Summary

Much of our everyday activity involves solving problems. The task of problem solving usually involves making a sequence of reasoned decisions that will achieve an aim of establishing an objective. Of particular interest in this chapter are those objectives that seek a solution to the problem. The determination of each decision during the problem-solving process is supported through reasoning about our current surrounding circumstances or by relying on expertise gained from similar experiences in the past. There are times when decisions are made with less than perfect information, and such uncertainty prompts one to use rule-of-thumb formulations, comparisons with analogous events, or just plain trial-and-error methods. Whichever method it is that guides us, the information garnered will seem, initially, to enable us to make a decision that draws us closer to realizing a solution. However, some of these decisions will subsequently be deemed to be flawed or incorrect. This causes us to reconsider againthe basis for the erroneous decision and to determine an alternative course of action. More important, learning from such failures helps us to avoid repeating similar mistakes in the future. In addition, certain steps resulting from our erroneous decision may have proven fruitful, and these we normally remember so as to minimize the effort incurred should similar situations arise in the future. This process is repeated until either the solution is obtained or all avenues have been exhausted.