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Topic X Development

of Problem
Solving

LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1."

Explain what is meant by strategic development in problem solving;

2."

Describe representational development in problem solving;

3."

Explain the use of external representations as tools for problem


solving;

4."

Describe the role of language and planning in problem solving;

5."

Identify the various specialised representations employed in


problem solving;

6."

Explain the role of interaction in problem solving;

7."

Describe the importance of self-monitoring in problem solving; and

8."

Compare and contrast problem-solving abilities between children


and adolescents.

X" INTRODUCTION
Georgie (a two-year old) wants to throw rocks out of the kitchen window. The
lawnmower is outside. Dad says that Georgie cant throw rocks out of the
window because he might "break the lawnmower with the rocks. Georgie says
I've got an idea. He goes outside, brings in some green peaches that he had
been playing with, and says: They wont break the lawnmower.

(Waters, 1989, p. 7)

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The example above as quoted from Sternberg, R. J. (1998), explains the


fundamental nature of problem solving where you have a goal, an obstacle and
achievement of the goal. Problem solving in social contexts have indeed become
an important field of interest of cognitive psychologists in the recent years. An
increase in the amount of research on the way children think about other
individuals reasoning (Wellman, 1990; Feinman, 1992; Siegler, 1993), on how
children solve problems together (Brown et al., 1989; Resnick et al., 1991) and
how social relationships impact thinking development (Azmitia & Perlmuter,
1989; Rogoff, 1990). In this topic, three different aspects of the development of
problem solving will be discussed formation strategies, representation and
self-regulation.

4.1

THE DEVELOPEMENT OF PROBLEM


SOLVING

We will now focus on three aspects of the development of problem solving:


(a)"

Formation of strategies;

(b)" Representation; and


(c)"

"

Self-regulation.

It is found that different aspects are more significant at different stages of life, as
summarised in Table 4.1.

"

Table 4.1: Significant Stage in Life for the Three Aspects in the Development of
Problem Solving
Aspect

Significant Stage in life

Formation strategies

Plays a vital role from infancy (birth to 12


months)

Employment of varied representations


(such as language, maps and models)

Shows
more
prominence
during
toddlerhood (one through three years)

Cognitive self-regulation

Becomes more important during the preschool years (three to five years) as
children have more varied strategies and
representations from which to select and
greater cognitive resources to dedicate to
planning, self-monitoring, and other
regulatory processes.

"

TOPIC 4

4.1.1

DEVELOPMENT OF PROBLEM SOLVING

79

Strategic Development

Problem-solving strategies can be defined as procedures that overcome obstacles


and achieve goals. According to researchers, such strategies exist since birth
(Butterworth & Hopkins, 1988; Willats, 1990). This can be observed when young
babies communicate their desires to draw caregivers closer to obtain comfort and
food. Nevertheless, the above observation may be difficult to be told in the
absence of language or other behavioural criteria, whether their actions imply
intention to achieve goals or the actions are merely carried out without any
intentions.
One of the most promising evidence for representation of goals in the first six
months of life is illustrated in the experiment carried out by Rovee-Collier (1987).
In her experiment (Figure 4.1), infants learned very quickly that the act of kicking
made the mobile (attached to their leg by a string) move in different ways.
Various ways of evaluating the infants thinking abilities included varying the
characteristics of the mobile as well as the setting in which the mobile was
presented, and the amount of time between the sessions.

Figure 4.1: Rovee-Collier's experiment


Source: http://psycnet.apa.org

"

The study carried out by Mast et al. (1980) revealed that infants as young as three
months maintain a representation of a reinforcement contingency for up to 24
hours, and at the same time become emotionally disturbed when they could only
obtain a poor estimation of their original goal. In a separate study, Tronick (1989)
reported that the behaviours of infants are a kind of problem solving strategy,
and that the degree to which they engage in them indicate how successful they
are likely to be. Case (1985) suggested that the ability to represent how an action
meets a goal affects attainment of novel strategies. Although when there is a
model to copy and the actions are within the infants range of tasks, infants are
able to use other individuals, especially their mothers, to help them as tools in

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problem solving (Papousek & Papousek, 1987). This is in line with the findings of
Rogoff et al. (1992) where infants exhibited strategies to obtain the help of adults
in manipulating objects in ways that would have been impossible for the infants
themselves to do. Infants have the ability to use simple forms of means-end
analysis in the second half of the first year as reported by Wilats (1989).
It has been found that the development of problem-solving strategies follows
marked different courses when children have extensive experience with a task
than when they do not. Tasks or problems in which children have little
experience are usually accomplished by employing a single strategy. On the
other hand, multiple strategies are used in tasks in which children have
considerable experience.
Inhelder & Piaget (1958) employed the balance scale model as a means of
examining formal operation reasoning (Figure 4.2). One reason for the
widespread interest in balance scales is the simple, hierarchically related
sequence of rules through which children of different ages progress on the task
(Siegler, 1976), summarised in Table 4.2.

