Problem Solving of Mid-Career Army Officers: Identification of General and Specific Strategies.
Abstract
The Army needs a better understanding of how skilled military leaders solve problems in complex battlefield situations. The military has relied on analytic comparison methods and "6-step" models. Recent studies found that these methods do not correspond to complexities of actual tactical situations. Shortcomings of rigid procedures highlight the usefulness of more naturalistic approaches but research has yet to provide detail about using naturalistic strategies. Eighty U.S. Army officers were interviewed and asked to recommend courses of action for tactical scenarios. They discussed their approaches to problems and identified strategies used in their thinking. Results showed that participants used combinations of approaches within problems. Differences in how strategies were used to develop courses of action were compared. One set of strategies was identified as positive or negative indicators for four likely solutions. Results suggest that to effectively train skilled problem solving, approaches and strategies that are actually being used first have to be identified, their advantages and disadvantages characterized, and methods for training them developed. Findings can be used to support training by identifying how thinking leads to solutions and how more and less skilled problem solvers differ in the ways they solve problems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1997
- Accession Number
- ADA335891
Entities
People
- Jon J. Fallesen
- Julia Pounds
Organizations
- U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences