Sex Selection Technology: A Prediction of Its Use and Effect

We surveyed 281 undergraduates to assess their sexual preference for a firstborn child and their willingness to use sex selection technology. Results indicated overall preference for a boy among these respondents whether or not they indicated a willingness to use reproductive technology. Black women reported a greater willingness to use technology than did White women (p < .05), and older respondents (p < .10) also reported a greater intention to use the technology. Catholics were less willing to use technology than all other religious sects (p < .05). Of the 51 respondents who indicated their willingness to use technology, 73% preferred sons (p < .01). This finding held across sex, race, religion, age, and income levels. Support for the women's movement was unrelated to either preference or projected use of sex selection technology.     

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The development of the concept of time in third, fifth, and seventh graders of two Israeli social groups—advantaged Westerners (n = 144) and disadvantaged Easterners (n = 120)—was compared. Contrary to expectations, no difference in performance was found between the social groups throughout the entire age range. In both groups performance, while far from reaching perfection, increased with age. In addition, disparity between our findings and those of Siegler and Richards cast doubts on the generalizability of the rules they extracted through the rule-assessment method.     

Young children’s analogical problem solving: Gaining insights from video displays

This study examined how toddlers gain insights from source video displays and use the insights to solve analogous problems. The sample of 2- and 2.5-year-olds viewed a source video illustrating a problem-solving strategy and then attempted to solve analogous problems. Older, but not younger, toddlers extracted the problem-solving strategy depicted in the video and spontaneously transferred the strategy to solve isomorphic problems. Transfer by analogy from the video was evident only when the video illustrated the complete problem goal structure, including the character’s intention and the action needed to achieve a goal. The same action isolated from the problem-solving context did not serve as an effective source analogue. These results illuminate the development of early representation and processes involved in analogical problem solving. Theoretical and educational implications are discussed.     

基于项目自动生成的认知诊断测验开发

认知诊断、项目自动生成是现代心理测量领域的重要发展领域,二者的结合更是心理测量领域亟待开展的重要课题。本研究以小学数学问题解决认知诊断项目自动生成为例,探讨认知诊断领域的项目生成技术及算法。研究发现：(1)计算机自生成的项目参数与原模板参数具有较高的一致性。(2)同一项目模板下生成的不同试题的测量学特征基本不变。(3)同一批被试在自动生成的两份试卷的前、后测的能力( )值高度相关(r=0.811),前、后两次对被试诊断结果的一致性高达86.5%。这表明本文所设计的认知诊断测验项目的自动生成技术及其算法基本可行,小学数学问题解决认知诊断项目的自动生成效果较好。这也为其它认知诊断领域的项目自动生成提供了技术借鉴和支持。     

Beyond objectivity: The performance impact of the perceived ability to learn and solve problems

The purpose of this research was to develop and provide initial validation evidence for the performance impact of a measure of an individual's perceived ability to learn and solve problems (PALS). Building on the self-efficacy literature and the importance of learning and problem solving, the fundamental premise of this research was that PALS would significantly explain employee performance. In addition to demonstrating that PALS represented a distinct construct, PALS was a significant predictor of performance for managerial and entry-level employees in two different organizational contexts. Moreover, PALS explained additional variance in performance beyond general mental ability, personality, and similar constructs related to learning and problem solving.     

The role of problem solving in complex intraverbal repertoires

We examined whether typically developing preschoolers could learn to use a problem-solving strategy that involved self-prompting with intraverbal chains to provide multiple responses to intraverbal categorization questions. Teaching the children to use the problem-solving strategy did not produce significant increases in target responses until problem solving was modeled and prompted. Following the model and prompts, all participants showed immediate significant increases in intraverbal categorization, and all prompts were quickly eliminated. Use of audible self-prompts was evident initially for all participants, but declined over time for 3 of the 4 children. Within-session response patterns remained consistent with use of the problem-solving strategy even when self-prompts were not audible. These findings suggest that teaching and prompting a problem-solving strategy can be an effective way to produce intraverbal categorization responses.     

A brighter side to memory illusions: false memories prime children's and adults' insight-based problem solving

Can false memories have a positive consequence on human cognition? In two experiments, we investigated whether false memories could prime insight problem-solving tasks. Children and adults were asked to solve compound remote associate task (CRAT) problems, half of which had been primed by the presentation of Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) lists whose critical lures were also the solutions to the problems. In Experiment 1, the results showed that regardless of age, when the critical lure was falsely recalled, CRAT problems were solved more often and significantly faster than problems that were not primed by a DRM list. When the critical lure was not falsely recalled, CRAT problem solution rates and times were no different from when there was no DRM priming. In Experiment 2, without an intervening recall test, children and adults still exhibited higher solution rates and faster solution times to CRAT problems that were primed than to those that were not primed. This latter result shows that priming occurred as a result of false memory generation at encoding and not at retrieval during the recall test. Together, these findings demonstrate that when false memories are generated at encoding, they can prime solutions to insight-based problems in both children and adults.     

Beyond IQ: A latent state-trait analysis of general intelligence, dynamic decision making, and implicit learning

The present study investigated cognitive performance measures beyond IQ. In particular, we investigated the psychometric properties of dynamic decision making variables and implicit learning variables and their relation with general intelligence and professional success. N = 173 employees from different companies and occupational groups completed two standard intelligence tests, two dynamic decision making tasks, and two implicit learning tasks at two measurement occasions each. We used structural equation models to test latent state-trait measurement models and the relation between constructs. The results suggest that dynamic decision making and implicit learning are substantially related with general intelligence. Furthermore, general intelligence is the best predictor for income, social status, and educational attainment. Dynamic decision making can predict supervisor ratings even beyond general intelligence.     

Expertise in complex decision making: the role of search in chess 70 years after de Groot

One of the most influential studies in all expertise research is de Groot's (1946) study of chess players, which suggested that pattern recognition, rather than search, was the key determinant of expertise. Many changes have occurred in the chess world since de Groot's study, leading some authors to argue that the cognitive mechanisms underlying expertise have also changed. We decided to replicate de Groot's study to empirically test these claims and to examine whether the trends in the data have changed over time. Six Grandmasters, five International Masters, six Experts, and five Class A players completed the think-aloud procedure for two chess positions. Findings indicate that Grandmasters and International Masters search more quickly than Experts and Class A players, and that both groups today search substantially faster than players in previous studies. The findings, however, support de Groot's overall conclusions and are consistent with predictions made by pattern recognition models.     

Perseverance in solving Sudoku: role of grit and cognitive flexibility in problem solving

Problem solving is a higher order cognitive capacity with implications for everyday functioning. Although Grit predicts academic outcomes, the relation between facets of Grit, Consistency and Perseverance, and problem solving remain unknown. We report the results of two studies conducted to examine the impact of facets of grit on problem solving within the context of solving Sudoku puzzles. In Study 1, Grit-Perseverance predicted performance on the hard versus easy puzzle. In Study 2, we increased the difficulty level of the puzzles and assessed cognitive flexibility using the Wisconsin Card Sort Test. Grit-Perseverance was associated with effort on both the hard and very hard puzzles. Further, mediation analyses revealed that Grit-Perseverance indirectly predicted increased effort on the very hard puzzle through decreased cognitive flexibility. Overall our results demonstrate that Grit-Perseverance, not Consistency, impacts problem solving and highly gritty individuals may be most successful in solving challenging problems that are moderately constrained.