Jeff tries to hold together his theory of Thorwald as a murderer in the face of opposition from Stella, Lisa, and especially Doyle.  He’s more interested in the why and when of the murder, leaving the how to Stella and Doyle to consider, and piecing his ideas together to form the big picture.

As a seven year old child, Josh employs both methods of problem solving, but he tends to favor a more holistic approach.  Early in the story, Josh is so reluctant to beat his father at chess, he doesn’t even want to play him.  His reluctance demonstrates his desire to hold the relationship together.  He doesn’t want to change the status quo—the relationship he has with his dad.  He is sensitive to inequities, as demonstrated by his sensitivity to the imbalance between winning and losing, and his sensitivity toward the people around him.

When his “family” members squabble amongst themselves, Pike gives them pep talks in an effort to hold the Wild Bunch together:
SYKES:  That was a mighty fine talk you gave the boys ‘bout stickin’ together.  That Gorch was near killin’ me—or me him—
(Green and Peckinpah, p. 33)
With Thornton closing in, and his own men ready for fight or flight, Pike looks at the bigger picture:
LYLE:  We kin stay right up here and kick hell out of ‘em.
PIKE:  No water.
DUTCH:  Make a run for the border?
PIKE:  They’d be after us every step of the way—I know Thornton.  No, I’m tired of being hunted—we go back to Agua Verde and let the general take care of those boys.
LYLE:  You’re crazy!... Back with those greasers!
PIKE:  He’s so tickled with the guns he’ll be celebrating for a week and happy to do us a favor.  Thornton ain’t going after us in there.  While they’re busy picking over old Freddy’s pockets, we’ll take the back trail off this mountain and head for town.
(Green and Peckinpah, p. 99)
NOTE:  The obstacle character, Deke Thornton, also has a female mental sex.  He too, tries to hold together his group of misfits, but by using threats.  He’s able to grasp the bigger picture of how things work, which allows him to work for Harrigan and to join Sykes at story’s end.  He can intuit what Pike is thinking at any given time, as they share the same problem solving techniques.

Berniece uses female problem solving techniques.  She tries to uncover Boy Willie’s motive behind his unexpected visit.  She sets conditions upon having Boy Willie and Lymon in her house.  She considers her family’s history surrounding the piano and concludes that it cost too much in suffering to give up.