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While theory formation and the relation between theory and data has been investigated in many studies of scientific reasoning, researchers have focused less attention on reasoning about experimental design, even though the experimental design process makes up a large part of real-world scientists' reasoning. The goal of this thesis was to provide a cognitive account of the scientific experimental design process by analyzing experimental design as problem-solving behavior (Newell & Simon, 1972). Three specific issues were addressed: the effect of potential error on experimental design strategies, the role of prior knowledge in experimental design, and the effect of characteristics of the space of alternate hypotheses on alternate hypothesis testing. A two-pronged in vivo/in vitro research methodology was employed, in which transcripts of real-world scientific laboratory meetings were analyzed as well as undergraduate science and non-science majors' design of biology experiments in the psychology laboratory. It was found that scientists use a specific strategy to deal with the possibility of error in experimental findings: they include "known" control conditions in their experimental designs both to determine whether error is occurring and to identify sources of error. The known controls strategy had not been reported in earlier studies with science-like tasks, in which participants' responses to error had consisted of replicating experiments and discounting results. With respect to prior knowledge: scientists and undergraduate students drew on several types of knowledge when designing experiments, including theoretical knowledge, domain-specific knowledge of experimental techniques, and domain-general knowledge of experimental design strategies. Finally, undergraduate science students generated and tested alternates to their favored hypotheses when the space of alternate hypotheses was constrained and searchable. This result may help explain findings of confirmati

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Changes in the affect of ten remarried couples during participation in a communication and problem solving skills training program was investigated. Subjects completed a questionnaire assessing 25 positive and 25 negative feelings toward the spouse every night for 56 days. No changes in specific feeling states or in overall negative affect was found. A significant linear trend indicating a progressive increase in overall positive affect was found for husbands, but not for wives. The findings provide weak support for the affective impact of the intervention program or the conflict processes model underlying it.

Problem solving has received a great deal of attention in the past two decades. Much work has been carried out in the fields of cognitive psychology and education on the topic of problem solving. Psychologists mainly focused on the cognitive processes underlying problem-solving activities, while educators mainly focused on practical strategies to improve students’ problem-solving skills. The research studies carried out in these two fields were somewhat separate with different theoretical underpinnings. This thesis brings together the fields of cognitive psychology and education through the methodological advances of educational measurement developed to measure psychological constructs. More specifically, this thesis develops a theoretical framework for measuring problem-solving proficiencies, and applies item response theory to analyse students’ responses to the test items. (For complete abstract open document)

D.Litt.et Phil. (Psychology) / This study took place within the field of cognitive psychology, at the interface between the differential and experimental traditions, thereby contributing towards an emerging trend of theoretical synthesis. A structural model of problem solving processes was developed and a methodological design strategy for the measurement of cognitive processes followed. Indications for further research in the area were made. The major predictions of the model were tested empirically with a multitrait-multimethod design. This required the development of a battery of psychometric tests based on task analytic procedures. These tests were administered to a sample of 117 white middle class, school-Ieavers. The data obtained was statistically analysed according to a linear structural equation modeling technique using confirmatory factor analytic procedures. The results show support for the construct validity of the processing tests in terms of convergent and discriminant validity and therefore also for the proposed structural model of problem solving processes and the underlying hypothesis that the structure of information processing can be differentiated.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of tenderness on problem solving. Thirty-four female undergraduates participated. In the experimental condition, participants received instructions to reproduce a specific respiratory-posturo-facial pattern that had induced tenderness in previous studies. Participants in the control condition performed a non-emotional exercise. After either the pattern or the control exercise, participants completed one of two jigsaw puzzles. One puzzle had only an empty room while the other had a family scene. For participants who worked on the room puzzle, the tenderness pattern led to longer completion times. In contrast, for participants who worked on the family puzzle, the tenderness pattern led to shorter completion times.

The process of social problem-solving appears to consist of several general stages including problem orientation, problem definition, generation of alternatives, and decision making. A significant number of studies have found that depressed individuals have a more negative orientation towards their problems and generate a smaller number of less effective solutions on pencil-and-paper measures. Rumination in response to a dysphoric mood has been found to exacerbate feelings of sadness and social problem-solving deficits, while efforts at distraction have been found to reduce or eliminate these effects. To date, nearly all of the research on social problem-solving has utilized pencil-and-paper measures of how individuals feel they would respond to hypothetical problems. The current investigation was designed to evaluate the social problem-solving ability of dysphoric and non-dysphoric participants while talking with a counselor in an analogue counseling interview.More specifically, this study examined the effects of dysphoria and the use of temporary distraction techniques on the social problem-solving ability of 84 female undergraduate students. A structured problem-solving interview and corresponding coding system was designed to measure D'Zurilla and Goldfried's (1971) stages of problem-solving. The coding system yielded high levels of internal consistency, content validity, and construct validity. Forty-one dysphoric females and 43 non-dysphoric females were randomly assigned to either a rumination or distraction task. Dysphoric participants in the rumination condition reported increased levels of sadness, whereas dysphoric participants in the distraction condition reported decreased levels of sadness. After engaging in the rumination or distraction task, each participant was asked to talk with a female counselor during a structured problem-solving interview. Results of a 2 (dysphoric/non-dysphoric) X 2 (rumination/distraction) MANOVA yielded a non-significant interaction effect and a significant difference for the main effect of dysphoria on participants' ratings of problem severity and confidence in solving the problem. Dysphoric participants, whether given a rumination or distraction task, reported a more negative orientation towards their problems, but did not display any deficits in their ability to describe the problem, generate effective solutions, or choose an effective solution. The current findings underscore the need for more naturalistic, behavioral measurements of problem-solving ability and call into question the assumption that depressed individuals exhibit social problem-solving deficits. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 273-281). / Microfiche. / xv, 281 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Problem representation/problem finding skills are frequently the catalyst facilitating adroit knowledge base access and subsequent positive creative outcomes in adult populations. To determine whether judged creativity is similarly enhanced through young adolescents' use of a working title representation strategy within a curriculum knowledge base, 40 Latino partyicipants at two Southern California middle schools received brief written interactive directions for one of two different types of problem representation or a third, non-representational control group.