Thinking and Problem Solving

Robert J. Sternberg is Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Psychology at Tufts University. Prior to being at Tufts, he was IBM Professor of Psychology and Education, Professor of Management in the School of Management, and Director of the Center for the Psychology of Abilities, Competencies, and Expertise at Yale University. This center, now relocated to Tufts, is dedicated to the advancement of theory, research, practice, and policy advancing the notion of intelligence as developing expertise, as a construct that is modifiable and capable, to some extent, of development throughout the lifespan. The Center seeks to have an impact on science, education, and society. Sternberg was the 2003 President of the American Psychological Association and is the 2006 2007 President of the Eastern Psychological Association. He was on the Board of Directors of the American Psychological Association and the Board of Trustees of the APA Insurance Trust. He is currently on the Board of Trustees of the American Psychological Foundation and on the Board of Directors of the Eastern Psychological Association as well as of the American Association of Colleges and Universities. Sternberg received his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1975 and his B.A. from Yale University. He holds honorary doctorates from eight universities. He is the author of over 1,100 journal articles, chapters, and books. He focuses his research on intelligence, creativity, and wisdom and has studied love and close relationships as well as hate. This research has been conducted on five different continents.

"This volume provides a collection of historical and up-to-date literature reviews on issues central to thinking and problem solving... the most impressive chapters, which set this book apart from typical undergraduate cognitive psychology books, reconsider the relationship of language and thought in the context of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis; offer a comprehensive review of definitions, models, and techniques of measuring creativity; describe the development of problem solving in infancy and childhood; call for an inclusion of cultural and cross-cultural considerations of cognition; and discuss the rationale and methods of formally teaching thinking and problem solving...As a source of current and extensively referenced in-depth essays, this is a valuable resource for upper-division undergraduates, graduates, and faculty working in cognitive and educational psychology." --CHOICE"Almost all of the chapters are accessible and intelligible to educated readers whether they are psychologists or not. This is an unexpected and impressive accomplishment for a handbook... Almost every chapter gives a balanced description of the major perspectives or theoretical viewpoints that allow the reader to see the structure of the major approaches to each topic... The work admirably fulfills the stated purpose of both the volume and the series." --CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOLOGY

• R.L. Dominowski and L.E. Bourne, Jr., History of Research on Thinking and Problem Solving. K.A. Ericsson and R. Hastie, Contemporary Approaches to the Study of Thinking and Problem Solving. T.P. McNamara, Knowledge Representation. B.H. Ross and T.L. Spalding, Concepts and Categories. L.J. Rips, Deduction and Its Cognitive Basis. J. Bisanz, G.L. Bisanz, and C.A. Korpan, Inductive Reasoning. E. Hunt, Problem Solving. R.J. Gerrig and M.R. Banaji, Language and Thought. R.J. Sternberg, Intelligence. T.I. Lubart, Creativity. S. Ellis and R.S. Siegler, Development of Problem Solving. R. Serpell and A.W. Boykin, Cultural Dimensions of Cognition: A Multiplex, Dynamic System of Constraints and Possibilities. R.S. Nickerson, The Teaching of Thinking and Problem Solving.Index.