Exam Questions | Cognition and Problem Solving in the – Ch7

CHAPTER 7

COGNITION AND PROBLEM SOLVING IN THE EVERYDAY WORLD

CHAPTER SUMMARY

Chapter 7 is divided into five main sections, all of which cover situations that involve real-world problem solving. Many of these problems differ from those on psychometric tests; most of them have social aspects and more than one possible solution. The first section focuses on problem solving at different stages of the life span. Schaie (later Schaie and Willis) proposed a stage model that postulates individuals have different motivations for using their cognitive abilities at various stages of life. Early in life they acquire as much knowledge as they can. In young adulthood they shift from broad acquisition of knowledge to applying knowledge for the purpose of achieving long-term goals. In middle adulthood they become responsible for transmitting the knowledge to others, and in older adulthood they become selective about where to place their cognitive efforts. In older adulthood, individuals must apply their cognitive skills to restructuring their lives for the years of retirement and to thinking about the legacy they will leave.

Piaget proposed a model of cognitive development that occurs in progressive stages, with the final one reached in early adolescence, at which point individuals become capable of using formal operations to reason scientifically. Tests of psychometric intelligence generally call for formal scientific reasoning, but real-world problems cannot always be solved this way. Accordingly, some scientists have proposed an additional stage, postformal thinking. Postformal thinking calls for acceptance of ambiguity and recognition that there is more than one possible solution to a problem. Postformal thinking is difficult to measure and it is unclear whether all older adults are successful in using it, but its perspective-taking aspect is related to the concept of wisdom.

In the second section of the chapter, the nature of wisdom is discussed. According to Ardelt (2011), the theories researchers propose about wisdom are explicit theories, whereas the conceptions, or theories, that laypeople have about wisom are implicit theories. However, both types of theory include being knowledgeable, being able to think reflectively and consider various perspectives, and being able to remain composed under trying circumstances. The cognitive aspect seems to be more dominant in the Western concept of wisdom, whereas the reflective-compassionate aspect (concern for others) is more dominant in the Eastern concept of wisdom. Glück and Bluck (2011) found that, even within Western culture, implicit conceptions about what constitutes wisdom and about how wisdom develops are not unitary: There are cognitive conceptions of wisdom (knowledge) as well as integrative conceptions of wisdom (knowledge but affective aspects as well such as empathy and concern for others). These researchers found that with increasing age, the integrative aspects of wisdom take on greater importance in how people define wisdom.

Wisdom entails having some knowledge, but it also requires problem finding, a balance between reflection and action as well as between cognition and emotion. It is commonly thought that older adults are more likely than young adults are to be wise because they have had more time to gain life experience. As is evident from the research findings, however, some older adults are wise but age does not necessarily guarantee wisdom.

The third section of the chapter, real-world intelligence and problem solving, discusses Sternberg’s distinction between academic and practical intelligence and, relatedly, the distinction between formal knowledge and tacit knowledge. There are examples of the importance of tacit knowledge for successful aging. Sternberg also distinguishes between analytical, practical, and creative intelligence. Creative intelligence connotes divergent thinking, but it is difficult to measure. Even so, attempts have been made to study the relationship between creativity and age. One approach has been to determine the ages at which artists, authors, and scientists produced creative works over the course of their lives. Age of maximum creative productivity depends upon the field of endeavor, and level of productivity may relate to the probability of generating a work that is later considered a masterpiece. However, following some decline after mid-life, there is often a final resurgence in the 60s and 70s, which has been termed the “swan-song phenomenon.” Researchers have also been interested in the ages at which individuals are most efficient at solving practical problems. Practical problem solving may reach a peak in the 40s with a gradual decline after age 50. Some practical problems are of an interpersonal nature and examples relevant to older adults’ lives are described.

