Problem-Solving: The Debates in Composition and Psychology

's debate about problem-solving is one of the most interesting controversies in composition literature. Sparked by Lauer's CoUegeCompositionand Communication article, "Heuristics and Composition," the exchange includes several essays by Berthoff as well as responses and counter-responses by both writers. Lauer asserts, "Unless both the testmakers and the teachers of composition investigate beyond the field of English, beyond even the area of rhetorical studies for the solution to the composition problem, they will find themselves wandering in an endless maze" (396). In rebuttal, Berthoff warns of the dangers of using problemsolving as a pedagogical tool. In "The Problem of Problem Solving" she cautions, "When we make problem-solving central to a philosophy of education we effectively separate learning from knowing: the results are philosophically disastrous and politically dangerous" (240). Even though this exchange occurred in the seventies, Berthoff's and Lauer's dialogue is still intriguing and important as well as relevant to more recent arguments about problem-solving in composition literature and in psychological studies. As Lauer's bibliography indicates, psychologists pioneered the study of and continue to investigate problem-solving. However, psychologists have not always agreed about the nature and usefulness of problemsolving. In fact, the history of twentieth-eentury psychology can be traced by outlining different psychological views of problem-solving. Similarly, even composition theorists who agree on its usefulness in teaching writing have not always held identical views about what problem-solving is. In this essay, we will delineate various conceptions of and arguments about problem-solving and propose a means for dealing with these conflicts. First, we outline several ways writing specialists who advocate problem-solving have viewed it; second, we discuss the criticisms of those who, along with Berthoff, find fault with using problem-solving in composition instructions; third, we propose resolving some of these conflicts by viewing problemsolving from the perspective of an internal-extemal validity continuum; and fourth, we examine arguments in the psychological problem-solving literature which parallel the disagreements in composition studies. This review should lead to a better understanding of the issues surrounding problem-solving, both in theory and practice