One can see from the definitions that the fundamental capabil-
ity that undergirds successful career and lifestyle adjustment is the
ability to acknowledge, define, solve, and act on career problems.
The Nature of Career Problems
Much of what is known about cognition in problem solving has been
obtained from research on how individuals solve mathematics prob-
lems (Wickelgren, 1974), physics problems (Larkin, McDermott,
Simon, & Simon, 1980), and verbal analogies (Sternberg, 1979;
Sternberg & Rifkin, 1979). The cognitive processes used to solve
these kinds of problems typically appear on standardized tests
(Fredrickson, 1982; Sternberg, 1984). In these kinds of problems,
the cue is well defined (Reitman, 1965), all required information is
provided, and only one solution best satisfies the conditions given
in the problem statement.
However, in contrast to structured problems, the solving of
career problems is another matter. The cues signaling a career prob-
lem are often complex and ill defined, and the reactions to them
emotionally laden; these cues may contain either too much or too
little information to effectively solve the problem at hand. Fur-
thermore, the options to solve the problem must be created by the
problem solver, and there may be no single correct or best option.
In fact, with career problems it is more useful to refer to the answer
as an optimalsolution rather than a correctsolution, because no sin-
gle alternative may meet all of the conditions in a given circum-
stance. Some options merely have different sets of advantages and
disadvantages regarding their impact on oneself, significant others,
cultural group, and society at large. Moreover, even when an indi-
vidual arrives at an optimal solution based on the information at
hand, there is no guarantee that the solution, whether it is a course
of study, a college to attend, a job, or occupation, will ensure suc-
cess and satisfaction. Finally, the solving of one career problem
often raises a new set of issues related to implementing and carrying
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