But this knowledge may not transfer to a problem where point of contact is not visually available, such as a rake with a toy adjacent but not touching. The 14-month-old appears to know that length, rigidity, and type of head are critical for using a rake or hook to pull an object toward one, and will select the appropriate tool from an array of possible tools. For example, at 10 months the infant appears to know that physical contact between a string and a toy is necessary. Such knowledge, however, is not acquired in an all-or-none fashion. Furthermore, if the child has adequate understanding of the problem's causal structure, transfer will occur. She claimed that children have knowledge of “deep structural principles” that can override surface similarities. She argued against earlier views that young children learn on the basis of associating highly similar or identical elements across problems. In 1990, Ann Brown tackled the difficult issues of how children learn and transfer knowledge, thereby producing one of the most frequently cited articles in the developmental problem-solving literature. While emphasizing the importance of tool use and problem solving, these authors pointed out that we do not understand the processes that underlie these activities this was true in 1980 and is still true today.
They found that infants' insight into how to use a tool depended on spatial contact rather than making tool and goal object more perceptually similar.
This pioneering study used a series of tool-object arrangements, graded in difficulty. (1980) manipulated color, texture, spatial arrangement, and type of contact between tool and desired object. Kohler (1927) maintained that proximity between tool and object was essential for the animal to make the connection and use the tool. Although Bruner's examples came from infants in the first year of life, his ideas for how problem solving progresses can be applied to acquisition of more complex skills beyond infancy.Ībout a decade later, Elizabeth Bates and colleagues (1980) explored the role of perceptual factors that enabled 9- to 10-month-olds to solve a tool use problem. Flexibility and higher order acts become possible through reorganization of component acts and modularization. Bruner emphasized the role of exploratory behavior and play prior to achieving skilled action. First there is intention, then an assembling of “constituent acts,” which initially occur out of order but later become properly sequenced to reach the goal. In this still-relevant article, Bruner laid out a plan for the development of skilled action. Seminal, thought-provoking articles on problem solving have appeared about once every decade since the 1970s, beginning with Bruner's article in Child Development (1973). TOOL USE: A ROYAL ROAD TO THE STUDY OF PROBLEM SOLVING
I highlight three classic articles and then review my own work and related articles in detail.
In the space allowed this article, I cannot review the large literature on problem solving in developmental psychology. Despite a long history reaching back to Kohler's apes (1927) and Piaget's work with human infants (1952), developmental psychologists' attention to problem solving has been one of spirited starts followed by benign neglect.
Can we predict the steps and take the actions to lessen global warming, to prevent the collapse of the environment, and to preserve endangered species? While these are a few of the grave problems that scientists, governments, and indeed all citizens face, the developmental psychologist asks a different question: When does the developing human become capable of problem solving, and how does it develop? The answer may surprise you: Planning ahead in order to achieve a goal is solidly present during the second year of life, with the earliest inkling of this process beginning in the first year. A critical aspect of this problem solving is how far into the future can we plan prospectively. One could argue that the continuance of our species on earth depends on whether we solve the global problems that face us.