A deeper understanding of the processes leading to problem framing and behind finding solutions to problems should help explain variability in the quality of the solutions to those problems. Using Sternberg's WICS model as the conceptual basis of problem solving, this article discusses the relations between creative, analytical, practical, and…

Considering content, task-execution and subject variables in metacognitive and cognitive performance, analogies with integral or separable attributes were solved by selected undergraduate students with training in one of three task strategies or no strategy training. Training success, subject awareness of variables, score correlations, and…

Two nonentrenched tasks are described, one requiring projection into the future of states of objects, the other requiring complex anological reasoning where multiple terms of analogies can be replaced by alternative answer options. Some speculations are made about the implications of these results for educational theory and practice. (Author/GK)

In a discussion of intellectual giftedness, the author describes the main characteristics that differentiate information processing theories from psychometric theories. Interrelationships between components and factors are considered, and implications of the theory for the training of the gifted are pointed out. (SB)

Argues that the question of whether information representation and processing are domain-general or domain-specific is neither meaningful nor answerable. Researchers should be asking questions about ways in which representation and processing are domain-general and ways in which they are domain-specific. (RH)

In order to investigate the nature of metaphoric generation, comprehension, and appreciation, 8 different groups of 16 subjects were asked to rate each of 20 terms within each of 8 categories (United States historical figures, modern world leaders, mammals, birds, fish, airplanes, land vehicles, and ships) on 21 scales such as "warlike…

Summarizes the work of "information processing" psychologists who study cognition and contends that intelligence consists of a set of developed thinking and learning skills that can, to some degree, be taught. Nine such skills are listed including problem identification and strategy selection. (Author/MLF)

The goal of this unified theory of human reasoning is to specify what constitutes reasoning and to characterize the psychological distinction between inductive and deductive reasoning. The theory views reasoning as the controlled and mediated application of three processes (encoding, comparison and selective combination) to inferential rules. (JAZ)

Four experiments compared three alternative models of linear syllogistic reasoning: (1) linguistic; (2) spatial; and (3) mixed linguistic-spatial. The mixed model, indicating the importance of both verbal and spatial ability, was supported by all four experiments, and for about three-fourths of the undergraduate students studied. (Author/GDC)

The unified theory described in this paper characterizes human reasoning as an information processing system with a hierarchical sequence of components and subtheories that account for performance on successively narrower tasks. Both deductive and inductive theories are subsumed in the unified componential theory, including transitive chain theory…

Two experiments were conducted to test the generalizability to children of a theory of analogical reasoning processes, originally proposed for adults, and to examine the development of analogical reasoning processes in terms of five proposed sources of cognitive development. (MP)

The componential conception of intelligence is summarized and contrasted with the psychometric conception. A brief history of concepts of intelligence is presented, beginning with Galton's anthropometric approach and Binet's more educationally relevant approach. Spearman's, and later Thurstone's, contributions to factor analysis promoted a…

About 25 children in each of grades 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 were tested in their ability to solve linear syllogisms, such as: John is taller than Mary. Mary is taller than Pete. Who is tallest--John, Mary, or Pete? Response latencies and error rates decreased across grade levels and sessions. Component latencies also generally decreased with increasing…

Linear syllogisms present two premises, each describing a relation between two terms. The individual's task is to infer the relation among the three terms of the linear syllogism, and then answer a question about one or more of these relations. For example, "John is taller than Bob. Sam is shorter than Bob. Who is the tallest?" Students…

Developmental patterns in the solution of verbal analogies, especially the recognition of higher-order analogical relations, were traced. The investigation sought to: (1) provide new developmental tests of a componential theory of analogical reasoning; (2) identify strategy changes during the transition from midchildhood (grade 3) to adulthood…