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Physiological patterns accompanying complex problem solving during warning and nonwarning conditions.

Physiological responses of 48 subjects were studied during both a warning and a nonwarning condition and during anagram problem solving. The warning condition was associated with heart rate deceleration and increased occurrence of galvanic skin responses (GSR), of skin conductance, and of tonic galvanic skin potentials (GSP). The warning condition also resulted in significantly faster solution rates. Problem solving was associated with increases in heart rate, occurrence of GSR, and skin conductance. The occurrence of phasic GSP habituated, but the occurrence of tonic GSP maintained a significant response frequency. Large increases in tonic GSP, with minimal phasic increases during problem solving, reflected the bidimensionality of electrodermal activity as a function of the task. These findings were interpreted to support Lacey's hypothesis of response fractionation and suggest the utility of physiological measures in the study of putative attentional functioning.

Attention

Facilitative effects of haptic training on children's visual problem solving.

39 fourth grade children exposed to a haptic (active touch) match-to-sample task made significantly fewer posttest errors, relative to control subjects, on a visual problem-solving task. Further, this reduction in errors was comparable to that shown by children who had received specific training in reflective problem-solving. The results were discussed in terms of the possible facilitative effects exposure to a haptic task can have on children's visual problem-solving.

Child

Therapeutic effects of problem-solving training and play-reading groups.

Twenty-five adult patients of a private psychiatric hospital participated in small groups that convened for eight sessions in order to increase skills in interpersonal problem solving. The groups repeatedly went through the steps of (a) bringing up a problem; (b) clarifying it; (c) proposing solutions; and(d) weighing the solutions. A control grop of 29 patients did not receive problem-solving training. A "placebo" sample of 21 Ss also met in small groups, but their task was to read comedies together. The results obtained through a series of analyses of covariance showed that the experimental condition was more successful than the other two in improving people's impulse control, self-esteem and feeling of competence. The play-reading condition was found to be as helpful as the problem-solving groups in reducing depression and general psychopathology. Control patients showed significantly less improvement than did patients in the other conditions.

Adult

The effects of age on perceptual problem-solving strategies.

Witkin's Embedded Figures Test (EFT) was used to measure the changes with age in field dependence and problem-solving ability Qualitative data concerning problem-solving strategies and quantitative data were collected. EFT was administered to 12 females in each of the following decades: 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60, 70s. All subjects were moderately to well educated, healthy, and relatively active members of the community. All had at least 20/33 corrected or uncorrected vision. An interview was held with each participant after completion of the EFT. ANOVA of time scores indicated that significantly (p less than 0.01) more time is needed to solve the items with an increase in age; a Tukey (a) test revealed a significant (p less than 0.05) increase between the 40s and 60s age groups. With an increase in age a significant (p less than 0.01) decline in the number of items solved was found. Partial correlations revealed that age is the most important factor, vis-á-vis general intelligence, visual acuity, and the personality factors measured by the Eysenck Personality Inventory. The relative stability of performance up through 49 and after 50 implies a decline in field independence rather than in higher-order cognitive processes.

Adult

A conceptual framework for measuring clinical problem-solving.

Most attempts to measure clinical competence start by modeling the clinician's problem-solving process. The conflicting data from studies built around this approach suggest the need for rethinking the underlying concepts. Presented is a conceptual framework for clinical competence which is a natural expansion of earlier approaches. The framework is based upon defining the domain in which the clinician functions as the starting point for measuring clinical competence. There are three dimensions to the framework-problem-solving process, clinical discipline, and context of care. The intersection of the dimensions defines the clinical practice domain to be measured. For each domain specific problems can be identified and clinicians asked to demonstrate competence in resolving them.

Clinical Competence

Chimpanzee problem-solving: a test for comprehension.

An adult chimpanzee was shown videotaped scenes of a human actor struggling with one of eight problems and was then shown two photographs, one of which depicted an action or an object (or both) that could constitute a solution to the problem. On seven of the eight problems, the animal consistently chose the correct photograph. This test problem-solving comprehension permits the animal's knowledge about problem-solving--its ability to infer the nature of problems and to recognize potential solutions to them--to be examined.

Animals

Cardiac valve replacement. Problems solved and unsolved.

In this review the present state of cardiac valve replacement is summarized on the basis of the literature and personal experience in approximately 1500 cases, using various prosthetic models. Durability, hemodynamic performance at rest and during exercise, and thromboembolic risk are considered in particular and our choice of the various valve models is discussed on these grounds. The long-term durability has been significantly improved and has possibly been solved in the more advanced mechanical valves, while this question is still open in the present biological prostheses. Hemodynamic performance is considered less than optimal in all conventional mechanical prostheses and in the xenografts. Pressure gradients are abnormal in all mechanical as well as in stented biological prostheses, the latter being less likely to solve the problem of a narrow aortic root. The significantly lower incidence of thromboembolism and total valve thrombosis and the absence of anticoagulation accidents in patients with bioprostheses has tipped the balance for the present in favor of the latter, particularly in mitral valve replacement and certainly in all those patients in whom anticoagulation in impossible, unlikely, or undesirable.

Aortic Valve

An integrated problem-solving curriculum design for physical therapy education.

Development of and experience with an integrated problem-solving curriculum design for physical therapy education is presented. The basic themes which relate discrete subject areas and a method of organizing the content around the themes are described. Problem-solving learning experiences are sequenced from the simple to the complex around the kind of situations found in clinical practice. Clinical education is integrated throughout the curriculum, and a calendar is developed based on the content of the learning experiences rather than the traditional university calendar.

