SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Problem Solving”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 685 records · Page 38Linked to original sources

PubMed1990

Developing AIDS counselling services: problems and problem-solving.

AIDS counselling is vitally important in the prevention of HIV transmission. It is also widely used in the context of patient management. Culturally sensitive counselling approaches need to be developed for the African setting. Establishing counselling services requires problem-solving, managerial interventions and interpersonal skills, much the same as an AIDS counselling interview. A framework for problem-solving is described in this paper.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

PubMed2001

Practice effects on visuomotor and problem-solving tests by children.

Practice effects on a visuomotor test (the Developmental Test of Visuo-Motor Integration), a timed visual discrimination test (the Underlining Test), and two problem-solving tests (the Porteus Mazes Test and the Tower of Hanoi Test) were analyzed. Children of two age groups (Ms: 7.7 and 11.6 yr.) were chosen to study the effect of age on practice effects. The tests were repeated nine times with test-retest intervals of 2 mo. The Developmental Test of Visuo-Motor Integration showed no practice effects, while the Porteus Mazes Test, the Underlining Test, and the Tower of Hanoi Test showed significant practice effects. Practice effects were larger for the older age group on all the tests, except the Developmental Test of Visuo-Motor Integration. The Developmental Test of Visuo-Motor Integration and the Underlining Test showed good reliability, but those of the problem-solving tasks were less satisfactory. The stability of all the tests, except the Tower of Hanoi Test, was good.

Child↗

PubMed1983

[Effects competition and cooperation between two participants on a third one's heart rate, problem solving, and cognitive responses in triad].

Forty-two women's junior college students, healthy and aged 19 to 20 years, were divided into two (competitive or cooperative) groups, each consisting of seven triads. A problem solving task was given to each triad with two ("paired") participants instructed to be either competitive or cooperative. Mean heart rate during problem solving increased in both groups, but the degree of the heart rate increment showed significant differences as a function of group condition and position within triad. The heart rate of competitive participants increased more than the third ("isolated") one, while that of cooperative participants increased less. Analyses of the task performance and cognitive responses suggested that hyperarousal was induced in the isolated participant under the cooperative situation.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Clinical problem analysis (CPA): a systematic approach to teaching complex medical problem solving.

The authors describe and discuss clinical problem analysis (CPA), an approach to solving complex clinical problems. They outline the five steps of the CPA model and the essential elements of each step. Next, they discuss the value of CPA's content-independent (methodical) approach and argue that teaching students to use CPA will enable them to avoid some common diagnostic reasoning errors and pitfalls. Finally, they compare CPA with two existing approaches to clinical problem solving.

Education, Medical, Undergraduate↗

PubMed1979

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↗

PubMed1981

The problem-solving model of diagnosis in general practice.

The lack of vocational training for general practice in South Africa places the newly qualified doctor in practice with only the teaching hospital-based model of diagnosis at his disposal. The inappropriateness of this model for general practice is examined. Most experienced general practitioners have evolved their own systems of diagnosis, which are usually problem-solving. The appropriateness, validity, and special applicability of the problem-solving model of diagnosis to general practice is demonstrated.

Diagnosis↗

PubMed1990

Maternal regulation of children's problem-solving behavior and its impact on children's performance.

This study focused on a social interaction theory of the development of cognitive self-regulation. Specifically, the effect of mother-child interaction on the child's ability to problem solve was investigated. The general predictions were (1) children who interacted with their mothers throughout a problem-solving task would subsequently exhibit improved independent performance over practice-control children, who received corrective feedback from a female experimenter at the end of the task; (2) mothers would be more responsible for task activities, would more often regulate their child's task behaviors, and offer more specific verbal content when task demands on child competence increased than when they decreased. 60 3- and 5-year-olds either worked with their mothers or practiced alone and were given corrective feedback on a sorting task in which miniature pieces of furniture were placed in a doll house. As predicted, children who interacted with their mothers subsequently created more correct, adult-like groupings independently than children who received corrective feedback. Mothers displayed more task responsibility and regulation with younger children and when task demands on children of both age groups increased. Maternal verbal content became less specific when task demands decreased. Child performance was related to (1) variation in maternal regulation of the child; and (2) degree of specificity of maternal verbal content.

