The strategy choice model (SCM) is a highly influential theory of human problem-solving. One strength of this theory is the allowance for both item and person variance to contribute to problem-solving outcomes, but this central tenet of the model has not been empirically tested. Explanatory item response theory (EIRT) provides an ideal approach to…

The 2I/E model is an extension of Marsh's (1986) classical internal/external frame of reference (I/E) model. Whereas the classical I/E model describes the formation of academic self-concept by the joint operation of social (external) and dimensional (internal) comparisons, the 2I/E model integrates temporal comparisons as an additional internal…

We investigated how the updating function supports the integration process in solving arithmetic word problems. In Experiment 1, we measured reading time, that is, translation and integration times, when undergraduate and graduate students (n = 78) were asked to solve 2 types of problems: those containing only necessary information and those…

Although feedback is often seen as a critical component of the learning process, many open questions about how specific feedback features contribute to the effectiveness of feedback remain--especially in regards to peer feedback of writing. Nelson and Schunn (2009) identified several important features of peer feedback in their nature of feedback…

This study determined the working memory (WM) components (executive, phonological short-term memory [STM], and visual-spatial sketchpad) that best predicted mathematical word problem-solving accuracy in elementary schoolchildren (N = 392). The battery of tests administered to assess mediators between WM and problem-solving included measures of…

Recently, there has been growing emphasis on supporting robust learning within intelligent tutoring systems, assessed by measures such as transfer to related skills, preparation for future learning, and longer term retention. It has been shown that different pedagogical strategies promote robust learning to different degrees. However, the student…

This study examines the impact of the Learning Strategies Curriculum (LSC), an adolescent reading intervention program, on 6th- and 9th-grade students' reading comprehension and strategy use. Using a randomized treatment-control group design, the study compared student outcomes for these constructs for 365 students who received daily instruction…

A behavioral effectiveness criterion was employed to conceptually and operationally define social intelligence. Using Keating's "A Search for Social Intelligence" as a methodological model, the present study examined four measures of academic intelligence and six measures of social intelligence using three different correlational procedures.…

Two experiments demonstrate that 10- and 13-year-olds can learn to detect interactive patterns in data. Results also indicate the advantages of creating formal models of solution strategies and using them as a basis for instructional procedures. (Author/DEP)

A multidimensional model of social intelligence was empirically derived. Through the use of factor analytic techniques, five domains of social intelligence were identified and found to be independent of verbal and abstract intelligence. (Author/LMO)

Two experiments, one measuring eye fixations of 38 undergraduates and the other assessing memory of 37 undergraduates, provide evidence that unsuccessful problem solvers are more likely to comprehend by direct translation and that successful word problem solvers are more likely to build a problem model. (SLD)

The conversion model of formal reasoning was examined for its ability to predict the decisions made by college students when solving concrete and abstract syllogisms. Results supported the model's contentions that reasoner's decisions reflect natural language processes in the encoding of syllogistic premises, and follow rationally from…

Subjects taught by a model performed better on interpretation of programs and on problems requiring looping, while nonmodel subjects excelled on straightforward generation of programs. The model used was especially helpful for low ability subjects. Practice in interpretation helped nonmodel subjects most and practice in writing simple programs…

One hundred French children in grade five participated in an experiment to determine how the problem frame facilitates comprehension of a problem solution text. Results demonstrate the positive role of frames in macrostructure construction and support the model of T. A. van Dijk and W. Kintsch (1983). (SLD)