Cognitive development in context: An investigation of practical problem solving and developmental tasks

Theorists interested in intellectual development have increasingly focused their attention on the problem-solving strategies individuals develop to meet the demands they face in the changing social contexts of the life course. Direct assessments of the relationship between contextual demands and problem solving strategies, however, have been lacking. The orientation espoused here is that progress through the life course is, in part, determined by individuals' ability to solve problems posed by the development tasks confronting them. In a preliminary ethnographic investigation, the developmental tasks of first- and fourth-year medical students were assessed. A follow-up study revealed (a) the everyday problem solving of students in both years was oriented toward completing the tasks associated with their year in school, (b) the styles students developed to interpret contextually relevant problems were associated with their social environments and developmental tasks, and (c) developmental tasks accounted for more variance of everyday problem solving than in interpretive styles. The findings provide more direct support than was previously available for a relationship between practical intellectual development and life course contexts.Received Ph.D. from West Virginia University. Research interests include contextual influences on cognitive development, social cognition, goal-directed reasoning, and practical intelligence.