Serial Position and Growth Curves in Demand Concept Recall

1970 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-142
Author(s):  
Charles J. Gadway
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Serial Position ◽  
Serial Position Effect ◽  
Position Effect ◽  
Growth Curves ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
Recency Effect ◽  
Primacy Effect ◽  
Complex Problem Solving

Since the serial-position effect has been demonstrated to diminish as learning progresses, it was hypothesized that only a weak recency serial-position effect would result from demand recall of concepts in a complex problem-solving situation. Six groups of 14 Ss solved 15 problems, 5 soluble by each of 3 concepts (rules), recalled from prior instruction. Each group received a different permutation of the 3 concepts. The serial-position effect appeared to be minimal for demand recall of concepts with the predicted weak recency effect (.01 < p < .05) but no primacy effect.

Comparison of the serial position effect in very mild Alzheimer's disease, mild Alzheimer's disease, and amnesia associated with electroconvulsive therapy

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 290-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER J. BAYLEY ◽  
DAVID P. SALMON ◽  
MARK W. BONDI ◽  
BARBARA K. BUI ◽  
JOHN OLICHNEY ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Serial Position ◽  
Electroconvulsive Therapy ◽  
Memory Impairment ◽  
Serial Position Effect ◽  
Position Effect ◽  
Primacy Effect ◽  
Position Effects ◽  
Serial Position Effects

Individuals given a series of words to memorize normally show better immediate recall for items from the beginning and end of the list than for midlist items. This phenomenon, known as the serial position effect, is thought to reflect the concurrent contributions of secondary and primary memory, respectively, to recall performance. The present study compared the serial position effects produced on Trial 1 of the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) in mildly demented (N = 25; M MMSE = 20.0) and very mildly demented (N = 25; M MMSE = 25.5) patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and age- and education-matched normal control (NC) participants (N = 50). In addition, the serial position effects of the very mildly demented AD patients were compared to those of patients with a transient, circumscribed amnesia arising from a prescribed series of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) treatments for the relief of depressive illness (N = 11). While the NC group exhibited the typical serial position effect, AD patients recalled significantly fewer words than NC participants overall, and exhibited a significantly reduced primacy effect (i.e., recall of the first 2 list items) with a normal recency effect (i.e., recall of the last 2 list items). Patients with circumscribed amnesia due to ECT were as impaired as the very mildly demented AD patients on most standard CVLT measures of learning and memory, but exhibited primacy and recency effects, which were within normal limits. These results suggest that a reduction in the primacy effect, but not the recency effect, is an early and ubiquitous feature of the memory impairment of AD. It is not, however, a necessary feature of all causes of memory impairment. (JINS, 2000, 6, 290–298.)

Complex Problem Solving and Worked Examples

2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Schmidt-Weigand ◽  
Martin Hänze ◽  
Rita Wodzinski
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Worked Examples ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
Complex Problem Solving ◽  
Strategic Learning ◽  
Learning Behavior ◽  
Worked Example ◽  
8Th Grade

How can worked examples be enhanced to promote complex problem solving? N = 92 students of the 8th grade attended in pairs to a physics problem. Problem solving was supported by (a) a worked example given as a whole, (b) a worked example presented incrementally (i.e. only one solution step at a time), or (c) a worked example presented incrementally and accompanied by strategic prompts. In groups (b) and (c) students self-regulated when to attend to the next solution step. In group (c) each solution step was preceded by a prompt that suggested strategic learning behavior (e.g. note taking, sketching, communicating with the learning partner, etc.). Prompts and solution steps were given on separate sheets. The study revealed that incremental presentation lead to a better learning experience (higher feeling of competence, lower cognitive load) compared to a conventional presentation of the worked example. However, only if additional strategic learning behavior was prompted, students remembered the solution more correctly and reproduced more solution steps.

The Prediction of Problem-Solving Assessed Via Microworlds

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 298-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Greiff ◽  
Katarina Krkovic ◽  
Jarkko Hautamäki
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Assessment Instruments ◽  
Complex Problem Solving ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Rule Knowledge ◽  
Rule Application ◽  
Fluid Reasoning

Abstract. In this study, we explored the network of relations between fluid reasoning, working memory, and the two dimensions of complex problem solving, rule knowledge and rule application. In doing so, we replicated the recent study by Bühner, Kröner, and Ziegler (2008) and the structural relations investigated therein [ Bühner, Kröner, & Ziegler, (2008) . Working memory, visual-spatial intelligence and their relationship to problem-solving. Intelligence, 36, 672–680]. However, in the present study, we used different assessment instruments by employing assessments of figural, numerical, and verbal fluid reasoning, an assessment of numerical working memory, and a complex problem solving assessment using the MicroDYN approach. In a sample of N = 2,029 Finnish sixth-grade students of which 328 students took the numerical working memory assessment, the findings diverged substantially from the results reported by Bühner et al. Importantly, in the present study, fluid reasoning was the main source of variation for rule knowledge and rule application, and working memory contributed only a little added value. Albeit generally in line with previously conducted research on the relation between complex problem solving and other cognitive abilities, these findings directly contrast the results of Bühner et al. (2008) who reported that only working memory was a source of variation in complex problem solving, whereas fluid reasoning was not. Explanations for the different patterns of results are sought, and implications for the use of assessment instruments and for research on interindividual differences in complex problem solving are discussed.

scholarly journals Working Memory, Fluid Reasoning, and Complex Problem Solving: Different Results Explained by the Brunswik Symmetry

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
André Kretzschmar ◽  
Stephan Nebe
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Latent Variables ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Complex Problem Solving ◽  
Symmetry Principle ◽  
Fluid Reasoning ◽  
The Impact

In order to investigate the nature of complex problem solving (CPS) within the nomological network of cognitive abilities, few studies have simultantiously considered working memory and intelligence, and results are inconsistent. The Brunswik symmetry principle was recently discussed as a possible explanation for the inconsistent findings because the operationalizations differed greatly between the studies. Following this assumption, 16 different combinations of operationalizations of working memory and fluid reasoning were examined in the present study (N = 152). Based on structural equation modeling with single-indicator latent variables (i.e., corrected for measurement error), it was found that working memory incrementally explained CPS variance above and beyond fluid reasoning in only 2 of 16 conditions. However, according to the Brunswik symmetry principle, both conditions can be interpreted as an asymmetrical (unfair) comparison, in which working memory was artificially favored over fluid reasoning. We conclude that there is little evidence that working memory plays a unique role in solving complex problems independent of fluid reasoning. Furthermore, the impact of the Brunswik symmetry principle was clearly demonstrated as the explained variance in CPS varied between 4 and 31%, depending on which operationalizations of working memory and fluid reasoning were considered. We argue that future studies investigating the interplay of cognitive abilities will benefit if the Brunswik principle is taken into account.

A THEORY OF THE SERIAL POSITION EFFECT

1962 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
EDWARD A. FEIGENBAUM ◽  
HERBERT A. SIMON
Keyword(s):  
Serial Position ◽  
Serial Position Effect ◽  
Position Effect
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