The purpose of the study was to compare the deficit profiles of two important types of mathematics difficulties. Three cognitive measures (working memory, processing speed, and reasoning), two mathematics measures (numerical facts retrieval and mathematics vocabulary), and reading comprehension were assessed among 237 Chinese fourth-grade…

Participants rated Intuition, Suddenness, Pleasure, and Certainty accompanying their solutions to items of a popular fluid intelligence test -- Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM) -- that varied from easy (around 80% correct) to difficult (around 20% correct). The same ratings were collected from four insight problems interleaved with…

The ability to reason and problem-solve in novel situations, as measured by the Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM), is highly predictive of both cognitive task performance and real-world outcomes. Here we provide evidence that RAPM performance depends on the ability to reallocate attention in response to self-generated feedback about…

Individuals encounter problems daily wherein varying numbers of constraints require delimitation of memory to target goal-satisfying information. Multiply-constrained problems, such as the compound remote associates, are commonly used to study this type of problem solving. Since their development, multiply-constrained problems have been…

Physics educators today face two major challenges: supporting the acquisition of a solid base of conceptual knowledge and reducing the persisting gender gap. In the present quasi-experimental study, we investigated the potential of physics instruction that is enriched with evidence-based cognitively activating methods, such as inventing with…

In order to achieve the present study's goal--to understand better the phenomenon of mathematical giftedness--we performed a multidimensional examination of the mental processing in students who exhibited mathematical expertise (EM) at the secondary school level. The study included participants from the three groups: students who excelled in…

A great deal of prior research has examined the relation between working memory capacity (WMC) and attention control. The current study explored the role of arousal in individual differences in WMC and attention control. Participants performed multiple WMC and attention control tasks. During the attention control tasks participants were…

This study investigates the internal structure and construct validity of Complex Problem Solving (CPS), which is measured by a "Multiple-Item-Approach." It is tested, if (a) three facets of CPS--"rule identification" (adequateness of strategies), "rule knowledge" (generated knowledge) and "rule application"…

Introduction: Scientific and technological areas include tuition based on highly visuo-spatial specialization and problem solving. Spatial skills and problem solving are embedded in a curriculum that promotes understanding of Science and technical subjects. These abilities are related to the development of executive functions (EFs). We aim to…

The correlation between individual differences in working memory capacity and performance on the Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM) is well documented yet poorly understood. The present work proposes a new explanation: that the need to use a new combination of rules on RAPM problems drives the relation between performance and working…

The 21st-century work environment places strong emphasis on nonroutine transversal skills. In an educational context, complex problem solving (CPS) is generally considered an important transversal skill that includes knowledge acquisition and its application in new and interactive situations. The dynamic and interactive nature of CPS requires a…