Child Development↗

PubMed2005

Cooperative learning and case study: does the combination improve students' perception of problem-solving and decision making skills?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of cooperative learning techniques combined with case study on nursing students' self-perception of problem-solving and decision making skills in comparison with other teaching-learning methods. A quasi-experimental pre-test to post-test static group comparison design was used to determine the influence of the different teaching methodologies. Three associate degree colleges provided a convenience sample of nursing students (N=123). An experimental group (n=31) was taught through cooperative learning and case study. One comparison group, was taught through lecture and large group case study (n=46) and another comparison group was taught through lecture only (n=24). A third comparison group taught through lecture and occasional use of non-cooperative learning groups using continuing case study (n=22) was used as a post-test only control group. No two groups were significantly different at the 0.5 level. The results, however, showed that the experimental group obtained scores indicating somewhat better self-perception of both problem-solving and decision making skills.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

The impact of problem-solving styles of nurse executives and executive officers on tenure.

Stability in the chief nurse executive (CNE) position contributes to organizational efficiency, effectiveness, and success; yet, CNE turnover remains relatively high. In this study, the relationship between the problem-solving styles of CNEs and their chief executive officers (CEOs) and CNE tenure was studied. Data showed that the problem-solving style of the CNE/CEO pair was related to CNE tenure. The author discusses implications for CNE/CEO pairs and for CNEs who value job stability.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1992

Componential analysis of problem-solving ability: performance of patients with frontal lobe damage and amnesic patients on a new sorting test.

A new sorting task designed to isolate and measure specific components of problem-solving ability was administered to four subject groups: patients with focal frontal lobe lesions, patients with both frontal dysfunction and amnesia (Korsakoff's syndrome), patients with circumscribed (non-Korsakoff) amnesia, and normal control subjects. The patients with circumscribed (non-Korsakoff) amnesia, and normal control subjects. The patients with frontal lobe lesions and patients with Korsakoff's syndrome were impaired on eight of the nine components of the task. The findings run counter to theories of a single or primary impairment in patients with frontal lobe dysfunction. Rather, the results suggest that a wide spectrum of deficits in abstract thinking, cognitive flexibility, and use of knowledge to regulate behavior contributes to the problem-solving impairment of these patients. Although the (non-Korsakoff) amnesic patients performed similarly to normal subjects on most measures, a finer analysis suggested that successful performance on this complex sorting task, in addition to being strongly dependent upon frontal lobe function, is mildly dependent upon memory function.

Alcohol Amnestic Disorder↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Quality problem solving, decision making, type theory, and case managers, Part II.

Temperament style is one way for case managers and those with whom they interact to examine theirs strengths and liabilities and to improve individual and group problem solving, decision making, and team effectiveness. Part I examined components of decision making, personality theory, and described the major cognitive types. This article will provide the results of a study of case manager's types and discuss the implications of typewatching to delegation, team building/groups, negotiation, and problem solving.

Case Management↗

PubMed2005

A new methodology for teaching clinical reasoning skills: problem solving clinical seminars.

In the final year of the medical curriculum of the Faculty of Medicine of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), a new methodology for teaching clinical skills was introduced: Problem Solving Clinical Seminars (PSCS). Two eight-week series of 70 seminars were offered. Students prepared for the seminars in groups of five students who worked on one or more clinical cases followed by half-open questions. Additional information was collected individually. At the clinical seminar the solutions were presented and discussed, guided by a clinical teacher. A questionnaire was administered to investigate whether students perceive the new type of clinical seminars as a powerful learning environment. Students were satisfied with the new methodology. The importance of the postulated educational aspects--preparation, clinical case and the seminar--was confirmed. The preparation phase (self-study and group work) and the clinical seminar were experienced as two separate and important learning events. The implementation of the problem solving clinical seminars is considered by students to be a powerful learning environment and therefore a broader applicability of the PSCS methodology is recommended.

Belgium↗

PubMed2004

Problem-solving ability in chronic schizophrenia. A comparison study of patients with traumatic brain injury.

