Activity 6.1

Problem solving is analogous to learning because each is a process where individuals use their prior experiences and familiar knowledge in order to make sense of new information they encounter, which eventually leads to a change in the individuals’ behavior or their capacity to behave in a future situation. James’ (1962) idea of the law of economy, which asserts that “in admitting a new body of experience, we instinctively seek to disturb as little as possible our pre-existing stock of ideas; we always try to name a new experience in some way that will assimilate it to what we already know” (p. 78) seems parallel to how most individuals initially attempt to solve a problem, by relying on previous experiences to some similar problem.  However, Pretz, Naples, and Sternberg (2003) acknowledged that the use of routine ways of thinking-trying to make new information familiar- can lead problem solvers to approach a problem with “incorrect or misleading expectations.” The process of learning involves the ability to recognize, define, and represent problems that occur as a result to new information that cannot be resolved with the use of routine, or familiar, thinking.  Thus, the idea is for individuals to escape their routine ways of thinking and engage in flexible thinking that will allow them to consider broader scopes and multiple path ways for solving a problem.

I would imagine that all learning requires problem solving. Even if individuals happen to unconsciously stumble upon some information that is not relevant to any problem they are currently trying to solve, that newly acquired (learned) information could be useful for solving some future problem they may encounter.  Considering the mutual component of both problem solving and learning-a change in behavior or the capacity to behave-the newly acquired knowledge has influenced a change in individuals’ capacity to behave, regardless of whether the new information is being applied to a current situation or will be applied later.

While thinking about a problem, the first thing that came to mind is composing an academic paper. Now, this may not seem like an ideal problem to most individuals, but scholarly writing has always been anxiety provoking, thus, creating a problem that needed to be solved.  A very important aspect of successful writing is picking a topic that is motivating and interesting. Nodding (2006) suggests that “you must find something that you really do want that requires your doing this thing that you would prefer avoid” (p.  19). Picking a topic that is of great interest to me will allow me to acquire knowledge relevant to something I desire to learn about while doing something I would rather avoid, but cannot avoid.  Furthermore, brainstorming, fractionation, and incubation are essential to my writing process as well.  The ability to write out ideas and discuss them with other individuals (brainstorm), break the ideas of the paper down in to smaller, manageable sections (fractionation), and  allow myself time away from the paper in order to think and allow other ideas to subconsciously form (incubation) contributes to a smoother writing process.