Problem-Solving Strategies and Obstacles

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From deciding what to eat for dinner to considering whether it’s the right time to buy a house, problem-solving is a large part of our daily lives. Learn some of the problem-solving strategies that exist and how to use them in real life, along with ways to overcome obstacles that are making it harder to resolve the issues you face.

What Is Problem-Solving?

Incognitive psychology, the term ‘problem-solving’ refers to the mental process that people go through to discover, analyze, and solve problems.

Maybe you want a better relationship with your spouse or another family member but you’re not sure how to improve it. Or you want to start a business but are unsure what steps to take. Problem-solving helps you figure out how to achieve these desires.

Theproblem-solving processinvolves:

Before problem-solving can occur, it is important to first understand the exact nature of the problem itself. If your understanding of the issue is faulty, your attempts to resolve it will also be incorrect or flawed.

Problem-Solving Mental ProcessesSeveral mental processes are at work during problem-solving. Among them are:Perceptually recognizing the problemRepresenting the problem inmemoryConsidering relevant information that applies to the problemIdentifying different aspects of the problemLabeling and describing the problem

Problem-Solving Mental Processes

Several mental processes are at work during problem-solving. Among them are:Perceptually recognizing the problemRepresenting the problem inmemoryConsidering relevant information that applies to the problemIdentifying different aspects of the problemLabeling and describing the problem

Several mental processes are at work during problem-solving. Among them are:

Problem-Solving Strategies

There are many ways to go about solving a problem. Some of these strategies might be used on their own, or you may decide to employ multiple approaches when working to figure out and fix a problem.

Algorithms

In psychology, algorithms can be used to help identify individuals with a greater risk of mental health issues. For instance, research suggests that certain algorithms might help us recognize children with an elevated risk of suicide or self-harm.

One benefit of algorithms is that they guarantee an accurate answer. However, they aren’t always the best approach to problem-solving, in part because detecting patterns can be incredibly time-consuming.

There are also concerns when machine learning is involved—also known asartificial intelligence(AI)—such as whether they can accurately predict human behaviors.

Heuristics

Heuristicsare shortcut strategies that people can use to solve a problem at hand. These “rule of thumb” approaches allow you to simplify complex problems, reducing the total number of possible solutions to a more manageable set.

If you find yourself sitting in a traffic jam, for example, you may quickly consider other routes, taking one to get moving once again. When shopping for a new car, you might think back to a prior experience when negotiating got you a lower price, then employ the same tactics.

While heuristics may be helpful when facing smaller issues, major decisions shouldn’t necessarily be made using a shortcut approach.Heuristics also don’t guarantee an effective solution, such as when trying to drive around a traffic jam only to find yourself on an equally crowded route.

Trial and Error

A trial-and-error approach to problem-solving involves trying a number of potential solutions to a particular issue, then ruling out those that do not work. If you’re not sure whether to buy a shirt in blue or green, for instance, you may try on each before deciding which one to purchase.

This can be a good strategy to use if you have a limited number of solutions available. But if there are many different choices available, narrowing down the possible options using another problem-solving technique can be helpful before attempting trial and error.

Insight

In some cases, the solution to a problem can appear as a sudden insight. You are facing an issue in a relationship or your career when, out of nowhere, the solution appears in your mind and you know exactly what to do.

Insight can occur when the problem in front of you is similar to an issue that you’ve dealt with in the past. Although, you may not recognize what is occurring since the underlying mental processes that lead to insight often happen outside ofconscious awareness.

How to Apply Problem-Solving Strategies in Real Life

If you’re facing a problem, you can implement one or more of these strategies to find a potential solution. Here’s how to use them in real life:

Obstacles to Problem-Solving

Problem-solving is not a flawless process as there are a number of obstacles that can interfere with our ability to solve a problem quickly and efficiently. These obstacles include:

How to Improve Your Problem-Solving Skills

In the end, if your goal is to become a better problem-solver, it’s helpful to remember that this is a process. Thus, if you want to improve your problem-solving skills, following these steps can help lead you to your solution:

You can find a way to solve your problems as long as you keep working toward this goal—even if the best solution is simply tolet gobecause no other good solution exists.