We tested the hypothesis that patients with schizophrenia are more prone to impairment in planning and problem-solving as compared with normal controls and patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) by administering the Tower of Hanoi (TOH) task. A total of one hundred and fifty-three participants (51 in each group) were recruited. The performance of the patient groups was markedly worse than normal controls in terms of profile score, number of rule-breaking behaviour, and mean execution time. Two-way 3 (group) x 6 (complexity) ANOVAs indicated that significant main effects of group and complexity were observed in the number of moves, planning time to initiate the first move and subsequent execution time. The general performance of TOH in the schizophrenia group was very similar to that of the TBI group. Subsequent comparison of sub-groups of frontal and posterior lobe damage indicated the pattern of performance in schizophrenia patients lie between them. Taken together, these findings suggest that neither focal frontal nor temporal lobe damage is a sufficient explanation for the problem-solving deficits in patients with schizophrenia.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

The right hemisphere maintains solution-related activation for yet-to-be-solved problems.

In five experiments, we examined the time course of hemispheric differences in solution activation for insight-like problems. We propose that solving insight problems requires retrieval of unusual interpretations of problem elements, and that right-hemisphere (RH) coarse semantic coding is more likely than left-hemisphere (LH) fine semantic coding to maintain semantic activation of such interpretations. In four experiments, participants attempted word problems for 7 sec (Experiments 1A and 1B) or 2 sec (Experiments 2A and 2B), and 750 msec later responded to lateralized target words. After 7 sec of solving effort, Experiment 1A participants showed greater solution-related priming (i.e., they named solutions faster than unrelated words) for left visual field-RH (lvf-RH) targets than for right visual field-LH (rvf-LH) targets, and Experiment 1B participants made faster solution decisions on target words presented to the RH, as previously demonstrated following 15 sec of effort. After 2 sec of solving effort in Experiment 2A, women showed symmetric solution-related priming, although men showed a slight lvf-RH advantage in priming; and in Experiment 2B participants made equally quick solution decisions for targets presented to the LH and to the RH. In Experiment 3, participants viewed the problems for 1,250 msec then named lateralized target words; they showed symmetric solution-related priming. These experiments demonstrate solution activation initially in both hemispheres, but maintained solution activation only in the RH.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Frequent attenders in general practice: problem solving treatment provided by nurses [ISRCTN51021015].

BACKGROUND: There is a need for assistance from primary care mental health workers in general practice in the Netherlands. General practitioners (GPs) experience an overload of frequent attenders suffering from psychological problems. Problem Solving Treatment (PST) is a brief psychological treatment tailored for use in a primary care setting. PST is provided by nurses, and earlier research has shown that it is a treatment at least as effective as usual care. However, research outcomes are not totally satisfying. This protocol describes a randomized clinical trial on the effectiveness of PST provided by nurses for patients in general practice. The results of this study, which currently being carried out, will be presented as soon as they are available. METHODS/DESIGN: This study protocol describes the design of a randomized controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of PST and usual care compared to usual care only. Patients, 18 years and older, who present psychological problems and are frequent attenders in general practice are recruited by the research assistant. The participants receive questionnaires at baseline, after the intervention, and again after 3 months and 9 months. Primary outcome is the reduction of symptoms, and other outcomes measured are improvement in problem solving skills, psychological and physical well being, daily functioning, social support, coping styles, problem evaluation and health care utilization. DISCUSSION: Our results may either confirm that PST in primary care is an effective way of dealing with emotional disorders and a promising addition to the primary care in the UK and USA, or may question this assumption. This trial will allow an evaluation of the effects of PST in practical circumstances and in a rather heterogeneous group of primary care patients. This study delivers scientific support for this use and therefore indications for optimal treatment and referral.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1994

Suicide ideation and creative problem solving.

This investigation utilized the recent technology for the assessment of creativity to examine the association between problem solving and suicide ideation. Three kinds of problem-finding and -solving tasks were administered to 81 (nonclinical) college students. One of these tasks assesses "problem generation" and was expected to be particularly informative, given that individuals considering suicide may perceive many problems but find few solutions. Results supported this expectation: Problem generation scores were significantly correlated with suicide ideation, even after stress was statistically controlled. A secondary analysis suggested that the originality and flexibility of solutions may be influenced by the particular problem an individual faces.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1979

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↗

PubMed2001

Social problem-solving telephone partnerships with family caregivers of persons with stroke.

As individuals with significant functional deficits are discharged earlier from the hospital, health care professionals are challenged to develop cost-effective intervention programmes that will assist family members to manage caregiving problems in the home. The literature suggests that social problem-solving can positively influence the physical and psychological well-being of individuals. This paper describes a social problem-solving training procedure provided primarily by telephone to assist family caregivers to manage caregiving issues in the home.

Aged↗