Melanie Canna

Cognitive Activities

Area of cognition/perception: Simple Problem Solving

Define: “The process of finding solutions to difficult or complex issues” -Oxford

The five aspects of Problem Solving as listed in PST (Problem Solving Training) in
Cognitive and Perceptual Rehabilitation by G. Gillen on page 265 are as follows. This
intervention is based on step three.

1. “Problem orientation or identifying and analyzing: Focused on difficulty of general

recognition of a task or a situation as a problem. The participant’s tendency to
oversimplify problems and neglect relevant information was addressed.

2. Problem definition and formulation: Participants learned to survey information by

reading and rereading directions and formulated questions to augment their
understanding of the problem. Main and relevant points were written down. A
focus was to teach participants to discriminate between relevant and irrelevant
information.

3. Generating alternatives and solutions: Participants were asked to generate as

many solutions as possible for a given problem. This was done individually
followed by participants sharing solutions. The goal was to make participants
aware that there were more solutions available than they had originally thought.

4. Decision making: Solutions were discussed and pros and cons of the solutions
were weighed. Feasibility of the solutions was also considered.

5. Solution verification and evaluation: Participants learned to recognize faulty

solutions, self-correct errors, and return to other hypotheses. The focus here was
on increased sensitivity to errors and discrepancies.”

Red Flags that there may be a problem with this area: Difficulty with insight and
identifying when problems arise, impulsiveness when selecting actions to move forward,
ignoring/ avoiding daily tasks, not following through on commitments or plans, ect.
Problem solving is often tied up with other executive function skills.

Needed Materials/Equipment:
-“What could you do” cards see attachment
- A comfortable area to discuss scenarios
- A small journal for the at home assignment

Specific Set-up requirements/Directions:

Intro: Therapist and client sit at a comfortable table. Therapist discusses how
sometimes the key to solving problems that arise each day, is generating a few ideas or
alternate solutions, and then picking out the one that seems to best suit us for that
situation. Therapist asks client if she/he can come up with any situations that have
come up the last few days where they were able to do that or could have. If they have
trouble doing so, therapist could provide some examples from their own life, or an
example of something that already know about the client.

Activity: They may or may not come up with any ideas, so next, the therapist presents
the “What could you do?” cards. The therapists sets the cards upside down on the table
and asks the client to pick a card. The therapist explains that the client will pick a card,
read the scenario, and then they have to try to come up with three possible alternate
solutions to the problem presented. Even if the client comes up with one good one, stay
on the same card and try to come up with three different ideas, to emphasis that
sometimes taking a little extra time to think about our options will provide us with better
problem-solving capabilities. The client goes through as many of the cards as they can
in the allotted amount of time

Generalization: Lastly, the therapist assigns the client an at home practice activity. At
some point each day (a specific time they discuss would work well, such as at dinner),
the client should right down one time in the day that they had to generate an alternate
solution to a task. If they did not have to, then come up with one time that occurred that
day where they could have generated an alternate solution. Write an example from
each day and come prepared to the next session to discuss.

Suggestions for Grading task up:

In addition to coming up with alternating solutions, the client could come up with pros
and cons to each potential solution. They could also try to come up with their own
scenarios that they may encounter. The therapist could also introduce another problem
when the client comes up with a alternate solution, forcing them to need to come up
with another one and be flexible.

Suggestions for Grading task down:

This task could be changed to just coming up with one alternating solution. Simpler
scenarios could also be made to grade the task down.
You plan on having cereal and
milk for breakfast. You open
the refrigerator and there is no
milk! What could you do?
Your sister’s birthday is
tomorrow, and you had
planned on buying her a candy
bar on the way to her house.
The grocery store you wanted
to go to is closed. What could
you do?
You are in the shower washing
up and realize that you are out
of body soap. What could you
do?
You are watching your friend’s
dog for two days. You feed her
breakfast and dinner the first
day and by the time the second
day rolls around you are out of
food. What could you do?
Today was a hard morning…
you literally put salt in your
coffee. What could you do?
You planned on riding your bike
to work but realize you have a
flat tire when it is time to go.
You need to leave soon, or you
will be late. What could you
do?
You sit down to work on an
assignment and there is no ink
left in your pen. What could
you do?
You had some spicy Mexican
food last night and today it is
not sitting well with you. While
at breakfast with a date, you
are pretty sure you had an
accident in your pants. How
embarrassing. What could you
do?
You are at the convenience
store about to purchase a
couple of your favorite candies,
some soda, and a new pair of
headphones. Before you go to
pay, you realize that you don’t
have enough money to cover
everything. What could you do?
Tonight, while doing dishes,
you notice that the kitchen sink
has slowly started leaking
water onto the floor. What
could you do?
You are cooking a recipe that
calls for 1 teaspoon of salt. You
look through all of your
drawers and don’t have any
measuring devices with a
teaspoon on it. What could you
do?
You are driving to the post
office to drop off some mail and
realize there is a roadblock in
the road in the route you
typically take. What could you
do?
You are supposed to drive to
work but cannot find your car
keys anywhere. You have an
hour or so before you need to
leave, but they are still
nowhere to be found. What
could you do?
You promised your grandpa you
would call him on his birthday.
It is the morning of his birthday,
right when you planned to call
him, but your cell phone is
dead, and you have to leave for
work soon. What could you do?
You know that you are
supposed to pay your cell
phone bill today, but you
cannot remember the
password to your online
account to pay the bill. What
could you do?