"

"
Figure 4.2: The balance scale the problem shown is a distance problem, with equal
numbers of weights placed at different distances from the fulcrum..
Source: Inhelder & Piaget, 1958

TOPIC 4

DEVELOPMENT OF PROBLEM SOLVING

81

Table 4.2: Rules Employed by Children at Different Ages on the Balancing of the Scale
Rule

Description

No rule used

The majority of the 3-year-olds do not employ any systematic rule;


they either guess or switch frequently among alternative approaches.

A few 3-year-olds and more 4-year-olds employ a partially systematic


approach (Richard & Siegler, 1981).
More advanced 4-year-olds and a majority of 5-year-olds employ a
consistently systematic approach (Siegler, 1976).

II

Most 8 or 9-year-old children employ more sophisticated rules that


take into account of the weight on each side as well as the distance
from the fulcrum (Siegler, 1976).

III

An approach whereby only the distance is considered when the weight


on both the sides is equal.

IV

An approach whereby understanding of the relative weight and


distance of both the weights from the fulcrum has been achieved.

"
In 1992, Trudge instructed children to work:
(a)"

alone;

(b)" with a partner who initially used a same rule; and


(c)"

with a partner who initially used a different rule.

He concluded that:
(a)"

In the absence of feedback, pairs of beginners do not usually move to a


more advanced level.

(b)" In the absence of feedback, the only children who make progress are
beginners that are paired with relative experts.
(c)"

When one partner is more expert than the other one, the highest rule
achieved is that of the more advanced partner.
(Miller & Brownel, 1975; Mugny & Doise, 1978; Mackie, 1983; Russell et al.,
1990; Radziszewska, 1993).

A majority of the studies involving collaborative problem solving did not furnish
children with feedback on the correct answer. Generally, feedback provides a
basis for choosing among alternative perspectives and also provides an attractive
method for children to adopt an approach without seeming to give in to the
child or children who generated it. Ellis et al. (1993) worked on the beneficial
effects of collaboration in combination with feedback that stressed on childrens

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comparisons of the relative sizes of decimal fractions. These researchers observed


that:
(a)"

About 50% of the children who worked with a partner and obtained
feedback constantly performed the post-test correctly.

(b)" Less than 25% of those who worked on their own and received feedback
did similarly well.
(c)"

None of the children (either working alone or with a partner) who did not
receive feedback fared well.

Thus, students who worked with a partner and received feedback, performed
best. This translates to the fact that feedback may be critical both for the
generation of good ideas and their adoption. Ellis et al. (1993) also reported that
children who worked with a partner who employed the correct rule on both
occasions were expected to adopt the correct rule on their own during the posttest as compared to those with a partner who used the correct rule only at a later
opportunity (67% versus 15%). This is due to the fact that partners who
employed the correct rules on both instances exhibited higher convincing
arguments for it; whereas children who used the correct rule only during the
later occasion and also debated in favour of it, however appeared less expressive
and convincing in motivating the less expert partner to adopt it. This indicates
that feedback is not compulsory for beginners to adopt a new, superior approach
to solving mathematical problems. In addition, it also points out that either
external evidence of the validity of the better approach (provided by feedback) or
convincing arguments (made by children who employed the correct rule on both
occasions) appear important for good strategies to constantly win out.

ACTIVITY 4.1
Carry out a search in the internet on the ability of infants to employ
simple forms of means-ends analysis in the second half of the first
year. Briefly explain this phenomenon.

