Background: The wisdom of crowds and collective decision-making are important tools for integrating information between individuals, which can exceed the capacity of individual judgments. They are based on different forms of information integration. The wisdom of crowds refers to the aggregation of many independent judgments without deliberation…

The understanding of graphs and extraction of relevant information from graphs plays a major role in physics education and is also important in several related fields. Recently, Susac "et al." [Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 14, 020109 (2018)] compared physics and psychology students' understanding of graphs in the contexts of physics and…

This study aims to investigate about the existence of a graphical facilitation effect on probabilistic reasoning. Measures of undergraduates' performances on problems presented in both verbal-numerical and graphical-pictorial formats have been related to visuo-spatial and numerical prerequisites, to statistical anxiety, to attitudes towards…

Two experiments tested whether differences in problem-solving strategies influence the ability of people to monitor their problem-solving effectiveness as measured by confidence judgments. On multiple choice problems, people tend to use either a constructive matching strategy, whereby they attempt to solve a problem before looking at the response…

Butterfield found that internal Ss tended to make more constructive responses to frustration-type situations than did extrenal Ss. Therefore, this study predicted that internal Ss would rate themselves as more confident with regard to problem-solving abilities than would external Ss. (Author)

Although the distinction between verbal ability and spatial ability is fundamental in all models of human abilities, differences in the relative strengths of verbal and spatial abilities have failed to show consistent interactions with instructional treatments. This study investigated the hypothesis that spatial tests measure different abilities…

Autonomous Learning Behavior (ALB) as mediators between internal and external influences and performance on high level cognitive tasks was proposed as a possible explanation for gender-related differences in mathematics. This study developed a measure of ALB by drawing on teachers' working knowledge and the literature on problem-solving, including…

An important reaction to individuals involved in problem solving is detecting the accuracy of their responses. Prior research has established that young adults are accurate in estimating correctness to responses on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). These findings were extended to the elderly; also considered was whether…

This study of individual differences in performance of a geometric analogies task included four-alternative test items and studied eye movements and confidence judgments as well as latency and error. Results were interpreted using two hypothesized performance strategies: constructive matching and response elimination. (Author/BW)

Conditions under which confidence estimation facilitates problem solving were examined in a study assessing spelling, mathematics, and reasoning. Participants who used a confidence estimation procedure and whose teacher valued and nurtured warranted uncertainty performed better on spelling and improved more than did other participants. (Author/RD)