Locus of Control, Expectational Set, and Problem Solving

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether experimentally induced expectational sets of success or failure differentially affect the performance of internal and external scorers. Another purpose was to determine the relation between locus of control and verbal and figural measures of inductive reasoning. Subjects were 144 fifth graders who were administered the children's Nowicki-Strickland instrument. Analysis indicated that the external scorers' mean was significantly lower than that of internal scorers on a verbal problem-solving task. Experimenter's instructions did not differentially affect performance on the two types of tasks and did not differentially affect the two groups of scorers.

Download Full-text

Intellectual Ability and Performance on a Non-Verbal Problem-Solving Task

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1972.35.2.427 ◽

1972 ◽

Vol 35 (2) ◽

pp. 427-434

Author(s):

W. D. Chiles ◽

Roger C. Smith

Keyword(s):

Problem Solving ◽

Intellectual Ability ◽

Mental Ability ◽

Ability Test ◽

Turn On ◽

Correct Sequence ◽

Student Volunteers ◽

Verbal Problem ◽

And Performance ◽

Problem Solving Task

A study was conducted in which performance on a non-verbal problem-solving task was correlated with the Otis Quick-scoring Mental Ability Test and the Raven Progressive Matrices Test. The problem-solving task, called “code-lock,” required Ss to determine the correct sequence in which to push 5 buttons in order to turn on a light. Measures of how quickly S responded and how many errors were made on each problem were taken from 45 college student volunteers. Results indicated substantial correlations (.50 to .60) between time measures on the code-lock task and the Otis but very limited relationships between the Raven and each code-lock measure.

Download Full-text

Children's Word-Finding Test: A Verbal Problem-Solving Task

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1976.42.3.851 ◽

1976 ◽

Vol 42 (3) ◽

pp. 851-858 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Eva M. Pajurkova ◽

R. Robert Orr ◽

Byron P. Rourke ◽

M. Alan J. Finlayson

Keyword(s):

Learning Disabilities ◽

Problem Solving ◽

Learning Disabled ◽

Full Scale ◽

Disabled Children ◽

Normal Children ◽

Word Finding ◽

Verbal Problem ◽

High Level ◽

Problem Solving Task

A version of the Word-Finding Test was constructed for use with children. This test was administered to 40 normal children and 20 children with learning disabilities who had been matched for age and WISC Full Scale IQ. The results indicated that the test is appropriate for use with 9- and 10-yr.-old children, and that performance distinguishes between normal and learning disabled children of these ages at a high level of confidence. There were also some indications that the mode of approach to the test exhibited by the children with learning disabilities differed qualitatively from that of the normal children.

Download Full-text

Effects of Cooperative, Competitive, and Individualistic Conditions on Children’s Problem-solving Performance

American Educational Research Journal ◽

10.3102/00028312017001083 ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 83-93 ◽

Cited By ~ 58

Author(s):

David W. Johnson ◽

Linda Skon ◽

Roger Johnson

Keyword(s):

Problem Solving ◽

Spatial Reasoning ◽

First Grade ◽

The Other ◽

High Ability ◽

Competitive Condition ◽

Verbal Problem ◽

Males And Females ◽

High Ability Students ◽

Problem Solving Task

The effects of interpersonal cooperation, competition, and individualistic efforts were compared on a categorization and retrieval, a spatial-reasoning, and a verbal problem-solving task. Forty-five first-grade children were randomly assigned to conditions stratified on the basis of sex and ability, so that an approximately equal percentage of males and females and high, medium, and low ability children were included in each condition. The results indicate that on all three tasks students in the cooperative condition achieved higher than did those in the individualistic condition, and on two of the three tasks students in the cooperative condition achieved higher than did those in the competitive condition. There were no significant differences between the competitive and individualistic condition. Students in the cooperative condition used higher quality strategies on the three tasks than did those in the other two conditions, and they perceived higher levels of peer support and encouragement for learning. High ability students in the cooperative condition generally achieved higher than did the high ability students in the competitive and individualistic conditions.

Download Full-text

Scientific Problem Solving in a Virtual Laboratory: A Comparison Between Individuals and Pairs

Swiss Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1024/1421-0185.67.2.71 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 67 (2) ◽

pp. 71-83 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Yolanda A. Métrailler ◽

Ester Reijnen ◽

Cornelia Kneser ◽

Klaus Opwis

Keyword(s):

Visual Search ◽

Problem Solving ◽

Process Data ◽

Scientific Problem ◽

Domain Specific ◽

Scientific Problem Solving ◽

Before And After ◽

Verbal Data ◽

Psychological Knowledge ◽

Problem Solving Task

This study compared individuals with pairs in a scientific problem-solving task. Participants interacted with a virtual psychological laboratory called Virtue to reason about a visual search theory. To this end, they created hypotheses, designed experiments, and analyzed and interpreted the results of their experiments in order to discover which of five possible factors affected the visual search process. Before and after their interaction with Virtue, participants took a test measuring theoretical and methodological knowledge. In addition, process data reflecting participants’ experimental activities and verbal data were collected. The results showed a significant but equal increase in knowledge for both groups. We found differences between individuals and pairs in the evaluation of hypotheses in the process data, and in descriptive and explanatory statements in the verbal data. Interacting with Virtue helped all students improve their domain-specific and domain-general psychological knowledge.

Download Full-text

Moving to Solution

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000213 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 60 (6) ◽

pp. 403-409 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

K. Werner ◽

M. Raab

Keyword(s):

Problem Solving ◽

Embodied Cognition ◽

Cognitive Functions ◽

Problem Space ◽

Arm Swing ◽

String Problem ◽

Problem Solving Process ◽

Problem Solving Task ◽

Bodily Movements

Embodied cognition theories suggest a link between bodily movements and cognitive functions. Given such a link, it is assumed that movement influences the two main stages of problem solving: creating a problem space and creating solutions. This study explores how specific the link between bodily movements and the problem-solving process is. Seventy-two participants were tested with variations of the two-string problem (Experiment 1) and the water-jar problem (Experiment 2), allowing for two possible solutions. In Experiment 1 participants were primed with arm-swing movements (swing group) and step movements on a chair (step group). In Experiment 2 participants sat in front of three jars with glass marbles and had to sort these marbles from the outer jars to the middle one (plus group) or vice versa (minus group). Results showed more swing-like solutions in the swing group and more step-like solutions in the step group, and more addition solutions in the plus group and more subtraction solutions in the minus group. This specificity of the connection between movement and problem-solving task will allow further experiments to investigate how bodily movements influence the stages of problem solving.

Download Full-text