Berg and colleagues (Berg and Calderone, 1994; Sansone and Berg, 1993) asked preschoolers, teenagers, college students, and older adults to describe a recent problem (hassle, conflict, challenge, and so on) that they had experienced and to describe the problem in as much detail as possible. The intent was to investigate whether the types of domains of problems remain constant across development or whether different types of problems would appear for different age groups. The researchers found significant variation in the content of everyday problems across development. The everyday problem-solving content for 5-6-year-olds consisted predominantly of problems dealing with family (e.g., disagreements with family members) and assigned responsibilities (e.g., home chores). For 11 to 12-year-olds, everyday life problems centered on school and after-school activities and environments. No single content area dominated the everyday life of college students, and their salient problems had to do with free time, work, friends, family, and romantic relationships. Finally, the everyday problem solving of the older adults centered on the family context and health.

Barker (1978) suggested that the content of practical problem solving is determined by the ecological characteristics of a given developmental period. They carried out detailed observations of settings inhabited and experienced by elementary school children on a daily basis and found that children most frequently occupy settings embedded in schooling and family life. This piece of work is unique in terms of its thoroughness and attention to details; however, based on sporadic evidence accumulated in research on developmental life tasks, the general assumption in the field is that the content of the practical problem solving of adults differs in a variety of ways across the life span. In other words, it might be impossible to carry out Baker et al.-like studies in all ecological settings encountered in adulthood, but it might be possible to target the few that appear to be crucial at specific developmental periods. Specifically, it has been shown that (1) college students' tasks are primarily aimed at succeeding academically, forming social networks, developing an identity, and separating from family (Cantor, Norem, Neidenthal, Langston, and Brower, 1987); (2) adults focus on a variety of tasks, ranging from starting a family and a career in young adulthood, through the pragmatic tasks of middle adulthood, to adapting to impairments of health and adjusting to retirement during old and advanced old age (Baltes et al., 1984; Havinghurst, 1972; Neugarten Moore, and Lowe, 1968).

1.2.3 Goals of practical problem solving

The goal-directedness (e.g., Goodnow, 1986; Scribner, 1986; Wertsch, 1985) of practical problem solving is one of the most often cited characteristics of practical cognition in application. Therefore, the second line of research concerns the developmental trajectories of goals of practical problem solving.

Strough, Berg, and Sansone (1996) showed that there is developmental variation in the types of goals underlying everyday problem solving. The profile of this developmental variation reflects developmental life tasks (Cantor, 1990). Specifically, preadolescents reported more goals for task improvement, and a large portion of their problems involved the school context. Interpersonal goals appeared to be more salient to middle-aged adults than to preadolescents. Preadolescents, however, reported more other-focused assistance-recruiting goals than did adults. Older and middle-aged adults reported more physical goals than did younger individuals, and the adult group as a whole reported more affective goals than did preadolescents.