The effects of previously acquired information on a later problem solving task were explored. Prior research has shown that the acquisition of potentially relevant information is not effeetive for cuing solutions in a later problem solving task unless subjeets are informed of the conneetion. The present research extends these results and demonstrates that the problem solving failure is not due to subjeets' rejeeting the potentially relevant information following retrieval. Rather, the apparent failure to appropriately use previous information is a result of uninformed subjeets' inability to spontaneously access such information. Furthermore, the observed access failure is not reversible by simply informing the subjects of the task conneetion prior to a seeond trial. Finally, the results indicate that problem solving failure on a later informed trial is a problem-speeific phenomenon that does not generalize to new problems. The implications for contemporary episodic memory paradigms and the role of access in learning theory are discussed.Effective comprehension and problem solving require more than the availability of potentially relevant information; people must access this information when it is needed (e.g., Bransford & Johnson, 1972, Experiment 2). One method for investigating the processes involved in accessing information is to first present subjects with potentially relevant information and to then explore the conditions necessary for them to utilize this information in problem solving tasks (e.g., Weisberg, DiCamillo, & Phillips, 1978). Weisberg et a1. (1978) had subjects learn a list of paired associates, one of which was candle-box, It was expected that this association would later eue a solution to the "eandle problem" (Dunker, 1945). The eandle problem involves attaching a candle to the wall so that it will bum properly. The available materials are a box of nails, a book ofmatches, a hammer, and the candle. The solution sought by Weisberg et a1. was to attaeh the box to the wall using the hammer and nails, and to then put the eandle on top of or in the box. The eritieal manipulation was whether subjects were informed that one of the paired associates acquired previously (Le., eandlebox) was relevant to the candle problem.Weisberg et a1. 's (1978) results indicate that the candle-box association was effective in cuing the expeeted solution only when subjects were explieitly informed that previously acquired information was relevant to the candle problem. 24as evidenee that transfer is a nonautomatie proeess. However, the failure of uninformed subjects to solve the eandle problem ean be aceounted for by two distinet hypotheses. First, subjects may have spontaneously retrieved the appropriate eue when working on the eandle problem but discarded it as irrelevant (note that the eue "candle-box" does not eommunicate mueh specific information). Altemately, subjects may have failed to retrieve the appropriate eue. Although both of the hypotheses provide plausible explanations for the failure of uninformed ...

This article provides an overview for three sets of experiments that examine differences in the way that academically successful and less successful fifth-grade students approach the problem of learning new information. The overview includes discussions of (a) theoretical approaches to the problem of learning new information, (b) pilot studies that suggest differences in successful and less successful students' approaches to learning, and (c) specific hypotheses about reasons for the differences in learning suggested by the pilot studies. We also describe how these hypotheses will be tested in the three sets of experiments that follow this article.

This study examined the effects of similarity between the processing of acquisition and the processing of test materials on performance in a problem solving task. Previous work by Perfetto, Bransford, and Franks (1983) demonstrated that uninformed subjects' failure to utilize relevant acquisition information in a later problem solving task is the result of a failure to spontaneously access such information. The present study demonstrated that spontaneous access can be enhanced when both acquisition and test materials are processed in a similar manner, that is, in a problem-oriented manner. Furthermore, the present findings indicate that the processing similarity leading to enhanced access is specific to particular acquisition and test items, rather than a general problem solving set induced at acquisition and the subsequent testing situation. Results are interpreted within a transfer-appropriate processing perspective.

Three experiments examined parameters affecting human observers' ability to detect the global three-dimensional (3D) organization of a random-dot display corresponding to the polar projection of a rotating sphere. Results indicate that the detection of 3D structure is critically dependent on the detectability of motion, is disrupted by increased redundant information specifying the two-dimensional location of points in the display, and undergoes a rapidly increasing resistance to the disruptive effects of noise with increasing numbers of frames. These results, in conjunction with earlier findings, are inconsistent with existing theories concerning the perception of three-dimensionality in moving displays, in that they indicate a high degree of visual sensitivity to stimulus organizations with unique topological representations.

The relationship between personality characteristics and interpersonal process in an interview to assess potential to engage in short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy was investigated. A five-variable stepwise regression model was used to assess the degree of association between Rorschach predictors and ratings on a validated observational rating scale designed for this type of assessment, the Capacity for Dynamic Process Scale.It is widely recognized that, in short-term dynamic psychotherapy, patient characteristics and selection criteria are of special importance (Bauer