Feeling and Thinking: Implications for Problem Solving

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Consistent with the classic juxtaposition of reason and emotion, moods and emotions have long been assumed to interfere with problem solving. Recent advances in psychology's understanding of the interplay of feeling and thinking suggest a more complex story: Positive as well as negative moods and emotions can facilitate as well as inhibit problem solving, depending on the nature of the task. Moreover, the same feeling may have differential effects at different stages of the problem-solving process. In addition, nonaffective feelings, such as bodily sensations and cognitive experiences (e.g., fluency of recall or perception), may also influence problem solving, often paralleling the effects observed for affective feelings. This chapter summarizes key lessons learned about the interplay of feeling and thinking and addresses their implications for problem solving. To set the stage, we begin with a summary of key elements of the problem-solving process. ELEMENTS OF PROBLEM SOLVING In the most general sense, “a problem arises when we have a goal – a state of affairs that we want to achieve – and it is not immediately apparent how the goal can be attained” (Holyoak, 1995, p. 269). Consistent with the spatial metaphors of ordinary language use, where we “search for a way to reach the goal,” “get lost” in a problem, meet “roadblocks” or have to “backtrack,” problem solving is typically conceptualized as search through a metaphorical space (Duncker, 1945).

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