There is a general assumption that a more controlled or more focused attentional state is beneficial for most cognitive tasks. However, there has been a growing realization that creative problem solving tasks, such as the Remote Associates Task (RAT), may benefit from a less controlled solution approach. To test this hypothesis, in a 2x2 design,…

Most current ethical decision-making models provide a logical and reasoned process for making ethical judgments, but these models are empirically unproven and rely upon assumptions of rational, conscious, and quasi-legal reasoning. Such models predominate despite the fact that many nonrational factors influence ethical thought and behavior,…

Intuitive knowing is one of the most complex and misunderstood ways of knowing. It is difficult to put into words and verbalize. Intuition is spontaneous, heart-centered, free, adventurous, imaginative, playful, nonsequential, and nonlinear. People access intuitive knowledge through dreams, symbols, artwork, dance, yoga, meditation, contemplation,…

Students' informal inferential reasoning (IIR) is often inconsistent with the normative logic underlying formal statistical methods such as Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), even after instruction. In two experiments reported here, student's IIR was assessed using an intuitive ANOVA task at the beginning and end of a statistics course. In both…

We report on an experiment conducted with pre-service teachers in France and in Quebec. They were submitted to a classroom situation involving regular polyhedra. We expected that through the activities of defining, of exploring and experimenting via concrete constructions and manipulation, students would reflect on the link face angle--dihedral…

The article provides a review of recent research on insight problem-solving performance. We discuss what insight problems are, the different types of classic and newer insight problems, and how we can classify them. We also explain some of the other aspects that affect insight performance, such as hints, analogs, training, thinking aloud, and…

Human thinking is often biased by intuitive beliefs. Inhibition of these tempting beliefs is considered a key component of human thinking, but the process is poorly understood. In the present study we clarify the nature of an inhibition failure and the resulting belief bias by probing the accessibility of cued beliefs after people reasoned.…

Our main goal in this study is to exemplify that a meticulous design can lead pre-service teachers to engage in productive unguided peer argumentation. By productivity, we mean here a shift from reasoning based on intuitions to reasoning moved by logical necessity. As a subsidiary goal, we aimed at identifying the kinds of reasoning processes…

In this essay Samuel Rocha primarily addresses, and challenges, the modern conception of reason and the lowly place of intuition, feeling, and love in what has become traditional philosophy and education. Drawing upon the rich thought of William James and Jean-Luc Marion, Rocha introduces the reader to a certain harmony between their ideas, most…

To explicate certain phenomena, e.g., the possibility of deduction without definition, we hypothesize that an individual is able to understand and appreciate reasoning with a due feeling of its necessity when the concept image of each concept involved in the reasoning has reached a certain level of development; we then speak of "deep intuition".…

This paper reports studies of the interaction between the intuitive, the formal and the procedural aspects in the processes of mathematical understanding of Peter, a first-year undergraduate of Mathematics. Using an activity and an interview, an attempt is made to analyse his mental operations. The way in which he handles visual-graphic…

Clinical supervision is an important aspect of counselor education. Much of traditional supervision is conducted from a logical standpoint; however, some supervisees may be better served when supervisors integrate both logic and creativity. This article presents the integration of creative activities into supervision using Bernard's Discrimination…

In today's world, where the volume of knowledge everyone must deal with is increasing exponentially, many educators agree that schools must focus on developing skills for life-long learning. But what does that mean for an area such as algebra? Teachers' goal in school algebra should be to guide students to "work smarter" with algebraic symbols and…

The aim of this research was to explore Australian high-school students' argumentation and informal reasoning about biotechnology. Data were obtained from semi-structured interviews with 10 Year-8 students (12-13 years old), 14 Year-10 students (14-15 years old) and 6 Year-12 students (16-17 years old) from six metropolitan high schools in Perth,…

Recent neuropsychological research suggests that intuition and emotion play a role in our reasoning when we are confronted with moral dilemmas. Incorporating intuition and emotion into moral reflection is a rather new idea in the educational world, where rational reasoning is preferred. To develop a teaching and learning strategy to address this…