4.1.2

Representational Development

A majority of the progress in problem solving among children after the first year
arises from improving ability to internally represent goals, actions, objects and
events. Improvement in representational skills allows toddlers to employ a wider
range of the resources of the social world. Generally, they come up with longterm representations of the methods they have observed of other individuals'
problem solving. Subsequently, they employ these methods themselves later in

TOPIC 4

DEVELOPMENT OF PROBLEM SOLVING

83

life. In addition, improved language ability, both expressive and receptive, also
contributes to the development of problem solving in this particular age group. It
is a rather surprising fact indeed that infants are able to alert their caretakers
regarding the problems they are facing and hope to solve, but the language skills
of toddlers provide them the opportunity to accurately indicate what they want
to achieve and why exactly they are unable to complete it themselves.
As they come closer to completing their first year of life, children show the ability
to walk or crawl to rooms or places that they cannot see at the beginning of their
journey, in order to get hold of toys or things that they are not able to see at the
beginning (Benson et al., 1989). Subsequently, by 18 months, they start taking
steps that help them maintain representations that otherwise may become
inaccessible. Allowing toddlers to remember goal-directed actions modelled by
adults or peers is one part of how increasing representation skills contribute to
development of problem solving (Meltzoff, 1985; Hannah & Meltzoff, 1993).
Furthermore, increasingly specific and durable representations permit toddlers to
take on the path to specific goals within an activity, rather than focusing on the
activity as a whole. It was found that positive affective reactions such as smiles
and abrupt movement of hands and arms to accomplishment of the tasks
increased with age. It appears that part of development of problem solving in the
range of one and three years of age include representing specific goals more
prominently in memory, and following the goals more single-mindedly.
The ability in solving problem improves as children become able to express
themselves using language in various circumstances and events. This is due to
the fact that language is a medium for transferring lessons gained on past
encountered problems to novel ones. This includes the improved understanding
among toddlers on what is being said to them by others. It has been found that
children as young as two years of age are already able to transfer strategies to
new problems similar to older ones and when children are reminded that the
problems are similar in nature (Crisafi & Brown, 1986).
Besides internal representations, toddlers also exhibit increasing ability to form
external representations as tools for solving problems. DeLoache (1987) reported
that young childrens understanding of the correspondence between a scale
model and a larger space is dependent upon the degree of physical similarity
between both the spaces. These researchers carried out an experiment where
children between 2.5 and 3.5 years old observed as a miniature toy was hidden in
a particular location in a scale model of the room. Subsequently, they were asked
to find the similar toy in the actual room itself. Overall, the ability of children in
locating the toy increased as the degree of similarity between the scale model and
the room increased, even though younger children required a higher degree of
similarity to understand the model-room relationship as compared to older
children. They concluded that the level of similarity between the objects within

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DEVELOPMENT OF PROBLEM SOLVING

the two spaces and overall size of both spaces had profound effects on the
childrens performance. Thus similarity may affect accessibility whereby the
probability that childrens representation of one space will provide access to their
representation of the other space. Hence, toddlers can use scale models as tools
for solving problems, but have an affinity to confuse the representation as an
object in its own right with its role as symbol of another situation.

"

SELF-CHECK 4.1
In the experiment carried out by DeLoache (1987), the 2.5-year-olds
showed difficulties in translating between the model and the room. What
could be the source of young childrens difficulty with the scale model?
Suggest other tools that may be easier to be used than the scale model as a
representation of another object.

The term mental model is used to refer to the representation of a body of


knowledge in long-term memory, which may have the same sort of structure as
the models used in reasoning. Psychologists have investigated mental models of
such physical systems as hand-held calculators, the solar system, and the flow of
electricity (Gentner and Stevens, 1983). They have studied how children develop
such models (Halford, 1993), how to design artefacts and computer systems for
which it is easy to acquire models (Ehrlich, 1996), and how models of one domain
may serve as an analogy for another domain. According to Halford (1993), the
central characteristic of mental models is that the model must accurately
represent the structure of the problem. On the other hand, the success of the
mental model is dependent upon whether the critical structural features of
problems are encoded. Children tend to form analogies in which the system of
relations within the target domain resembles the system of relations within the
base. It is not necessary for the objects within each domain to have any particular
similarities. In fact, the key to a good analogy is the similarity of the
corresponding relations in the two situations. The mental model for the classic
analogy Heat flow is like water flow stresses the parallels between the
structural relations among variables that affect the two types of flows (Gentner,
1989) (Figure 4.3).