9 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Sarathy V.Real world problem-solving.Front Hum Neurosci. 2018;12:261. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2018.00261Dunbar K.Problem solving.A Companion to Cognitive Science. 2017. doi:10.1002/9781405164535.ch20Stewart SL, Celebre A, Hirdes JP, Poss JW.Risk of suicide and self-harm in kids: The development of an algorithm to identify high-risk individuals within the children’s mental health system.Child Psychiat Human Develop. 2020;51:913-924. doi:10.1007/s10578-020-00968-9Rosenbusch H, Soldner F, Evans AM, Zeelenberg M.Supervised machine learning methods in psychology: A practical introduction with annotated R code.Soc Personal Psychol Compass. 2021;15(2):e12579. doi:10.1111/spc3.12579Mishra S.Decision-making under risk: Integrating perspectives from biology, economics, and psychology.Personal Soc Psychol Rev. 2014;18(3):280-307. doi:10.1177/1088868314530517Csikszentmihalyi M, Sawyer K.Creative insight: The social dimension of a solitary moment.In:The Systems Model of Creativity. 2015:73-98. doi:10.1007/978-94-017-9085-7_7Chrysikou EG, Motyka K, Nigro C, Yang SI, Thompson-Schill SL.Functional fixedness in creative thinking tasks depends on stimulus modality.Psychol Aesthet Creat Arts. 2016;10(4):425‐435. doi:10.1037/aca0000050Huang F, Tang S, Hu Z.Unconditional perseveration of the short-term mental set in chunk decomposition.Front Psychol. 2018;9:2568. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02568National Alliance on Mental Illness.Warning signs and symptoms.Additional ReadingMayer RE.Thinking, problem solving, cognition,2nd ed.Schooler JW, Ohlsson S, Brooks K. Thoughts beyond words: When language overshadows insight.J Experiment Psychol: General. 1993;122:166-183. doi:10.1037/0096-3445.2.166

9 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Sarathy V.Real world problem-solving.Front Hum Neurosci. 2018;12:261. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2018.00261Dunbar K.Problem solving.A Companion to Cognitive Science. 2017. doi:10.1002/9781405164535.ch20Stewart SL, Celebre A, Hirdes JP, Poss JW.Risk of suicide and self-harm in kids: The development of an algorithm to identify high-risk individuals within the children’s mental health system.Child Psychiat Human Develop. 2020;51:913-924. doi:10.1007/s10578-020-00968-9Rosenbusch H, Soldner F, Evans AM, Zeelenberg M.Supervised machine learning methods in psychology: A practical introduction with annotated R code.Soc Personal Psychol Compass. 2021;15(2):e12579. doi:10.1111/spc3.12579Mishra S.Decision-making under risk: Integrating perspectives from biology, economics, and psychology.Personal Soc Psychol Rev. 2014;18(3):280-307. doi:10.1177/1088868314530517Csikszentmihalyi M, Sawyer K.Creative insight: The social dimension of a solitary moment.In:The Systems Model of Creativity. 2015:73-98. doi:10.1007/978-94-017-9085-7_7Chrysikou EG, Motyka K, Nigro C, Yang SI, Thompson-Schill SL.Functional fixedness in creative thinking tasks depends on stimulus modality.Psychol Aesthet Creat Arts. 2016;10(4):425‐435. doi:10.1037/aca0000050Huang F, Tang S, Hu Z.Unconditional perseveration of the short-term mental set in chunk decomposition.Front Psychol. 2018;9:2568. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02568National Alliance on Mental Illness.Warning signs and symptoms.Additional ReadingMayer RE.Thinking, problem solving, cognition,2nd ed.Schooler JW, Ohlsson S, Brooks K. Thoughts beyond words: When language overshadows insight.J Experiment Psychol: General. 1993;122:166-183. doi:10.1037/0096-3445.2.166

