Working in groups of three, seventh-grade students were video taped solving an applied mathematical problem. Audio tapes were made of each group discussing their session. Analysis focused on the first stage of Noddings (1984) model of problem solving for school mathematics: Creation of a representation. Some factors identified as impeding…

Trap setting is a concept based on a psycholinguistic explanation of the acquisition of second language skills emphasizing cognitive and creative processes over the auditory, visual, and imitative. It proposes that opportunities for repeated attempts at solving new problems through constant testing and retesting of creative hypotheses bring the…

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the field of scientific inquiry concerned with designing machine systems that can simulate human mental processes. The field draws upon theoretical constructs from a wide variety of disciplines, including mathematics, psychology, linguistics, neurophysiology, computer science, and electronic engineering. Some of the…

A testing procedure used by J. W. Getzels and M. Csikszentmihalyi (1964) to gauge the relationship between problem finding and creativity in art students was employed in a study designed to determine if the same relationship existed in writers. Subjects were middle school students identified as either creative or noncreative by two separate…

Written for curriculum developers and vocational education instructors, this publication provides an understanding of cognitive concepts and methods using an information processing paradigm and shows how to apply this knowledge in development of curriculum and instructional plans. Chapter 1 reviews needs and characteristics of vocational education…

This research addresses the actual goals and intentions from which students plan and organize their work in a course of study. Representations can either facilitate or hinder learning and problem solutions. Several salient aspects of adult students' representational systems and how they influenced university study were examined in two studies. The…

A study was conducted to examine computer programming as a problem solving activity. Thirteen fifth grade children were selected by their teacher from an above average class to use Apple IIe microcomputers. The investigator conducted sessions of 40-50 minutes with the children in groups of two or three. Four problems, incorporating the programming…

A basic problem of disadvantaged students is their inability to deal with information: to assist the teacher the Niagara Centre of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education has described a set of skills sequences that might be called Basic Thinking Skills. (JM)

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…

Mutual Group Hypnosis is discussed in terms of its similarity to group dynamics in general and in terms of its similarity to a social interaction program (Role Modeling) designed to foster the expression of warmth and acceptance among group members. Hypnosis also fosters a regression to prelogical thought processes in the service of the ego. Group…

This study on problem solving used a sample of 92 people, broken down as follows: 56 first year chemistry students, 18 Tertiary Orientation Project (T.O.P.) students, 7 H.S.C. students, 8 second year chemistry students, 2 staff members, and 1 technician. Subjects were each given four elementary organic chemistry problems. Each session consisted of…

An information-processing task analysis of what kindergarten children might do if they are successful in representing and solving certain types of simple arithmetic story problems served to identify five key components. Data obtained from the interview testing of 66 kindergarten children served to suggest a major difference between successful and…