Caregiver Social Problem Solving Abilities and Family Member Adjustment Following Congestive Heart Failure

Family members have a considerable impact on the health and well-being of others in the family. The characteristics of family caregivers that relate to care recipients' positive and negative outcomes associated with chronic disease have received scant empirical attention. We reasoned that family caregiver social problem solving abilities would be associated with depression and life satisfaction reported by persons with congestive heart failure (CHF). Correlational analyses found that caregiver negative orientation toward solving problems was significantly predictive of higher depression and with decreased life satisfaction of persons with CHF. These findings indicate that family caregiver problem solving abilities are important factors in adjustment following CHF. Implications for clinical interventions and theoretical models of problem solving are discussed.     

The plausibility of spiritual intelligence: spiritual experience,problem solving and neural sites

Australian teachers in Church related schools have begun to use the term ‘spiritual intelligence’ in their educational discourse. Is it accurate to describe spirituality as a form of intelligence? This paper explores whether the notion of spiritual intelligence is plausible. It addresses this firstly by discussing the notion of spiritual experience as a mechanism for problem solving—one of the central themes that underlies the concept of intelligence. Secondly, it examines some of the neural sites of the human brain that have been found to be active in those who apperceive spiritual experience. In light of this discussion, this paper argues that although some concerns prevail in considering spirituality as a form of intelligence, the concept of spiritual intelligence may nonetheless be rendered as plausible.     

不同亚型数学学习困难儿童应用题问题表征过程的研究

采用自编数学应用题解决能力测验题对小学四年级单纯型数困儿童、混合型数困儿童和普通儿童问题理解阶段、问题整合阶段的差异,以及问题表征能力与数学问题解决之间的关系进行探究。结果表明：（1）单纯型与混合型数困儿童有效识别信息的能力弱,难于利用相关信息和排除干扰信息。（2）单纯型数困儿童比混合型数困儿童更擅于运用图式表征策略。（3）图式表征策略能促进数困儿童应用题的解决。     

The Future Problem Solving Program International: An Intervention to Promote Creative Skills in Portuguese Adolescents

The Future Problem Solving Program International (FPSPI) is an internationally applied educational program that involves young people. Its theoretical foundation is both the Creative Problem Solving Model and the Futurist Thinking. It aims to promote creative and critical thinking through a futurist approach to problems. This study intended to analyze the effects of the program on creative skills evaluated by the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (Figural Version). The participants’ perceptions of the efficacy of the program were also assessed. This intervention was carried out with 131 adolescents over a period of 7 months in an extra‐curricular context. The evaluation of the program takes into account periods both before and after interventions, using similar experimental and control groups. The results showed significant statistical differences for the all skills studied and very positive perceptions of the efficacy of FPSPI. Two significant gender differences in creative performance were also found. The results are described and discussed in order to promote awareness for future research concerning this program.     

When Problems Lead to Ideas: The Roles of Daily Vigor and Social Interactions

In this study, we investigate idea generation by conducting a diary study. We hypothesized that idea generation depends on problem identification, and that this relation is moderated by two factors: (a) the number of social interactions an individual has with “non‐redundant” network connections, and (b) an individual's level of vigor. The hypotheses were tested by making use of a diary study among 31 employees of a Dutch applied university over a period of 2 weeks. Results showed that idea generation results from the identification of problems that require new ideas to solve them. An individual's number of social interactions and the level of redundancy of these social interactions moderated this relation. The level of vigor of an individual did not predict idea generation, but results suggest that vigor is needed for interacting with others. Furthermore, this study contributes to the creativity research using a new approach to look at the effects of social interactions by relating them to the overall structure of social networks.     

Moving arms: the effects of sensorimotor information on the problem-solving process

Embodied cognition postulates a bi-directional link between the human body and its cognitive functions. Whether this holds for higher cognitive functions such as problem solving is unknown. We predicted that arm movement manipulations performed by the participants could affect the problem-solving solutions. We tested this prediction in quantitative reasoning tasks that allowed two solutions to each problem (addition or subtraction). In two studies with healthy adults (N?=?53 and N?=?50), we found an effect of problem-congruent movements on problem solutions. Consistent with embodied cognition, sensorimotor information gained via right or left arm movements affects the solution in different types of problem-solving tasks.     

“Aha!” is stronger when preceded by a “huh?”: presentation of a solution affects ratings of aha experience conditional on accuracy

Insight has been investigated under the assumption that participants solve insight problems with insight processes and/or experiences. A recent trend has involved presenting participants with the solution and analysing the resultant experience as if insight has taken place. We examined self-reports of the aha experience, a defining aspect of insight, before and after feedback, along with additional affective components of insight (e.g., pleasure, surprise, impasse). Classic insight problems, compound remote associates, and non-insight problems were randomly interleaved and presented to participants. Solution feedback increased ratings of aha experience in both insight and non-insight problems, with this result being driven by responses to solutions that were initially incorrectly generated. Ratings of aha for correctly generated solutions decreased after the correct solution was presented. These findings have implications for insight research paradigms as well as informing teaching methods.     

问题解决中图式与策略的关系:来自表征复杂性模型的说明

采用口语报告法收集了26名小学三年级儿童解决两道复杂的算术应用题时的口语报告和作业资料,探讨了问题解决中图式与策略的关系。结果发现,对二者关系的解释要以问题表征复杂性为中介：如果被试的关系图式水平较高,表征复杂性(特别是表征深度)也会较大,相应会选择领域专门性更强的快捷策略;如果缺乏必需的关系图式。表征深度就降低,甚至不能正确表征问题,这时只好使用常规策略甚至错误策略。这个结论适用于有多种表征和解题方式的问题中。     

A multi-year evaluation of the effects of a Response to Intervention (RTI) model on identification of children for special education

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of implementation of a systematic response to intervention (RTI) model on the identification and evaluation of children for special education. Using a multiple baseline design, a systematic model of assessment and intervention was introduced in consecutive years for all elementary schools (N = 5) in the district. Effect of the RTI model on number of evaluations conducted, percentage of evaluated children who qualified for services, and proportion of identified children by sex and ethnicity before and after implementation of the model was examined. Additionally, outcomes for children who did not have an adequate response to intervention versus those who were at-risk but responded successfully to short-term intervention were examined. A cost analysis of use of the model was provided. The degree to which data obtained were used by the decision-making team was also examined. The assessment and intervention procedures, decision rules, and schoolwide training methods are described in detail and practical implications are discussed.     

The Aha! Moment: The Cognitive Neuroscience of Insight

ABSTRACT— A sudden comprehension that solves a problem, reinterprets a situation, explains a joke, or resolves an ambiguous percept is called an insight (i.e., the " Aha! moment"). Psychologists have studied insight using behavioral methods for nearly a century. Recently, the tools of cognitive neuroscience have been applied to this phenomenon. A series of studies have used electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study the neural correlates of the " Aha! moment" and its antecedents. Although the experience of insight is sudden and can seem disconnected from the immediately preceding thought, these studies show that insight is the culmination of a series of brain states and processes operating at different time scales. Elucidation of these precursors suggests interventional opportunities for the facilitation of insight.