The fourth section of the chapter, decision making, describes studies that investigate the relationship between age and real-world decision making. In many instances, individuals must make decisions related to health, such as which physician or health plan they would choose. Older adults seem to focus more on positive aspects and to pay less attention to the negative aspects of each choice. Some decisions involve which procedure to choose to treat a disease such as cancer. Several studies have found that younger adults rely more on bottom-up processing (collecting and integrating new information), whereas older adults rely more on top-down processing (making use of prior knowledge and experience). Also, older adults make decisions more quickly, make fewer comparisons among the many choices available, and rely more on non-medical information sources such as friends and newspapers. People often make decisions in consumer contexts and here again, older adults tend to use noncompensatory decision rules (eliminating alternatives after incomplete consideration), whereas young adults tend to use compensatory decision rules (weighing all alternatives that are available). In the legal context, older jurors benefit even more than younger jurors do when they are preinstructed as to the legal concepts they will eventually have to use when coming to a decision about a verdict. One factor that seems to influence decision making is framing, which has to do with the context in which information is presented. Some studies find older adults are more influenced by framing than young adults are. Compared to younger adults, older adults often rate positively framed statements as more informative than negatively framed statements and they have more accurate memory for positively framed statements. Interestingly, older adults often tend to misremember the negative statements as being positive. Another factor that plays a role in the decisions older adults make (e.g., which health insurance plan to purchase) is numeracy, which is the ability to understand and interpret numeric information. Numeracy seems to be maintained in older adults with a high level of education, but there is some evidence for an age-related decline in those with lower levels of education. Decline in numeracy could explain why older adults often prefer to be presented with fewer choices. One further factor that can play a role in decisions is called the sunk-cost fallacy. This is a phenomenon whereby people continue investing time or money in an activity or endeavor that is not turning out well simply because of the investment they have already made as opposed to considering the consequences of any further investment in that choice. Further research is needed, but one study showed that older adults are actually less influenced than young adults are by the sunk-cost fallacy.

The fifth section of the chapter, social cognition, focuses on how people process social information. When forming an impression of another person, older adults make greater use of category-based operations (similar to top-down processing), whereas younger adults make greater use of piecemeal operations (similar to bottom-up processing). When forming impressions of another person, older adults rely more than young adults do on behaviors high in trait diagnosticity. Also, when judging why another person is involved in a social dilemma, individuals can make dispositional, situational, or interactive attributions. In some but not all contexts, older adults tend to make more interactive attributions than young adults do. With regard to moral development, four different levels of moral perspective-taking have been identified. At the lowest level, the person considers only one point of view and discounts all others; at the highest level, the person recognizes several points of view must be considered and reconciled with one another. In both longitudinal and cross-sectional studies, the average level of perspective-taking is somewhat lower for older adults compared to that of young and early middle-aged adults. Older adults are more likely to think there is only one correct point of view, perhaps as a way to minimize cognitive overload when they deliberate about moral issues. Often, individuals collaborate when trying to reach a solution to a problem or reach a common goal. Compared to older adults who work alone to solve a problem, older adults who collaborate with others tend to think about problems in more complex ways and to be more satisfied when a solution is reached.

Finally, what is the relationship between emotion and cognition? To study this topic, investigators have gathered some information by asking individuals what strategy they would use to solve a dilemma. For dilemmas low in emotional significance, individuals of all ages are most likely to use strategy that involves taking action to fix a problem (problem-focused). Individuals of all ages are less likely to use this strategy to solve emotional dilemmas, but older adults are even less likely than young adults are to do so. Older adults are more willing to accept a situation passively and to avoid confrontation. This finding is in agreement with studies that find older adults are less likely than young adults are to act in a hostile manner toward others and are more likely to avoid negative interactions and emotional conflict.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES

Life Management, Wisdom

http://www.margret-und-paul-baltes-stiftung.de/PBB-Website/Baltes_Rio_Gerontology.pdf

At this site you will find the address Dr. Paul Baltes gave at the World Congress of Gerontology that was held in Brazil in 2005, entitled “A Psychological Model of Successful Aging.” In this address he discusses a number of issues relevant to the Selective Optimization with Compensation (SOC) model, including wisdom.

Note: A search of the internet using the terms Age and Wisdom will yield a long list of articles and books related to this topic.

Aging and Creativity

www.creativeaging.org

This is the home page of the National Center for Creative Aging, an organization that is devoted to fostering the creative potential of older adults. On this site you will find newsletters as well as notices about events and conferences related to creative aging.

Note: A search of the internet using the terms Creative Aging will yield a list of websites and articles on this topic.

MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS

Select the best answer from the options provided.

1. Older adults often see themselves as ______ at problem solving and ______ at memory.

a. getting better; declining

b. getting better; getting better

c. declining; declining

d. declining; getting better

2. Schaie proposed a stage model of cognitive/intellectual development. In the (reintegrative) stage, the main emphasis is on ______________.

