The Gerontologist, Vol 37, Issue 3 293-302, Copyright © 1997 by The Gerontological Society of America
Everyday problem solving in elderly women: contributions of residence, perceived control, and age
K Collins, M Luszcz, M Lawson and J Keeves
School of Psychology, Flinders University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.
This study examined the use of relativistic operations in everyday problem
solving by elderly women. Thirty-two community residents and 32 nursing
hostel residents aged between 65-90 years participated. Structured
interviews canvassed the role of residence and other factors thought to
contribute to the maintenance of problem-solving skills. Path analysis was
used to test the developed model of the influences of age, engagement in
problem-solving activities, control orientation, problem familiarity and
residence on the use of relativistic operations. Partial support was found
for the proposed model. Community residents used significantly more
relativistic operations to solve the problems than did hostel residents. A
revised model showed that in addition to residence and control orientation,
the use of relativistic operations was influenced indirectly by the level
of everyday problem- solving activity, through the orientation of perceived
control. Increased problem-solving activity was associated with an internal
control orientation, which in turn was directly related to the use of
relativistic operations. The influence of age on problem solving was
indirect, through problem-solving activity and residence. Our findings
provide initial evidence of the extent to which variables other than age
can influence everyday problem-solving performance.
