THE ROLE OF PROBLEM DEFINITIONS IN UNDERSTANDING AGE AND CONTEXT EFFECTS ON STRATEGIES FOR SOLVING EVERYDAY PROBLEMS

The participants (107 preadolescents, 124 college students, 118 middle -aged adults, and 131 older adults) described 2 everyday problems (1 u nconstrained, the other constrained to 1 of 6 domains) that they exper ienced and their goals and strategies. Problem definitions reflected i nterpersonal or competence components or both; strategies reflected al tering cognitions, actions, or regulating and including others. Age di fferences in problem definitions were found. For unconstrained-domain problems, age and problem definition were related to strategies; for u nconstrained-domain problems age differences in strategies were not fo und. For constrained-domain problems, strategies related to problem do main and problem definition, with problem definition the better predic tor of strategies. The results illustrate the value of individuals' pr oblem definitions for addressing age and context effects on strategies used.