a. acquiring many new skills and abilities

b. selectively focusing on tasks that are personally meaningful

c. being in charge and responsible for others

d. attaining a high level of achievement in many areas of cognitive functioning

3. Schaie and Willis’ reorganizational stage of cognitive development occurs in _____.

a. young adulthood

b. middle-adulthood

c. the young-old years

d. the oldest-old years

4. Formal operations are best used when there is a need to _____________.

a. reach a logical solution to a problem

b. solve such problems as why a car breaks down

c. solve such problems as why a recipe failed

d. resolve disputes between two good friends

5. Postformal thinking calls for ___________.

a. tolerance of ambiguity

b. solving abstract problems in a logical manner

c. remaining aware the every problem has only one solution

d. All of the above

6. Postformal thought ________________.

a. involves solving problems using a logical, deductive approach

b. involves solving problems as quickly and efficiently as possible

c. involves being able to deal with conflict and multiple perspectives

d. is usually considered a sign of cognitive decline

7. Wise individuals _______________.

a. are able to balance cognition and emotion

b. are able to balance reflection and action

c. know what they do and do not know

d. All of the above

8. Wise individuals _____________.

a. are impulsive

b. always know there is one perfect solution to a problem

c. are set in their opinions

d. are good at problem-finding

9. According to Ardelt, Western implicit theories of wisdom tend to emphasize _____ whereas Eastern implicit theories of wisdom tend to emphasize ______.

a. the cognitive aspect; the reflective aspect

b. compassion; knowledge base

c. maintaining composure; having a broad store of facts

d. concern for others; being encyclopedic

10. Glück and and Bluck (2011) found that, within Western culture, people under the age of 20 were ______ people ages 20 and beyond to emphasize the affective aspects of wisdom.

a. more likely than

b. equally likely compared to

c. less likely than

11. Research has been clear in demonstrating that older adults show a higher degree of wisdom than do young and middle-aged adults.

a. True

b. False

12. Unfortunately, wise older adults usually have a lower level of personal well-being compared to older adults who are not wise and are happy in their ignorance.

a. True

b. False

13. Individuals are more likely to give wise advice when it comes to solving dilemmas faced by people in their own age group rather than dilemmas faced by people in a different age group.

a. True

b. False

14. Unlike formal knowledge, tacit knowledge _________________.

a. is obtained from information provided by others

b. is clear and well defined

c. is often inferred from the actions or indirect statements of others

d. has little practical use

15. According to Sternberg, creative intelligence ____________.

a. is knowing how to get what one wants in the real world

b. is related to divergent thinking

c. is the main ingredient in academic intelligence

d. is being able to find the one correct solution to a problem

16. Which of the following statements is true about creative productivity?

a. There is an earlier peak in some creative fields than there is in others.

b. The highest peak of productive output comes late in life.

c. Productivity rises steadily through middle-adulthood and then remains stable over the rest of the adult life span.

d. Creative productivity is measured by convergent ideas.

17. According to the constant-probability-of-success model of creativity, ________.

a. the point of maximum productivity coincides with the lowest level of creativity

b. the point of maximum productivity coincides with the point of maximum creativity

c. the less productive a person is, the most likely he/she will achieve creative expression

d. productivity and creativity are independent and unrelated

18. The swan-song phenomenon refers to _______________.

a. an increase in formal knowledge over the adult lifespan

b. learning to “know how” rather than “know that” with increasing age

c. the fact that people develop expertise in the middle-adult years

d. a resurgence in creative output in the later years of many artists and composers

19. Compared to the creative works produced earlier in adulthood, the creative works produced in older adulthood focus more on simplicity of style and integration of ideas.

a. True

b. False

20. Collins et al. compared the interpersonal problem solving solutions of Australian women ages 65 to 90 who either lived in the Adelaide community or in a group nursing hostel in the same area. The women were asked to solve problems that occurred either in a community context or in a nursing hostel context. Which of the following describes what Collins et al. found?

a. Study participants offered the best solutions for problems that occurred in the same context in which they lived.

b. The quality of problem solutions was negatively associated with study participants’ chronological age.

c. The nursing hostel residents gave more relativistic solutions compared to the community-living residents.

d. All of the above were found.

21. When left to their own devices to make a decision about selecting a physician and a health plan, older adults are more likely than young adults are to_________ before making a choice.

a. review both positive and negative information more extensively

b. review more positive information than negative information

c. concentrate on negative information, ignoring any positive information.

d. give up

22. When making a decision about which breast cancer treatment a woman should select, older women were more likely than younger women to ________________.

a. collect as much new information as possible

b. make more comparisons between treatment alternatives

c. seek new information and integrate it with what they already know

d. make decisions quickly

23. Older men take _________ to come to a decision about which treatment to select for prostate cancer.

a. more time than younger men do

b. less time than younger men do

c. the same amount of time as younger men do

24. When they are not required to justify their decisions, older adults are ________________ framing effects.

a. less influenced than young adults by

b. equally influenced compared to young adults by

c. more influenced than young adults by

25. In a study on decisions about medical treatment, Turk-Charles et al. asked young and older adults attending an outpatient oncology clinic what information they used in deciding which cancer treatment to select. Which of the following most accurately describes what Turk-Charles et al. found?

a. The young adults sought information mainly from non-medical sources, whereas the older adults sought information mainly from medical sources.

b. The young adults sought out information mainly from medical sources, whereas the older adults sought information mainly from non-medical sources.

c. Both young and older adults sought information mainly from medical sources.

d. Both young and older adults sought information mainly from non-medical sources.