Curriculum

Difficulties in family therapy evaluation. I. A comparison of insight vs. problem-solving approaches. II. Design critique and recommendations.

In Part 1, an outcome study comparing two methods of family treatment, is reported. Families were randomly assigned to one of two forms of conjoint therapy: an Insight-oriented treatment (N = 10) or a Problem-Solving intervention (N = 10). The results on self-report measures of family functioning indicate that the Problem-Solving intervention produced more favorable changes after three months. Experienced therapists did better than inexperienced therapists in the Insight-treatment condition but level of experience did not make a difference in the Problem-Solving therapy. A group of eight families who dropped out of the Insight-treatment group provided data on correlates of premature termination. In Part II, the study is critically reviewed. The practical obstacles to implementing an experimental design in a clinic setting are considered. Special attention is given to issues involving the selection of treatment and control conditions: sampling and the measurement of outcome. Alternatives to experimental designs are considered.

Adolescent

Tape test as a simple new method for the study of compounds increasing the problem-solving ability of the rat.

A simple new method, the "tape test" has been developed for studying the enhancement of learning by drugs in "learning-dull" rats. A piece of adhesive tape is pressed on the left front pad of the rats. The time of tape removal by the animal, i.e., the problem-solving time is measured. In our experiments the selected learning-dull rats were used which were unable to remove the tape within 60 s observed on 3 consecutive days. The problem-solving ability of the rats was studied on 4 consecutive days, by posttrial administration. The problem-solving ability was found to be increased after treatment with different drugs such as para-chlorphenylalanine (PCPA), pemolin, orotic acid, vitamin B12. The stimulatory effect of vitamin B12 could be inhibited by vincristine.

Animals

Problem solving cases in teaching of applied pathology.

A "problem solving case" method of teaching practical pathology is described, illustrated and compared with more traditional teaching methods. This method offers many advantages-the most important being that it shows the effect of pathological lesions in an actual patient, thus emphasizing the relevance of pathology to clinical medicine. Other advantages are that self-assessmetn is encouraged; guidance is given on the depth of knowledge expected from a student; student response is favourable; no elaborate or expensive equipment is required; the method is economic in the use of staff time, and it is very flexible in use in terms both of time and place.

Autopsy

The effects of warm-up activities on small group divergent problem-solving with young children.

This study investigated the effects of warm-up activities on divergent production by young children in small group problem-solving settings, hypothesizing that game-like activities designed to develop a psychological set for creative thinking previous to group problem-solving will actually facilitate idea production. One hundred five first-grade children were randomly assigned to four conditions with number and sex equated: three differing warm-up treatments (two task-related and one not) and one condition of no warm-up for 20 minutes previous to a small group administration of an activity from the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Scores obtained for fluency, flexibility, and originality showed significant treatment effects on originality, with flexibility approaching significance, for the two task-related warm-up treatments. It was concluded that these types of activities positively influence a psychological set for divergent production.

Acting Out

Teaching clinical problem solving in preclinical occlusion courses.

The teaching of the basic principles and concepts of occlusion can be enhanced. Preclinical occlusion courses are made relevant to the clinical experience by introducing clinically related problem-solving exercises. These exercises develop a student's clinical problem-solving skill and create an excitement for active learning in the preclinical laboratory. Examples of these exercises are presented.

Clinical Competence

Interpersonal problem solving: a theoretical perspective and methodology for the evaluation of residency education and its' relationship to health care processes and outcomes.

The study conceptualizes and implements an interaction model of interpersonal problem solving in the clinical milieu. This method of representing the interpersonal problem solving process and its relation to patient adherence is shown as an important tool for the evaluation of residency programs.

Evaluation Studies as Topic

Negative capability as a factor of problem-solving within the psychotherapeutic process.

It is proposed that negative capability, that is, the capacity for tolerating uncertainty, doubt and not-knowing, is a factor that contributes to a problem-solving approach utilizable in some aspects of the psychotherapeutic process. Negative capability can be demonstrated both in therapists and patients. An analysis of the functions of negative capability within the psychotherapeutic process shows five stages in its utilization. These are the activation of therapist's negative capability; which is followed by observations about the patient's response to his perception of the therapist's negative capability; then the therapist's clarification of the patient's problem contained within the patient's response; followed by a working-through by the patient and therapist of the problems which are demonstrated and clarified; and lastly, a transfer to or enhancement of the patient's use of negative capability as a continuing behavioural mode. Some theoretical bases for the concept of negative capability and its application as a factor of problem-solving within the psychotherapeutic process, are proposed. Clinical excerpts from psychotherapeutic work are given to exemplify the stages as defined above.

Adaptation, Psychological

Jealousy: systematic, problem-solving therapy with couples.

Literature on the treatment of marital jealousy has focused on individual and interpersonal awareness/insight and the use of communication-negotiation skills. This paper proposes an alternative viewpoint applying the problem-solving approaches of Erikson, Haley, Watzlawick, Weakland, and Fisch to the alteration of jealous systems. Through a detailed case study, the author describes the concept of the therapeutic triangle and the use of paradox and symptom transfer as potential contributions in the treatment of jealousy. Finally, the author discusses briefly a possible factor leading to the success of the systematic, problem-solving modality: serious playfulness.

Cognition