Major+Objections


 * Major Objections to These Findings **

While cognitive psychologists research problem solving, the field remains subject to other schools of thought, and their interpretations. The major objections stem from the Behaviorist and Gestalt camps. Behaviorist researchers argued that problem solving was that of repetitiveness and operational conditioning, mainly through a process of trial-and-error. "In 1911 **Edward Thorndike** had developed his law of effect after observing cats discover how to escape from the cage into which he had placed them. This greatly influenced the behaviorist view of problem solving" ("Problem-Solving - Cognitive Psychology", para. 2).

[|Watch Thorndike's Cat Experiment Here]

In contrast, Gestalt psychologists like **Wolfgang Köhler**, argued that problem solving was a productive process. "In particular, in the process of thinking about a problem individuals sometimes "restructured" their representation of the problem, leading to a flash of insight that enabled them to reach a solution" ("Problem-Solving - Cognitive Psychology", para. 3-4). “Many psychologists have attempted to explain the processes underlying insight. Gestalt psychologists (Wertheimer, 1945) as well as contemporary psychologists (Metcalfe & Wiebe, 1987) have described insight as a sudden understanding that results when the problem solver realizes how all parts of the problem ﬁt together to form a coherent whole, or Gestalt. Other psychologists have criticized this view, claiming that the processes involved in having an insight are nothing special, and are in fact no different from the processes implicated in solving a problem that does not involve insight (Weisberg & Alba, 1981)” (Davidson & Sternberg, 2003, p. 18-19).