Verbalization, experimenter presence, and problem solving.

Abstract

Ss solved 3 circle problems in each of 8 conditions formed by the presence or absence of a requirement to (a) verbalize, (b) attempt a general solution, and (c) work in the presence of another person. Immediate presence of another was found to facilitate performance heavily on the S-tile problem, but not on the 6-tile (test) problem. Verbalization strongly enhanced problem solving on the 6-tile problem, thereby confirming earlier results. Social facilitation and the absence of interactions among main effects on this kind of task were unanticipated; the results were interpreted in terms of mixedtask demands and social facilitation theory.

REACTIVITY AND TYPE OF VERBAL REPORT IN SLA RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Expanding the Scope of Investigation

“…found mixed results with regard to reactivity+ The majority of the studies involving metalinguistic verbal reports examined the effects of metalinguistic think-alouds compared to a silent control group and found metalinguistic think-alouds to be reactive for accuracy in most cases~Berry, 1983; Berry & Broadbent, 1984;Bower & King, 1967;Davis, Carey, Foxman, & Tarr, 1968;McGeorge & Burton, 1989;Short et al+, 1991;Stanley, Mathews, Buss, & Kotler-Cope, 1989;Wilder & Harvey, 1971;Wilson & Schooler, 1991!+ For many of the studies, time~latency! because the additional time needed for verbalization increases the overall solution time+ With regard to metalinguistic verbalization, an early review of studies~Ericsson & Simon, 1993!…”

How to Gain Eleven IQ Points in Ten Minutes: Thinking Aloud Improves Raven's Matrices Performance in Older Adults

“…Future studies may reveal that TA older adults benefit on the verbal and spatial analogies tests used in Short et al's studies. It is possible that the present effects could be increased using explanatory reports, as previous studies show a general positive impact of explanatory verbalization on performance in younger populations (e.g., Davis et al, 1968;Gagne & Smith, 1962;Ray, 1957).…”

“…One possibility is that TA engendered more systematic scanning and processing of the matrices as verbalizing may have alerted older adults to random scanning and processing as it occured. Previous studies have shown that verbalization can improve performance when it involves reasoning about a task prior to responding (e.g., Davis, Carey, Foxman, & Tarr, 1968;Gagne & Smith, 1962;Ray, 1957), presumably because attempting to articulate one's strategy verbally can expose it as incomplete or otherwise inadequate. However, non-descriptive TA reports like those collected in the present study have seldom been shown to improve performance in this fashion and such a theory cannot account for null findings among younger adults unless it is only the lowest performing younger adults.…”

Oral Interaction in Cooperative Learning Groups: Speaking, Listening, and the Nature of Statements Made by High-, Medium-, and Low-Achieving Students

“…There is evidence that rehearsal of information is a necessary process for remembering (Klatzky, 1975), and that elaborative rehearsal is more likely to promote long-term retention of information than simple repetition (Craik & Lockhart, 1972;Elmes & Bjork, 1975;Evans, 1977;Geiselman & Bjork, 1980;Owings & Baumeister, 1979;Ross & DiVesta, 1976). Discrimination studies (Carmean & Weir, 1967;DiVesta & Richards, 1971;Weir & Helgoe, 1968) and problem-solving studies (Davis, 1968;Gagne & Smith, 1962) indicate that vocalizing during practice of a problem-solving task produces higher performance than not vocalizing. Recent studies on the internal dynamics of learning groups indicate that elaborative rehearsal of information is positively related to achievement (Peterson & Janicki, 1979;Peterson et al, 1981;Webb, 1980).…”