Barriers to Problem Solving

While reading chapter nine this week, I found the section on Obstacles to Logical Operations intriguing and important. I think it is important and interesting to learn how children try to logically solve problems. I found static reasoning one of the biggest interest to me personally. I baby sit my little cousin Kaleb, and I see a lot of these characteristics in him. He solves problems in the same manor as stated by Berger in The Developing Person Through the Life Span. Kaleb often thinks that once his favorite program Calliou is over and I change the channel to watch something else, he always thinks that I can just turn Calliou back on. No matter how I try to explain it to him, he just can not grasp the concept that Calliou is over and is only on a certain times of the day. Another barrier that I see in my cousin is irreversibility. Kaleb will get upset over little things like the crust being cut off his bread, but the crust must be cut off the bread before the sandwich is made. If you make the sandwich and then cut off the crust he will refuse to eat it because he believes that damage is done and it can then not be undone. I find it very interesting to not only learn about the barriers that children go through when learning problem solving and logic, but also to be able to see these things first hand.

Reference:
Berger, K. S. (2011). The Developing Person Through the Life Span. New York: Worth Publishers.