effect of mutually reinforcing changes and be successful in overcoming deadlocks. In this paper, we will argue that this line of reasoning is far from complete, even resulting in misguiding conclusions. By analyzing the governance of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, we suggest that—instead of complicating the problem by establishing more self-organizing collaborative bodies, hoping to avoid path dependencies and bring new solutions—there is rather a need to clear ‘the disposition of complexity’ profoundly, towards concrete associative opportunities, and co-evolution beyond political agendas and/or plans. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Floundering among adult learners in classrooms: Fact or fallacy?

Blended pedagogy is an important delivery mechanism for open and distance learning. Here, face-to-face meetings in the blended pedagogy model remain as an important platform for teaching and learning. While there are many instructional techniques employed in faceto- face meetings, there is an urgent need to determine how face-to-face interactions in the blended pedagogy can be elevated to boost students' learning. This paper investigates whether productive failure (PF) as an instructional strategy boosts students' understanding of the subject matter in a face-to-face tutorial. PF instructional design advocates the delaying of support for learners during learning. The more they struggle, and even fail, while trying to master new information, the better they are likely to recall and apply that information later. Current research on the impact of PF treatments has shown that effective learning is achieved when learners are presented with a cycle of low structure, high structure and low structure activities. PF instructional design has been used successfully, especially in secondary schools in which learners have regular contact with the instructor. It is unknown whether the use of PF instructional design among adult learners in face-to-face interaction will yield such a positive effect. Can PF instructional design be used in tutorials that cater for adult learners resulting in fruitful learning outcomes? This paper reports an initial study of a quasi-experiment that compares a “productive failure” instructional design with a traditional “lecture and practice” instructional design for a 2-hour tutorial session attended by adult learners. A total of 17 adult learners participated in the study. Learners experienced either a traditional lecture and practice teaching cycle or a PF cycle, where they solved complex problems in small groups without the provision of any support or scaffolds up until a consolidation lecture by their teacher during the last hour of the tutorial. Findings suggest that learners from the PF condition produced a variety of problem models and methods for solving the problems but were unsuccessful in their efforts, be it in groups or individually. They also reported low confidence in their solutions. Despite failing in their group and individual problem-solving efforts, learners from the PF condition performed better than their counterparts from the lecture and practice condition on both knowledge and higherorder application problems based on the post-test. Implications of PF instructional design for adult learners based on these findings are presented.

Coping resources are transformed by the sequence of adverse life events

The authors of the article subtitled “Depression and ways of coping with stress” emphasize in the discussion of their results that “the dispute is whether the symptoms of depression contribute to the choice of less effective ways to deal with stress or perhaps these strategies are used by the patients before the onset of the diseases and this way become risk factors for the depression” [1]. In our opinion, the distinction between these two possible situations, in a single patient, can be based on: (1) the analysis of the coping resources of a particular person and (2) the analysis of the sequence of adverse events and transformations that lead to the development of the depression. By “coping resources”, Taylor et al mean factors such as optimism, mastery, self-esteem, and social support [2]. Orzechowska et al, the authors of the discussed paper, additionally include Antonovsky’s “sense of coherence”, which means understanding of the world, feeling the meaningfulness of the world, and personal resourcefulness. In our formulation of a structuralized interview, we have proposed adding to these abilities some other, probably inherent, factors like curiosity, friendliness, confident attitude, and accentuated sensuality [3,4]. Sensuality or sexuality with high personal involvement is close to the old Jungian concept of libido [5]. Such favorable traits of personality facilitate the patient’s ability to solve problems. Thoits writes that people “in better mental health through problem-solving efforts and purposeful acts, experience fewer negative controllable events and more positive controllable events in their lives and are able to transform or compensate for stressors that they cannot avoid or eliminate” [6]. It should be noted, however, that these characteristics – inherited or acquired in childhood and establishing the “resistance to stress” (in other words, coping resources) – can effectively protect the individual against adverse, negative events. Therefore, the mental state is largely determined by the aforementioned sequence of adverse events and transformations that led to the development of depression. The consequences of negative events are cumulative. The unfavorable transformation of the mental state gradually develops over a long period of time, eventually exceeding the threshold of “psychological resistance” and causing the depression. We should not overlook that this sequence of adverse, negative events often occurs within the context of mental disorders of the patient’s parents and negative events in the patient’s early childhood, such as death of a parent, the parents’ divorce, loss of other close people (e.g., a grandmother who raised the patient), domestic violence (physical or sexual abuse), alcoholism in the family, criminal behavior of family members, serious illness in childhood, and lack of emotional support in the family (e.g., feeling of rejection or no expressions of love). In adulthood, in turn, such adverse events often occur as problems at school (e.g., dropping out), unwanted pregnancy, breakdown of marriage (separation or divorce), death of a loved one, debt, or unstable financial conditions. The specific trajectory of mental development determines how a patient answers the question: “Have you completely overcome the negative influences that could cause feelings of guilt, resentment, grief, humiliation, loss of dignity, anger, or vengefulness”?

A systems view of film-making as a creative practice

This article proposes a framework for how to approach case studies of production processes in the field of film and media studies, drawing on theories from the field of creativity research, e.g. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s systems view of creativity and models of creative processes from the school of creative problem solving (CPS). The article suggests how to think of film production as an interplay between individuals, the domain and the field and how to understand production processes as different stages in a problem-finding and problem-solving effort. The aim is to encourage further discussions about the challenges of doing production studies, since the highly complex and contextual process of creating new film and media products raises a number of questions about how to conceive of creative work and how to study it.

Errors and Understanding: The Effects of Error-Management Training on Creative Problem-Solving

People make errors in their creative problem-solving efforts. The intent of this article was to assess whether error-management training would improve performance on creative problem-solving tasks. Undergraduates were asked to solve an educational leadership problem known to call for creative thought where problem solutions were scored for quality, originality, and elegance. Prior to beginning work on their problem solutions, participants were provided with training in 0 to 4 error-management strategies. It was found that error-management training was beneficial for talented people (as indicated by scores on the pretraining exercise) resulting in solutions of greater originality. The implications of these findings for improving performance on creative problem-solving tasks are discussed.