ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 provides an accessible introduction to the general themes as well as the structure of the book. It introduces and motivates the idea (1) that in cognitive psychology, “understanding something” is construed as possessing a mental representation which is adequate of dealing with it, (2) that the constructing and changing such mental representations is not addressed in current theories of human problem solving, and (3) that metaphors could play an essential role in addressing this shortcoming. With the main aim of developing a theory of problem solving that is able to address representational change, a brief outlook is given on the empirical case study at the centre of the book. The chapter also explains the strong interdependencies between the choices theoretical focus, methodology and task domain used in the book, and briefly discusses concerns that readers might raise regarding the theoretical commitments and empirical methodology. Finally, it gives a short summary of the theoretical developments proposed based on the study’s results.
