Perceived Ability and Level of Education as Predictors of Traditional and Practical Adult Problem Solving

Abstract

Sixty adults (ages 19 to 80) were divided into three age groups. Each individual completed the Problem Solving Inventory (PSI), which assesses an individual's self-perception of problem-solving ability, prior to completing two types of problems, including concept-identification tasks and six everyday, practical problems. When the level of education across the younger, middle-aged, and older adults was controlled, older individuals perceived themselves as better problem solvers, and they were more confident in their problem-solving abilities than the other age groups. Additionally, these older adults with relatively high levels of education took more time to complete the concept-identification tasks but did not make more errors or need more choices to solve these tasks. Similarly, the older participants performed as well as either of the other age groups on the everyday, practical problems.

My Problems Are Solvable: Idiographic Methods Offset Age Differences in Interpersonal Problem Solving Among Young, Middle-Aged, and Older Adults

“…During the first session, an overview of the study was presented verbally and informed consent procedures were conducted. Everyday problem solving ability subsequently was assessed using a procedure adapted from Denney and Palmer (1981; also see Haught et al, 2000; Pezzuti et al, 2014). Participants were asked to generate as many solutions as possible to each of six everyday problems in the matched-participants problem set.…”

Everyday Problem Solving and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living: Support for Domain Specificity

“…Still, many studies have examined age differences and aging issues using cross-sectional designs in everyday problem solving [12,13,14]. In an attempt to compile many of these findings, Thorton and Dumke [15] conducted a meta-analysis examining everyday problem-solving performance and age.…”