TOPIC 4

DEVELOPMENT OF PROBLEM SOLVING

85

"

"

Figure 4.3: Structural correspondences in the water/heat flow analogy


Adapted from: Gentner, 1989

Unlike the language, mental imagery and spatial representations that are
acquired in the first two years of the childs life, specialised representations are
acquired much later in life. In addition, the acquisition of specialised
representations has a tendency to be less universal and more variable in timing
than acquisition of the broadly used ones. Speech, mental imagery and spatial
representations observed in all children are the results of the interaction between
biological maturation and general experience. On the other hand, the ability of a
child to learn how to write; to draw maps and diagrams; to understand graphs
and number lines; to use conventional measurement devices; and to perform
controlled scientific experiments are dependent upon the childs particular
experiences.

"

Maps are one important specialised and often used representation. The functions
of maps include:

A method of representing the locations and boundaries of political entities


such as cities, states and nations, or road systems.

A representation of unperceivable aspects of the universe in perceivable


form.
(Liben & Downs, 1989).

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A majority of children are able to understand simple maps drawn by other


individuals by the age of 5, and utilise these maps as a tool for finding objects
(Bluestone & Acredolo, 1979; Uttal & Wellman, 1989). As their age increases, their
ability for drawing maps and including important topological relations among
the landmarks, and the adoption of a consistent perspective come even later
(Piaget & Inhelder, 1956). Besides maps, other types of specialised
representations that are used by older children include rulers, scales, clocks,
calendars and other cultural artefacts. It was found that the main difficulty
encountered by children with the various measurement devices is not in using
them but knowing how and when to use them. In conclusion, measurement tools
and other specialised representations significantly increase childrens potential in
problem solving. However, their usefulness naturally depends on the childs
understanding and comprehension ability.

SELF-CHECK 4.2
A group of children were instructed to give two turtles identical
amounts of food. They divided the food by giving one piece to one
turtle, the next piece to the other turtle, and so on. Discuss the strategy
that was employed by the children in fulfilling the objective of the
experiment. As an adult, how will you guide the children in
improvising on the strategy employed?
"

According to Brown et al. (1989), the main difference between school and realworld problems is the frequent difficulty in school in identifying what exactly
the problem is. Children often reinterpret problems in ways that make sense to
them rather than solving the problem as originally presented. When children
were presented with a hypothesis that seemed intuitively unlikely, they
circumvented the suggestion that they test the hypothesis and instead produced
a more intuitively likely hypothesis and concentrated on collecting confirmatory
evidence for it. On the other hand, adults tested the hypothesis that was
suggested, regardless of its initial plausibility, and usually discovered that the
seemingly unlikely hypothesis was in actual fact correct. Hence, part of
development of problem solving among older children involves accepting goals
set by the social environment when the task calls for it (Klahr et al., 1993).

"

ACTIVITY 4.2
Search information about the goal sketch hypothesis proposed by Siegler
& Jenkins (1989) where children were able to make a discovery without
any trial and error. Discuss your findings with your coursemates.

TOPIC 4

4.1.3

DEVELOPMENT OF PROBLEM SOLVING

87

Self-Regulation

The ability of children in effectively regulating their thinking activities becomes


increasingly central to their problem solving as they attain both increasing
numbers of strategies and representational capacities. One of the key selfregulatory processes is planning, as it can be employed in many different
circumstances to prevent potentially costly errors. The Tower of Hanoi puzzle
was invented by the French mathematician Edouard Lucas in 1883 where a child
is presented with a tower of five disks, initially stacked in increasing size on one
of three pegs. The main objective is to transfer the entire tower to one of the other
pegs (the rightmost one in Figure 4.4), moving only one disk at a time, never a
larger one onto a smaller and using the minimum number of steps as possible.
Knowing which first move is correct, nevertheless, demands working through
the problem from starting to the end. Hence, solving such a problem in a
continuous manner requires planning the entire sequence of events before
carrying out any of them.

"
Figure 4.4: The Tower of Hanoi
Source: http://www.labspaces.net

Most of the problem solving activities carried out by children in their day-to-day
lives take place with adults, rather than on their own. In these circumstances,
adults frequently plan the activities in such a way that remove the burden of
planning from the children, thus benefiting them. The term used to describe what
has been carried out by an adult to facilitate problem solving among children is
called scaffolding which involves the utilisation of specific strategies focused at
simultaneously allowing children to participate, maintaining their interest and at
the same time increasing their competence. (Wood et al., 1976). In general, adults
usually carry out the most crucial and difficult part of the tasks such as dividing
the tasks into sub-goals, coming up with the plans for achieving them and
keeping track of the success of different strategies whereas children are allowed

