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SUMMARY
It is argued that a distinction between problem situations and difficult tasks in general is essential to an understanding of the thought process. The problem situation is conceived as lying between two experiential thresholds: the lower being passed as soon as a familiar situation appears with some deviating elements, the upper threshold marking in its turn the passing into a situation where a familiar pattern no longer is recognizable.
It is stressed that the point of departure for an analysis of the individual's behavior in any situation must be the particular subjective interpretation which the individual has made of the situation. In this way it may be possible in the end to discover general modes of thinking and behavior.
The role of intelligence in man's adjustment is taken to be that of working upon past experience to make possible the enrollment of what seems at first to be a new experience into a familiar class of situations. An example of this particular type of restructuring is examined in detail. It is concluded that any direct measurement of individual differences as to intelligence is impossible and that the only possible type of testing in this respect consists in an indirect attempt at predicting future intelligent behavior on the basis of the individual's ability to treat his present experience in a flexible way.
The appropriateness of speaking of an ability to be creative is discussed. It is maintained that a number of tests of “creativity” must be looked upon as ways of determining an individual's ability to work upon his past experience. The results of some experiments by Maier and co-workers are discussed in the light of Campbell's arguments for conceiving of the thought process as implying blind variation and selective retention. It is shown that by controlling the subjects' conception of a problem situation their behavior becomes more understandable and may be lead to the discovery of problem solving abilities of a more general nature. While it is doubtful whether an ability to create might be found, one may consider an ability to evaluate what “has been created” and to work out its implications to be an essential part of problem solving and general adjustment.