Complex problem solving in educational contexts – Still something beyond a “good g”?

Lotz, Christin; Sparfeldt, Jörn R.; Greiff, Samuel

doi:10.1016/j.intell.2016.09.001

Cited by 22 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…In recent studies, it turned out that the established finding that MicroDYN explains variance in school grades over and above figural reasoning, cannot be replicated when intelligence is operationalized broadly (Kretzschmar et al, 2016 ; Lotz et al, 2016 ). This casts doubt on the distinctiveness perspective that construes CPS as an ability separate from general intelligence (Kretzschmar et al, 2016 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a fashion that was common at the time when we planned the experiment, we used figural reasoning as a proxy for general intelligence. We will discuss the implication of this decision and its relation to recent findings about broader operationalizations of intelligence in the discussion section (Kretzschmar et al, 2016 ; Lotz et al, 2016 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

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Common Process Demands of Two Complex Dynamic Control Tasks: Transfer Is Mediated by Comprehensive Strategies

Schoppek

Fischer

2017

Front. Psychol.

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Although individual differences in complex problem solving (CPS) are well–established, relatively little is known about the process demands that are common to different dynamic control (CDC) tasks. A prominent example is the VOTAT strategy that describes the separate variation of input variables (“Vary One Thing At a Time”) for analyzing the causal structure of a system. To investigate such comprehensive knowledge elements and strategies, we devised the real-time driven CDC environment Dynamis2 and compared it with the widely used CPS test MicroDYN in a transfer experiment. One hundred sixty five subjects participated in the experiment, which completely combined the role of MicroDYN and Dynamis2 as source or target problem. Figural reasoning was assessed using a variant of the Raven Test. We found the expected substantial correlations among figural reasoning and performance in both CDC tasks. Moreover, MicroDYN and Dynamis2 share 15.4% unique variance controlling for figural reasoning. We found positive transfer from MicroDYN to Dynamis2, but no transfer in the opposite direction. Contrary to our expectation, transfer was not mediated by VOTAT but by an approach that is characterized by setting all input variables to zero after an intervention and waiting a certain time. This strategy (called PULSE strategy) enables the problem solver to observe the eigendynamics of the system. We conclude that for the study of complex problem solving it is important to employ a range of different CDC tasks in order to identify components of CPS. We propose that besides VOTAT and PULSE other comprehensive knowledge elements and strategies, which contribute to successful CPS, should be investigated. The positive transfer from MicroDYN to the more complex and dynamic Dynamis2 suggests an application of MicroDYN as training device.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Common Process Demands of Two Complex Dynamic Control Tasks: Transfer Is Mediated by Comprehensive Strategies

Schoppek

Fischer

2017

Front. Psychol.

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“…A natural question is what is the relationship between Gf and CPS? This question has been the subject of debate over the past several years [11,12,13,14,15,16,17]. In this paper, we demonstrate that there is a strong relationship between fluid ability (Gf) and complex problem solving (CPS) skill, both conceptually and empirically.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Fluid Ability (Gf) and Complex Problem Solving (CPS)

Kyllonen

Carrasco

Kell³

2017

J. Intell.

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Complex problem solving (CPS) has emerged over the past several decades as an important construct in education and in the workforce. We examine the relationship between CPS and general fluid ability (Gf) both conceptually and empirically. A review of definitions of the two factors, prototypical tasks, and the information processing analyses of performance on those tasks suggest considerable conceptual overlap. We review three definitions of CPS: a general definition emerging from the human problem solving literature; a more specialized definition from the “German School” emphasizing performance in many-variable microworlds, with high domain-knowledge requirements; and a third definition based on performance in Minimal Complex Systems (MCS), with fewer variables and reduced knowledge requirements. We find a correlation of 0.86 between expert ratings of the importance of CPS and Gf across 691 occupations in the O*NET database. We find evidence that employers value both Gf and CPS skills, but CPS skills more highly, even after controlling for the importance of domain knowledge. We suggest that this may be due to CPS requiring not just cognitive ability but additionally skill in applying that ability in domains. We suggest that a fruitful future direction is to explore the importance of domain knowledge in CPS.

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“…On the other hand, the relevance of the MCS approach is shown by many studies that have modeled the internal structure of MCS tasks (e.g., Greiff et al, 2012; Sonnleitner et al, 2012), provided evidence that performance variance cannot be sufficiently explained by reasoning (e.g., Wüstenberg et al, 2012; Sonnleitner et al, 2013; Kretzschmar et al, 2016), found strong convergent validity as well as a lower correlation with a CRS (i.e., Tailorshop ; Greiff et al, 2015b; for a different view, see Kretzschmar, 2017), and demonstrated incremental validity in predicting school grades beyond reasoning (e.g., Greiff et al, 2013b; Sonnleitner et al, 2013; for different results, see Kretzschmar et al, 2016; Lotz et al, 2016) and beyond a CRS task (Greiff et al, 2015b). MCS have been proposed as a tool for assessing 21st Century skills (Greiff et al, 2014) and were applied in the international large-scale study PISA to assess general problem-solving skills (OECD, 2014).…”

Section: Part Ii: Review and Critique Of The Minimally Complex Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Cognitive Abilities and Prior Knowledge on Complex Problem Solving Performance – Empirical Results and a Plea for Ecologically Valid Microworlds

Süß

Kretzschmar

2018

Front. Psychol.

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The original aim of complex problem solving (CPS) research was to bring the cognitive demands of complex real-life problems into the lab in order to investigate problem solving behavior and performance under controlled conditions. Up until now, the validity of psychometric intelligence constructs has been scrutinized with regard to its importance for CPS performance. At the same time, different CPS measurement approaches competing for the title of the best way to assess CPS have been developed. In the first part of the paper, we investigate the predictability of CPS performance on the basis of the Berlin Intelligence Structure Model and Cattell’s investment theory as well as an elaborated knowledge taxonomy. In the first study, 137 students managed a simulated shirt factory (Tailorshop; i.e., a complex real life-oriented system) twice, while in the second study, 152 students completed a forestry scenario (FSYS; i.e., a complex artificial world system). The results indicate that reasoning – specifically numerical reasoning (Studies 1 and 2) and figural reasoning (Study 2) – are the only relevant predictors among the intelligence constructs. We discuss the results with reference to the Brunswik symmetry principle. Path models suggest that reasoning and prior knowledge influence problem solving performance in the Tailorshop scenario mainly indirectly. In addition, different types of system-specific knowledge independently contribute to predicting CPS performance. The results of Study 2 indicate that working memory capacity, assessed as an additional predictor, has no incremental validity beyond reasoning. We conclude that (1) cognitive abilities and prior knowledge are substantial predictors of CPS performance, and (2) in contrast to former and recent interpretations, there is insufficient evidence to consider CPS a unique ability construct. In the second part of the paper, we discuss our results in light of recent CPS research, which predominantly utilizes the minimally complex systems (MCS) measurement approach. We suggest ecologically valid microworlds as an indispensable tool for future CPS research and applications.

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Complex problem solving in educational contexts – Still something beyond a “good g”?

Cited by 22 publications

References 38 publications

Common Process Demands of Two Complex Dynamic Control Tasks: Transfer Is Mediated by Comprehensive Strategies

Common Process Demands of Two Complex Dynamic Control Tasks: Transfer Is Mediated by Comprehensive Strategies

Fluid Ability (Gf) and Complex Problem Solving (CPS)

Impact of Cognitive Abilities and Prior Knowledge on Complex Problem Solving Performance – Empirical Results and a Plea for Ecologically Valid Microworlds

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