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to carry out the parts of the task they can complete successfully (Wertsch, 1978).
As the child exhibits increasing skill on the particular task, the adult slowly lets
go until the child is carrying out the task independently both the actions and the
self-regulatory aspects of the task. Studies carried out have indicated that
scaffolding is both an all-encompassing activity in the daily environment and
that it assists children to learn planning and other self-regulative skills. Adults
frequently provide preschoolers with scaffolded instruction and modify the type
of instruction given according to the competence of the learner (Wertsch et al.,
1980; Rogoff et al., 1984; Gauvain, 1992). Moss (1992) found that parents,
particularly mothers, provide scaffolding where he observed three strategies:
(a)"

A mother instructs the child with strategies it would not otherwise know
and not able to actually manage unaided for some time.

(b)" A mother encourages the child to keep using useful strategies that the child
has demonstrated.
(c)"

A mother persuades the child to not implement strategies they consider


developmentally immature.

In addition, Conner et al. (1997) found that fathers are as good as mothers at
scaffolding. They also found that children that have received scaffolding show
longer-term improvements in skills as well as immediate improvements.
Language plays an important role in regulating thinking activities and is used to
communicate to others as well as to direct childrens problem solving. In general,
spontaneous self-directed speech appears in childrens problem solving around
the age of 4 or 5. Prior to this age, children at times do talk to themselves,
although, self-directed speech is not coordinated with their problem-solving
behaviour (Luria, 1961). In contrast, older children also employ self-directed
language to regulate their thinking activity; however, theirs cannot be heard,
unlike that of preschoolers (Frauenglass & Diaz, 1985; Berk, 1986; Bivens & Berk,
1990). Children usually talk to themselves while solving problems that are
challenging but not impossibly difficult (Berk & Garvin, 1984; Behrend et al.,
1989). It happens most often when children experience great difficulty in solving
a problem or following failure to solve a problem (Goodman, 1981). Self-directed
speech plays a crucial role in circumstances in which the childs problem is to
resist a tempting, but non-optimal, course of action. In other words, many
problems are tough not because it is difficult to identify what should be done but
because it is difficult to prevent oneself from employing a less desirable
alternative path.

TOPIC 4

DEVELOPMENT OF PROBLEM SOLVING

89

SELF-CHECK 4.3
Briefly discuss the reasons why self-directed speech may facilitate
problem solving.

When faced with several strategies in solving a problem, children use conscious,
explicit, metacognitive knowledge about problems they are presented, available
strategies and their own cognitive capacities (Flavell& Wellman, 1977).
Generally, strategies that worked in the past are also selected. As children grow
up, they become increasingly skilled at monitoring their plans and adjusting
them according to the circumstances (Gardner & Rogoff, 1990). In contrast,
younger children do not modify their plans according to the different
instructions. However, several researchers have reported the failure of school age
children to plan various tasks such as writing (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1987)
route planning (Gauvain & Rogoff, 1989), instructing other children (Ellis &
Rogoff, 1986) and referential communication (Cosgrove & Patterson, 1977).
Planning has both its advantages and disadvantages, as shown Table 4.3.

"

Table 4.3: Advantages and disadvantages of planning in problem solving


Advantages

Disadvantages

Making accurate and direct solutions


possible.

Time consuming and tedious.

Allows problem to be solved in a


systematic manner.

Does not directly bring goal attainment.

"
Interaction with adults is one of the main factors that results in planning among
children. Hudson & Fivush (1991) found that children were more likely to plan
when they worked together with an adult as compared to when they worked on
their own. In addition, the experience of planning with adults also results in
more sophisticated planning when they later solve problems by themselves
(Radziszewska & Rogoff, 1988; Gauvain, 1992). On the other hand, experience
with peers and older children was found to be not as effective as experience with
adults. This may be due to the fact that adults discuss the strategies with the
younger children than peers, reminding them frequently about the goals of the
task and monitoring their progress more closely. Furthermore, adults are more
sensitive in modifying the type of help they provide according to the
requirement of the child. (Rogoff et., 1984; Gauvain, 1992).
Blaye et al. (1991) reported that children working in pairs fared better in solving
problems as compared to peers who worked on their own, and performed better

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on an individual post-test as well. This is because when children worked in pairs,


they realise the importance of dividing the problem into sub-goals, thus
channelling their thinking activity in fruitful directions. Nevertheless, children
below schooling age rarely collaborated successfully due to their difficulty in
thinking analytically about the other persons reasoning (Azmitia & Perlmutter,
1989; Perlmutter et al., 1989).

