Six experiments were conducted to determine whether idea checklists increased idea quantity and quality. College students were allowed 10 or 20 minutes or unlimited time to find ideas for product improvement problems. Results indicated that the only checklist which significantly stimulated productivity was composed of just seven general categories…

The present experiment compared direct and vicarious transfer in the attainment of affirmative and relational concepts. Second and third grade children were randomly paired as model and observer. The latter observed his yoked model solve the initial two-dimensional problem before solving the intrarule transfer task himself. No differences in…

The purpose of this book is to make people who are involved in motivation in one form or another to think twice before trying to tackle a problem in a direct, head-on fashion. Motivating human behavior is a complex task that involves finding the proper channels of motivation and thinking through the reactions of the person who is to be persuaded.…

Two Masters' theses, by Andrea Weiss and Melinda Welles, pursuing related questions were synthesized into a final report, "Field Independence-Dependence, Reflection-Impulsivity, and Problem-Solving Styles of Preschool Children," of which this interim report is a summary. The major purposes of both investigations were to determine: (1)…

A description of some techniques for developing children's creative thinking is presented. The principal technique used was to have children keep a journal of new ideas for five days a week. Thoughts to be written down included thinking about physical phenomena, children's thoughts about interpersonal relationships and themselves, children's…

The author examines the effectiveness of the Inquiry Strategy method which he hypothesizes to be useful in developing an analytical cognitive style. Ninety-two subjects from four, large urban high schools were involved. Forty-two were experimental, having received 2-3 years of Inquiry Strategy exposure in their late elementary or early junior high…

PROBLEM-SOLVING THEORIES IN THREE AREAS - TRADITIONAL (STIMULUS-RESPONSE) LEARNING, COGNITIVE-GESTALT APPROACHES, AND COMPUTER AND MATHEMATICAL MODELS - WERE SUMMARIZED. RECENT EMPIRICAL STUDIES (1960-65) ON PROBLEM SOLVING WERE CATEGORIZED ACCORDING TO TYPE OF BEHAVIOR ELICITED BY PARTICULAR PROBLEM-SOLVING TASKS. ANAGRAM,…

Describes a "treasure hunt" exercise designed to encourage elementary students to think reflectively. Using compasses and maps, student groups find prehidden objects. Group discussion and oral reports follow the field experience. (KC)

Tasks graded in terms of fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration of responses were administered to fourth graders in order to identify relationships between these measures of creativity, intelligence, and evaluation skills. With intelligence controlled, the relationship between creative thinking scores and evaluation ability was near…

Discusses briefly Piaget's views on intellectual development as related to science teaching. Describes intellectual activities observed in science classrooms and shows how specific science lessons can be designed to encourage cognitive development. (GA)

Investigates whether the formal schemata and propositional logic are acquired gradually across age during adolescence, in agreement with Piaget's logical analysis of the structure of formal thought, or acquired in wholesale spurts, thus disagreeing with Piaget's theory. (GA)

Thought processes as they are observed during problem solving are discussed. A theoretical framework is designed to establish the correspondence between the tactics the subjects use to solve problems and thinking processes. (NCR)

Evidence is provided for gradual age (and, seemingly, cognitive developmental) changes in the acquisition of complex problem solving strategies. Differential performance as a function of exposure to a child-model exhibiting the best strategy also suggests the role of learning in strategy acquisition. (Author/MV)

A 2-year sequence in creative problem solving for college students had no significant effect on memory or evaluation operations, but significantly improved divergent production, convergent production, and cognition. The data support a multidimensional analysis of creativity, involving idea finding, knowing, judging, and implementing ideas.…

Differences between problems in mathematics and problems in other subject matter areas are explored. Problems that explore the potential for application are unique to mathematics and therefore are also discussed. (JT)