314 CAREER CHOICE AND DEVELOPMENT
Career decision making: The thought processes by which an indi-
vidual integrates self-knowledge and occupational knowledge to arrive
at an occupational choice may be viewed as a third line of career
development inquiry. Parsons identified this as “true reasoning.” Early
career decision theorists included Janis and Mann (1977), Gelatt
(1962, 1989), Katz (1963, 1969), and Miller-Tiedeman (1977), who
formulated a career-decision model that may be subsumed under an
overarching five-step sequence: (1) define the problem, (2) under-
stand its causes, (3) formulate plausible alternatives, (4) prioritize the
alternatives and arrive at a first choice, (5) implement the solution
and evaluate the outcomes.
Along with the development of these lines of inquiry, a parallel
force in cognitive psychology or cognitive science has emerged that
offers an alternative way of thinking about career choice and career
development. This paradigm, referred to as cognitive information pro-
cessing(CIP), was initially formulated in the works of Hunt (1971),
Newell and Simon (1972), and Lackman, Lackman, and Butterfield
(1979). CIP introduces concepts that add an important new per-
spective to existing theories of career choice and career development
and to current practices of career counseling, particularly if career
counselors seek to enhance individual career problem-solving skills.
With the CIP paradigm, we can now think more comprehensively
and systematically about how clients can become independent and
responsible career problem solvers and decision makers (Peterson,
Sampson, & Reardon, 1991; Reardon, Lenz, Sampson, & Peterson,
2000a).
Cognitive Information Processing Theory
In our most recent book, Career Development and Planning: A Com-
prehensive Approach(Reardon, Lenz, Sampson, & Peterson, 2000a),
we introduce, from the field of cognitive psychology, a perspective
on career choice and career decision making that seeks to integrate
the earlier lines of inquiry in career theory and practice described