Effective family problem solving.

Effective family problem solving was studied in 97 families of elementary-school-aged children, with 2 definite-solution tasks--tower building (TWB) and 20 questions (TQ), and 1 indefinite-solution task--plan-something-together (PST). Incentive (for cooperation or competition) and task independence (members worked solo or jointly) were manipulated during TWB and TQ, yielding 4 counterbalanced conditions per task per family. On TQ, solo performance exceeded joint performance; on TWB, competition impaired joint performance. Families effective at problem solving in all conditions of both definite-solution tasks tried more problem-solving strategies during TWB and deliberated longer and reached more satisfactory agreements during PST. Family problem-solving effectiveness was moderately predicted by 2 parents' participation in the study. Parental education, parental occupational prestige, and membership in the family of an academically and socially competent child were weaker predictors. The results indicate that definitions of effective family problem solving that are based on directly observed measures of group interaction are more valid than definitions that rely primarily on family characteristics.