The effects of informational complexity and working memory on problem-solving efficiency     

Bobby Hoffman  Matthew T. McCrudden  Gregory Schraw  Kendall Hartley 《Asia Pacific Education Review》2008,9(4):464-474

This study investigated the influence of informational complexity and working memory capacity on problem-solving efficiency. We examined two predictions of thesituational efficiency hypothesis, which states that the efficiency of problem solving varies as a function of situational constraints. One prediction is that informational complexity affects problem-solving efficiency. A second prediction is that working memory capacity affects problem-solving efficiency. Students completed a working memory task and solved abstract and concrete syllogisms. Participants solved abstract syllogisms more accurately than concrete syllogisms and spent more time solving abstract syllogisms. Thus participants demonstrated greater problem-solving efficiency when solving concrete syllogisms. Results indicate that there is a trade-off between problem-solving accuracy and problem-solving time when information differs with respect to informational complexity, a phenomenon we refer to as theefficiency paradox. Working memory capacity did not affect accuracy or efficiency. The results support the conclusion that problem-solving efficiency is situational and a function of the complexity of information. Educational implications and directions for future research are suggested.  相似文献   

The influence of reading unit size on the development of Stroop interference in early word decoding     

Paula J. Schwanenflugel  Robin D. Morris  Melanie R. Kuhn  Gregory P. Strauss  Jennifer M. Sieczko 《Reading and writing》2008,21(3):177-203

The purpose of the experiments was to determine the automatic use of large or small word reading units in young readers in the absence of word decoding strategies. Picture-word Stroop interference was examined from four types of conflicting labels: (a) words containing both highly predictable grapheme–phoneme correspondence (GPC) units and highly consistent rime units (henceforth, Hi-GPC + Hi-Rime); (b) words with highly predictable GPC units and less consistent rime units (Hi-GPC + Lo-Rime); (c) words with low predictability GPC units and highly consistent rime units (Low GPC + High Rime); (d) nonwords that contained both highly predictable GPC and highly consistent rime units. Naming time for pictures containing these labels was compared against that for pictures with random letter strings or no labels. In Experiment 1, Stroop interference was examined in first, second, and third grade children to determine whether there was developmental change in the presence of rime or GPC interference. In Experiment 2, Stroop interference was examined as a function of relative reading skill in first grade children. In Experiment 3, Stroop interference in adults was compared to the use of rime or GPC pronunciation strategies for nonword reading. In all experiments, Stroop interference in picture naming was longer for pictures with highly predictable GPC unit labels than less predictable GPC unit labels. However, in Experiment 3, even though adults showed interference from predictable GPC units in the Stroop task, they always preferred rime pronunciation for ambiguous nonwords in the nonword reading task. It is argued that the current experiments provide evidence for a flexible units model. The results of this study were presented at the Cognitive Development Society meeting, November 2001, Virginia Beach, VA, and the American Educational Research Association meeting, April 2004, San Diego, California.  相似文献   

From the personal to the public: Conceptions of creative writing in higher education     

Gregory Light 《Higher Education》2002,43(2):257-276

  相似文献   

Latent Variable Modeling and Adaptive Testing for Experimental Cognitive Psychopathology Research     

Michael L. Thomas  Gregory G. Brown  Virginie M. Patt  John R. Duffy 《Educational and psychological measurement》2021,81(1):155

The adaptation of experimental cognitive tasks into measures that can be used to quantify neurocognitive outcomes in translational studies and clinical trials has become a key component of the strategy to address psychiatric and neurological disorders. Unfortunately, while most experimental cognitive tests have strong theoretical bases, they can have poor psychometric properties, leaving them vulnerable to measurement challenges that undermine their use in applied settings. Item response theory–based computerized adaptive testing has been proposed as a solution but has been limited in experimental and translational research due to its large sample requirements. We present a generalized latent variable model that, when combined with strong parametric assumptions based on mathematical cognitive models, permits the use of adaptive testing without large samples or the need to precalibrate item parameters. The approach is demonstrated using data from a common measure of working memory—the N-back task—collected across a diverse sample of participants. After evaluating dimensionality and model fit, we conducted a simulation study to compare adaptive versus nonadaptive testing. Computerized adaptive testing either made the task 36% more efficient or score estimates 23% more precise, when compared to nonadaptive testing. This proof-of-concept study demonstrates that latent variable modeling and adaptive testing can be used in experimental cognitive testing even with relatively small samples. Adaptive testing has the potential to improve the impact and replicability of findings from translational studies and clinical trials that use experimental cognitive tasks as outcome measures.  相似文献   

