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Early Problem Solving -- Key Skills

One way for early interventionists to measure progress toward proficiency in problem solving in infants and toddlers, 1 to 4 years of age, is the Early Problem Solving Indicator (EPSI). The EPSI is a play-based observational measure of a child’s growth in problem solving with toys occurring during a 6-minute play period with a familiar adult.

Four of 5 problem solving skills were selected to comprise the EPSI based on a conceptual review of the literature followed by validation with other criterion measures of cognitive reasoning and problem solving ability for children this age (see Technical Soundness). The fifth skill, Engagement, was not selected for further development because across children it tended to have a ceiling effect and restricted variation. It was not particularly sensitive to individual differences among children in the sample and growth over time.

The key skill elements that occurred in play with toys with specific solution properties were: Looking, Exploring, Functions, and Solutions. These skills were selected to represent the visual exploration domain (Looks), the object exploration domain (Explores and Functions), and the problem solving domain (Solutions), three skill classes of importance to children who are just acquiring problem solving skills.

The rates of occurrence of these key skills were brought together to form a single indicator of Total Problem Solving. Additional research indicated that a single indicator combining only Functions and Solutions was equally, if not more sensitive to growth over time and in its relationship to criterion validity measures. We now provide a brief overview of the definitions of these key skills. The complete definitions are described in Scoring Definitions for the EPSI .

Key Skill Definitions

Looks:
Look was recorded when a child oriented body, moved toward, faced, and/or looked at a toy that was placed near the child, in their hand or on their body. For example, the infant may be holding a shape up to their face, looking at the shape.

Explores:
Explore was recorded when the child touched, manipulated, mouthed, rubbed, shook, pushed, pulled, picked up, banged, threw, and/or dropped the toy. For example, an infant is trying to put one of the stacking rings into their mouth and bite, gum or chew on the ring. Another example is an infant pushes the shape off of the table and watches the toy land on the ground. When the toy is replaced, the infant repeats this action.

Functions:
Function was recorded when the child made a toy perform a function or created an effect for which it was designed (e.g., popping up, fitting into, taking out, sorting, making music, stacking, opening, closing, fitting pieces, etc.). For example, a toddler pushes on the toy button to make the dinosaur pop up or, the child bangs the shape on the container and makes the shape go into the shape sorter.

Solutions:
Solution was defined as a fluid sequence of skills or routines used with a toy leading to the intended goal or objective of the toy. In contrast to a function that is a single effect, a solution occurs when the toy’s endpoint is reached (e.g., all cups are stacked, all puzzle pieces are replaced, all pieces are dropped, etc). The infant/toddler uses any and all of the skills defined above to reach the end point of the toy (e.g., finding a toy behind a door, pushing the knob the correct way to make the toy pop up, or opening the door with the key to retrieve the shape). For example, the child returns all the puzzle pieces correctly into the puzzle frame or the child pushes and pulls on the door and then turns knob to make it open retrieving all the objects placed inside.

Total Problem Solving:
The Total Problem Solving score is the sum Functions and Solutions divided by 6 minutes to form a score in terms of rate per minute.