"

SELF-CHECK 4.4
The effects of collaboration between young children who are beginners
and older children who are more expert tend to benefit the beginners
less than when they solved the problem with adults. Discuss the above
statement.

"
Skilled problem solvers usually practise several self-monitoring activities
including questioning and elaborating their own knowledge, evaluating their
degree of understanding, and thinking of counter-examples and possible
generalisations (Palincsar & Brown, 1984). Reciprocal teaching is a successful
example of this type of involvement and it emphasises four strategic activities
namely summarising, clarifying, questioning and anticipating future questions
(Palincsar & Brown, 1984; Brown & Palincsar, 1989).

"

SELF-CHECK 4.5
1.

Discuss the rules employed by children of different ages on the


balancing of the scale.

2.

State one benefit of feedback in collaborative problem solving.

3.

Identify the factors which contribute to the success of mental


model.

4.

State the functions of maps as a specialised representation.

5.

What do you understand by the term scaffolding?

6.

Identify the advantages and disadvantages of planning in


problem solving.

TOPIC 4

DEVELOPMENT OF PROBLEM SOLVING

91

x" Problem-solving strategies can be defined as procedures that overcome


obstacles and achieve goals.
x" Most of the studies involving collaborative problem solving have not
furnished children with feedback on the correct answers.
x" The progress in problem solving among children after the first year arises
from the improved ability to internally represent goals, actions, objects and
events.
x" The ability to solve problems improves as children become able to express
themselves using language in various circumstances and events.
x" Besides internal representations, toddlers also exhibit increasing ability to
external representations as tools for solving problems.
x" Mental model refers to the representation of a body of knowledge in longterm memory, which may have the same sort of structure as the models used
in reasoning.
x" Unlike the language, mental imagery and spatial representations that are
acquired in the first two years of the childrens life, specialised
representations are acquired much later in life.
x" Maps are one important specialised and often used representation.
x" The main difference between school and real-world problems is the
frequent difficulty in school in identifying what exactly the problem is.
x" The ability of children in effectively regulating their thinking activities
become increasingly central to their problem solving as they attain both
increasing numbers of strategies and representational capacities.
x" Language plays an important role in regulating thinking, communicating
with others and directing the childs own problem solving.
x" In solving their problems, children use conscious, explicit and metacognitive
knowledge about the problem as well as available strategies and their own
cognitive capacities.

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DEVELOPMENT OF PROBLEM SOLVING

x" Effective planning requires the ability to formulate actions in advance, as well
as skill at monitoring and modifying plans; as circumstances and goals
require.
x" Regulation of cognitive activities is often accomplished through interaction
among people working together rather than through the efforts of a single
individual.
x" Skilled problem solvers usually practise self-monitoring activities including
questioning and elaborating on their own knowledge; evaluating their degree
of understanding; and thinking of counterexamples and possible
generalisations.

Feedback

Reciprocal teaching

Goal sketch hypothesis

Representational development

Maps

Scaffolding

Mental models

Self-directed speech

Planning

Self-monitoring

Problem solving

Strategic development

1."

State the three aspects of problem-solving development and the


corresponding significant stages in life.

2."

Problem-solving strategies exist since birth. Explain this statement using


the Rovee-Collier experiment. In your explanation, illustrate what is meant
by representational skills.

3."

The Tower of Hanoi design using a single peg and three pegs is used to
create toys for children of different age groups. Discuss the respective skill
development and the suitable age group for both toys.

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DEVELOPMENT OF PROBLEM SOLVING

93

Azmitia, M., & Perlmutter, M. (1989). Social influences on children cognition:


State of the art and future directions. In H. Reese (Ed). Advances in child
development and behavior (Vol. 22, pp 89-144). San Diego: Academic Press.
Behrend, D. A., Rosengren, K. S., & Perlmutter, M. (1989). A new look at
childrens private speech: The effects of age, task difficulty, and parental
presence. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 12: 305-320.
Benson, J. B., Arehart, D.M., Jennings, T., Boley, S., & Kearns, L. (1989). Infant
crawling: Expectations, action-plans and goals. Paper presented at the
biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Kansas
City, MO.
Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (1987). The psychology of written composition.
Hilsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Berk, L. E. (1986). Relationship of elementary school childrens private speech to
behavioral accompaniment to task, attention and task performance.
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