But Does It Work?: The Influence of Presumed Goal Attainment Effectiveness on Willingness to Use Legalistic and Restorative Responses to Offensive Behavior     

Gregory D. Paul 《Communication Studies》2016,67(2):239-258

Although victim-offender conferences (VOCs) ostensibly enable victims to pursue justice goals not achieved through conventional trials, not all victims wish to participate in them. The purpose of this study was to examine how victims’ presumptions regarding the effectiveness of VOCs and trials in accomplishing justice goals influence their willingness to participate in a VOC and their preference for a case to be managed solely by the courts. Study results indicated that participants believed VOCs and trials to be effective at accomplishing different goals and that such influenced how they wanted cases to be managed. This influence was moderated by desires for particular justice goals. These findings have implications for restorative justice researchers and practitioners interested in victims’ motivations to participate in a VOC.  相似文献   

Developing planning and budgeting strategies for internal recycling of funds     

G. Gregory Lozier  P. Richard Althouse 《Research in higher education》1983,18(2):237-250

Higher education worldwide is beset by rigid budgetary constraints. Increases in governmental and student support have been insufficient to offset the severe inflationary spiral of recent years, and many institutions have been confronted by yearly gaps between estimated revenues and projected expenditures. Following 6 years of across-the-board internal budget reallocations amounting to $11.1 million, Penn State initiated a rolling 5-year planning and budget process in 1977. The new process, resulting in an additional $16.6 million in internal reductions and reallocations through 1982–83, was designed to provide for more selective budgetary decisions based on careful analysis of university priorities. As the process has evolved, it has reoriented budget decisions toward university planning issues and qualitative concerns.  相似文献   

Technology closes the gap     

Gregory P. Guidice 《TechTrends》1993,38(4):19-21

  相似文献   

Judging the Constructive Impacts of Communication Technologies: A Business Education Study     

Gregory R. MacKinnon  Conor Vibert 《Education and Information Technologies》2002,7(2):127-135

Through an IBM partnership, Acadia University has the benefit of an infrastructure that places a laptop computer in the hands of some 4000 faculty and students on campus. Coupled with anytime–anyplace campus access to the computer network, the setting offers unique opportunities to study the pedagogical impacts of the use of computers in classroom instruction.University business administration courses have routinely employed case study approaches in the delivery of some course content. The research described follows the use of an elaborate case study communications networking system being used in a business course on competitive intelligence. Though the technology collage allows for certain opportunities to promote quality instruction, not all aspects of technology use were found to be productive. This paper provides an analysis of the appropriateness of technology usage in the context of a single business education course.  相似文献   

The Japanese University in Crisis     

Ikuo?Amano  Gregory?S.?PooleEmail author 《Higher Education》2005,50(4):685-711

Japanese education has been a focus of comparative studies for the past 20 years. Many scholars have attributed the economic success of this industrialized society to a highly literate and well-educated population. Recent studies, however, have tended to be more critical of, in particular, Japanese higher education (HE). Indeed, most universities in Japan are acutely aware of the need for change and a considerable effort at institutional reform is sweeping the nation. Unfortunately most of the constructive criticism of Japanese HE has not yet been published in English. One of the most vocal of the reformists, Professor Ikuo Amano, has published widely on various aspects of HE in Japan. The following paper is a translation of a chapter in his book Challenges to Japanese Universities. This translation is prefaced by both a synopsis of this book as well as a brief introduction to Amano and his work.  相似文献   

Parent academic involvement as related to school behavior, achievement, and aspirations: demographic variations across adolescence   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Hill NE  Castellino DR  Lansford JE  Nowlin P  Dodge KA  Bates JE  Pettit GS 《Child development》2004,75(5):1491-1509

A longitudinal model of parent academic involvement, behavioral problems, achievement, and aspirations was examined for 463 adolescents, followed from 7th (approximately 12 years old) through 11th (approximately 16 years old) grades. Parent academic involvement in 7th grade was negatively related to 8th-grade behavioral problems and positively related to 11th-grade aspirations. There were variations across parental education levels and ethnicity: Among the higher parental education group, parent academic involvement was related to fewer behavioral problems, which were related to achievement and then aspirations. For the lower parental education group, parent academic involvement was related to aspirations but not to behavior or achievement. Parent academic involvement was positively related to achievement for African Americans but not for European Americans. Parent academic involvement may be interpreted differently and serve different purposes across sociodemographic backgrounds.  相似文献