A range of evidence supports the view that processes underlying high-level cognitive tasks are diverse. Miyake et al (2000) offer the possibility of grounding some of these notions in three mechanisms: inhibition, shifting and updating. Indeed, numerous claims indicating a key role of inhibition in problem solving tasks such as the Tower of London (ToL) has accrued. But, explicit accounts of th...

People that show good performance in problem solving tasks make also errors. Psychological theories of human error predict that those errors are to some extend the consequence of the difficulties that these people have to adapt to new environmental conditions. This paper describes two experiments and a research methodology designed to test this hypothesis.

The compensatory model of work motivation and volition synthesizes some previously unrelated lines of research. The structural components of the model are implicit motives, explicit motives, and perceived abilities; the functional processes are volitional regulation (compensating for inadequate motivation) and problem solving (compensating for inadequate perceived abilities). Propositions that ...

This paper describes how certain aspects of on-line education can benefit teacher training in Environmental Education (EE) subjects. On-line education differs from first and second-generation Distance Education systems in that participants glean new knowledge from interaction with one another, and this factor offers enormous potential in EE. In fact, EE aims include the development of problem s...

Experts and novices differ in the coarseness of granularity with which they view the constituent elements of a particular problem or task. Novices are attentive to low-level details. For example, operational details such as finding a particular character on the keyboard or remembering the name of a command involve problem solving. The result is that valuable cognitive resources are diverted fro...

If instructional techniques and formats need to be dynamically tailored to levels of learner expertise (Kalyuga, 2005A), a question of considerable interest is how to measure the levels of expertise rapidly and in real time. A rapid diagnostic approach has been developed to evaluate what is the highest level of organised knowledge structures (if any) a person is capable of retrieving and applyi...

The DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) method in Six Sigma is often described as an approach for problem solving. This paper compares critically the DMAIC method with insights from scientific theories in the field of problem solving. As a single authoritative account of the DMAIC method does not exist, the study uses a large number of sources, consisting of prescriptive accounts of ...

The issues that need to be addressed by research in multiagent systems include communication, coordination, coherence, uncertainty, organizational structure, planning, and knowledge representation. Our work addresses communication, coordination, and coherence, and, as we show in the following sections, our methodology allows the multiagent system to dynamically organize its structure and proble...

Content Analysis of Seventh Grade’s Science Textbook in terms of Problem Solving Stages M. Sami’ee Zafarghandi, Ph.D. F. Khojasteh The national curriculum in science is not geared solely toward the development of scientific skills and transfer of knowledge products. Accordingly the learning of scientific methods is among the main objectives of science education. To...