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Sarathy V.Real world problem-solving.Front Hum Neurosci. 2018;12:261. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2018.00261Dunbar K.Problem solving.A Companion to Cognitive Science. 2017. doi:10.1002/9781405164535.ch20Stewart SL, Celebre A, Hirdes JP, Poss JW.Risk of suicide and self-harm in kids: The development of an algorithm to identify high-risk individuals within the children’s mental health system.Child Psychiat Human Develop. 2020;51:913-924. doi:10.1007/s10578-020-00968-9Rosenbusch H, Soldner F, Evans AM, Zeelenberg M.Supervised machine learning methods in psychology: A practical introduction with annotated R code.Soc Personal Psychol Compass. 2021;15(2):e12579. doi:10.1111/spc3.12579Mishra S.Decision-making under risk: Integrating perspectives from biology, economics, and psychology.Personal Soc Psychol Rev. 2014;18(3):280-307. doi:10.1177/1088868314530517Csikszentmihalyi M, Sawyer K.Creative insight: The social dimension of a solitary moment.In:The Systems Model of Creativity. 2015:73-98. doi:10.1007/978-94-017-9085-7_7Chrysikou EG, Motyka K, Nigro C, Yang SI, Thompson-Schill SL.Functional fixedness in creative thinking tasks depends on stimulus modality.Psychol Aesthet Creat Arts. 2016;10(4):425‐435. doi:10.1037/aca0000050Huang F, Tang S, Hu Z.Unconditional perseveration of the short-term mental set in chunk decomposition.Front Psychol. 2018;9:2568. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02568National Alliance on Mental Illness.Warning signs and symptoms.

Sarathy V.Real world problem-solving.Front Hum Neurosci. 2018;12:261. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2018.00261

Dunbar K.Problem solving.A Companion to Cognitive Science. 2017. doi:10.1002/9781405164535.ch20

Stewart SL, Celebre A, Hirdes JP, Poss JW.Risk of suicide and self-harm in kids: The development of an algorithm to identify high-risk individuals within the children’s mental health system.Child Psychiat Human Develop. 2020;51:913-924. doi:10.1007/s10578-020-00968-9

Rosenbusch H, Soldner F, Evans AM, Zeelenberg M.Supervised machine learning methods in psychology: A practical introduction with annotated R code.Soc Personal Psychol Compass. 2021;15(2):e12579. doi:10.1111/spc3.12579

Mishra S.Decision-making under risk: Integrating perspectives from biology, economics, and psychology.Personal Soc Psychol Rev. 2014;18(3):280-307. doi:10.1177/1088868314530517

Csikszentmihalyi M, Sawyer K.Creative insight: The social dimension of a solitary moment.In:The Systems Model of Creativity. 2015:73-98. doi:10.1007/978-94-017-9085-7_7

Chrysikou EG, Motyka K, Nigro C, Yang SI, Thompson-Schill SL.Functional fixedness in creative thinking tasks depends on stimulus modality.Psychol Aesthet Creat Arts. 2016;10(4):425‐435. doi:10.1037/aca0000050

Huang F, Tang S, Hu Z.Unconditional perseveration of the short-term mental set in chunk decomposition.Front Psychol. 2018;9:2568. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02568

National Alliance on Mental Illness.Warning signs and symptoms.

Mayer RE.Thinking, problem solving, cognition,2nd ed.Schooler JW, Ohlsson S, Brooks K. Thoughts beyond words: When language overshadows insight.J Experiment Psychol: General. 1993;122:166-183. doi:10.1037/0096-3445.2.166

Mayer RE.Thinking, problem solving, cognition,2nd ed.

Schooler JW, Ohlsson S, Brooks K. Thoughts beyond words: When language overshadows insight.J Experiment Psychol: General. 1993;122:166-183. doi:10.1037/0096-3445.2.166

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