26. When they are required to make a decision about which prescription medication insurance plan to select, older adults usually prefer to have as large an array of choices as possible.

a. True

b. False

27. Let’s say you rent a movie and it turns out to be extremely boring and unlikely to get any more interesting but you continue watching it to the end anyhow. This is an example of _____________.

a. implicit wisdom

b. good numeracy

c. sunk-cost fallacy

d. compensatory thinking

28. According to a study conducted by Johnson, when making a decision about purchasing a car, older adults _______________.

a. use noncompensatory decision rules

b. use compensatory decision rules

c. use bottom-up decision rules

d. weigh and average all possible alternatives

29. Prior to making a decision such as purchasing a car, young adults are ______________ to sum, weigh, and average all possible alternatives.

a. less likely than older adults are

b. equally likely compared to older adults

c. more likely than older adults are

30. Older adults who serve as jurors in a complex civil trial are most likely to make evidence-based decisions and appropriate compensation awards to plaintiffs when the judge provides instructions explaining legal concepts _________________.

a. after they hear opening arguments and evidence

b. before they hear opening arguments and evidence

c. while they are hearing opening arguments and evidence

31. Compared to young perceivers, older perceivers place _______ on the diagnostic value of a target’s behaviors.

a. greater weight

b. less weight

c. same amount of weight

32. When making causal attributions for a social outcome, people in Asian cultures are more likely than people in Western cultures to make _________ attributions.

a. dispositional

b. situational

c. external

d. interactive

33. The fundamental attribution error refers to the common finding that when people make attributions for social outcomes involving others (targets), they overemphasize ________ factors.

a. situational

b. dispositional

c. external

d. interactive

34. In studying perspective-taking about moral dilemmas, researchers found that younger adults are more likely than older adults to consider the perspective of all the characters involved.

a. True

b. False

35. In general, individuals who collaborate with others before making a final decision think about problems in more complex ways than those who do not collaborate before reaching a decision.

a. True

b. False

36. Which strategy is most likely to be used by older adults to solve everyday dilemmas that are low in emotional significance?

a. Passive-dependent

b. Avoidant

c. Problem-focused

d. Cognitive-analytic

37. Compared to younger adults, older adults are ______ to use passive-dependent and avoidant strategies to solve dilemmas that are high in emotional salience.

a. more likely

b. less likely

c. equally likely

38. In situations involving interpersonal conflict, older adults are _________ to respond emotionally.

a. less likely than younger adults are

b. more likely than younger adults are

c. equally likely compared to younger adults

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

1. In their expanded stage model of cognitive/intellectual development, Schaie and Willis include a reorganizational stage. When does this stage occur and what is the main motivation at this time?

2. Explain the difference between formal operations and postformal thinking. In which situation would each be most effective?

3. Define wisdom and explain what we know about the relationship between wisdom and age.

4. Wisdom is considered by researchers Glück and Bluck to be multidimensional. What are the two main dimensions of wisdom? Describe the developmental shift found by these researchers with regard to these two dimensions?

5. Explain the difference between formal knowledge and tacit knowledge.

6. In medical decision making situations, patients diagnosed with a disease that can be treated in more than one way must often decide which treatment to select. What is the difference between a bottom-up processing strategy and a top-down processing strategy that the patient can use to make the decision? Which strategy is used more frequently by older adults?

7. In research on decision making in a consumer context, individuals, asked to make choices about what to purchase, use either compensatory or noncompensatory decision rules. Define each of these and explain which kind of rules young and older adults are more likely to use.

8. When forming impressions of other people (targets), individuals (perceivers) can use category-based operations or piecemeal operations. Define each type of operation and describe which one is used more often by older adults.

9. What types of causal attributions can people (perceivers) make for a positive or negative outcome experienced by another person (target) who has been faced with a social dilemma? Are there any age-related differences in the kind of attributions perceivers make?

10. What is meant by collaborative cognitive activities and what is their utility for older adults?

11. People use various strategies when they are faced with dilemmas. When dilemmas that are high in emotional significance (such as handling conflicts between friends or family members), which type of strategy is most often used by older adults?