1.2.5 Problem interpretation (Definition)

In an attempt to systematize the literature on the development of everyday problem solving, Berg and colleagues have introduced the concept of "problem interpretation" (Berg and Calderone, 1994; Sansone and Berg, 1993) or "problem definition" (Berg et al., 1998). The problem interpretation arises at the edge of the context and the individual and, in essence, is the transaction of the individual with his or her context. The problem interpretation derives from features of both the individual and the context, but it might selectively engage all or only some features. Berg and her colleagues argue that such individual and contextual features may have different weights and may be differentially combined at different stages of development; thus, the search for developmental variation in everyday problem solving should focus on the development of problem interpretation (Berg and Calderone, 1994).

As it is interactive in nature, problem definition reflects those aspects of the self and context that are activated with respect to a specific problem unfolding at a specific moment in time. Problem definition is a complex, psychological, subjective reality, which, according to Berg et al. (1998), reflects the individual's goals and expectations (Bandura, 1986), determines the strategies to be used to meet these expectations and accomplish subjective goals (Vallacher and Wegner, 1987), affects the outcome attribution and meaning interpretation (Dodge, Pettit, McClaskey, and Brown, 1986), and induces the affective representation of the problem (Fleeson and Cantor, 1995).

A number of studies provide supportive evidence for the transactional approach to everyday problem solving. Sinnott (1989) showed that older adults' interpretation of Piagetian logical-combination problems, especially those experienced in real life (e.g., assigning relatives to sleeping locations), vary to a greater degree than do the interpretations of younger adults. Specifically, older adults tend to be more sensitive to social and interpersonal facets of the problem when compared with younger adults, who concentrate on the problem's logical aspects. Similarly, Laipple (1992) showed that older adults were less likely to interpret the situation of solving logical problems with the meaning intended by the experimenter; older adults tended to leave the logical confines of the problem and inject into the experimental situation more personal experience than did the younger adults. Chi and Ceci (1987) suggested that many types of problem solving appear to be directly influenced by the mental context the child brings to the task.

In their own work, Berg and colleagues (Berg and Calderone, 1994) registered a number of developmental characteristics of problem definition. First, they showed that, with age, there was a decrease in the frequency of task-oriented interpretations of problems and an increase in interpersonal, self, and mixed (e.g., task and self ) interpretations. In their interpretation, researchers suggest that these findings correspond to the literature on the development of the self system, according to which changes of the self system involve movement away from a concrete and specific system to one that incorporates more abstract and interrelated psychological constructs (Harter, 1983). Second, Berg et al. (1998) studied the link between the problem definition and the selection of strategies for problem solving. In general, problem definition appears to be a more precise predictor of strategy use than does problem context. Specifically, individuals who defined a problem in terms of interpersonal concerns alone were more likely to report using strategies involving regulating or including others. On the contrary, individuals who defined a problem solely in terms of competence concerns were more likely to utilize strategies including independent action and less likely to engage others. Finally, the links between problem definition and strategy selection were not found to vary as a function of age.

Problem definition is very important to practical cognition. For example, a key difference between the results of Berg et al. (1998) and those of previous research is the importance that individuals placed on the social aspects of practical problem solving. Berg and colleagues found that the majority of individual problem definitions in any age group (pre-adolescents, college students, and adults) involved interpersonal concerns. These problem definitions, in turn, determined the selection of strategies that involved regulating or including others. Note that this interpretation differs significantly from the argument utilized in previous research. Earlier work typically assumed that reliance on others reflected ineffective problem solving because individuals exhibited dependence on others (e.g., Cornelius and Caspi, 1987; Denney and Palmer, 1981; Folkman et al., 1987). However, the reinterpretation of the role of social-dependent strategies suggests that using others to deal with everyday problems is a strategy rather well suited to particular problems (Baltes, 1997; Meacham and Emont, 1989).