Effects of participant modeling on information acquisition and skill utilization.

Assessed the contribution of active participant modeling in coping skills training by evaluating 2 critical process variables: the retention of information about the threatening events and how to cope with them, and the visceral component of imaginal rehearsal. 38 8–13 yr old children, highly fearful of dentists (the Dental subscale of the Children's Fear Survey Schedule), were shown a videotape of 2 children practicing controlled respiration and imagery techniques while undergoing dental treatment. The participant modeling group was encouraged to practice these as they watched the film, whereas the symbolic modeling group was told that this might help them during their own dental treatment, which immediately followed videotape preparation. Ss who had the active participant instructions obtained more information from the videotape, reported greater reduction in dental anxiety, and showed lower respiratory rates as they watched the videotape. They reported greater use of imagery techniques and enhanced self-control. The degree of disruptiveness was significantly lower during subsequent actual dental treatment in Ss from the active practice group. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental multiplication skill: Structure, process, and acquisition.

Collected response time (RT) and error data on multiplication problems up to 9?×?9 from 86 Ss in Grades 2–5 and from 60 undergraduate and graduate students. Results show that most errors involved correct products to other problems and that a developmental trend emerged in which the specific errors made by children mirrored adult errors by Grade 5. The error patterns indicate that an associative network evolves in which problem operands become linked to specific sets of candidate answers. Retrieval is governed by a process that activates candidates, and accessibility of correct answers is impeded by competing associations: At all skill levels, both problem-error rates and product-error rates (i.e., how often a problem's correct product occurs as an incorrect response to other problems) contributed to predicting correct problem RT in multiple regression analyses. These interference variables yielded higher correlations than did structural variables (e.g., the numerical size of problem operands), the latter having provided the basis for previous models of arithmetic memory. A network-interference account is proposed that explains the slow course of acquisition and differential problem difficulty in terms of interference by false associations. (French abstract) (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping with treatment-related stress: Effects on patient adherence in hemodialysis.

W Examined 57 hemodialysis patients. The association of a particular type of coping to adherence was predicted to depend on the specific type of stressful encounter being considered. As predicted, coping efforts involving planful problem solving were associated with more favorable adherence when used in response to stressors involving a relatively controllable aspect of the hemodialysis context. For less controllable stressors, coping efforts involving emotional self-control were associated with more favorable adherence. The seeking of informational support in response to an uncontrollable encounter was associated with poorer fluid-intake adherence. Confrontive coping was associated with poorer adherence for both high-and low-control situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of overt controlled verbalization and goal-specific search on acquisition of procedural knowledge in problem solving.

The effects of verbalization (overt or covert) and goal specificity (specific goal or nonspecific goal) were investigated in a two-factor design. 64 university students individually solved 6 acquisition problems requiring numeral conversions between different base systems and returned 2 days later for a test measuring both near and far transfer. Analysis of acquisition measures indicated that overt verbalizers (a) made fewer excess moves, (b) worked forward on more problems, and (c) required more time than covert verbalizers. Problem solvers working under specific goal conditions made fewer excess moves than those working under nonspecific goal conditions. The treatment factors did not influence transfer performance. However, correlational data obtained between working forward and levels of transfer yielded significant positive relations for overt verbalizers only. The results suggest that the goal-directed search of novices does not necessarily interfere with learning during problem solving and that task demands may influence the relative effectiveness of overt verbalization and reduced goal specificity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of solving related proofs on memory and transfer in geometry problem solving.

Three experiments investigate the relationship between memory and problem solving in the domain of geometry theorem proving. In Exp 1, Ss' memories for an original problem-solving episode were interfered with retroactively by solving a 2nd problem that had the same diagram, but no memory effects were observed that depended on the 2nd problem's logical similarity to the original. Results suggest that the diagram is the basis for geometry problem-solving memories. Exps 2 and 3 investigated problem-solving memories in use by examining Ss' transfer to a 3rd (test) problem. As with the memory results, transfer was reduced when the 1st 2 problems had the same diagram relative to when they had 2 different diagrams. Transfer was reduced most in the condition with the greatest proportion of memory-interfering steps. Results suggest that the structure and quality of problem-solving memories affect problem-solving transfer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of modeling, rehearsal, feedback, and remediation on acquisition of a counseling strategy.

Assessed the effects of 4 primary components of the microcounseling training model on the acquisition of a counseling strategy. The 4 training components investigated were (a) written and video models, (b) role-play practice, (c) peer feedback, and (d) role-play remediation practice. 40 beginning graduate students in counseling were assigned randomly to the following 4 treatment conditions: modeling; modeling and practice; modeling, practice, and feedback; and modeling, practice, feedback, and remediation. Written pretest, posttest, and retention test measures and posttest and retention test role-play interview measures were obtained of the dependent variable—the developing goals counseling strategy. Results show that, on the written measures, the performance of all 4 groups increased significantly from pre- to posttest and from pretest to retention test. A 1-way ANOVA revealed that all groups performed equally well on the posttest role-play interview. A repeated measures ANOVA on the role-play posttest and retention interviews indicated no significant differences between treatment groups or across trials. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of trainee expectancies and specific instructions on counselling skill acquisition.

Examined the acquisition of counseling skill by 31 inexperienced undergraduate counselor trainees as a function of (1) brief, specific instructions on how to counsel and (2) Ss' pretraining expectancies pertaining to nondirective vs directive counseling style. The Reisman Direction-Unconscious Motivation Scale was used to identify Ss of high vs low directiveness expectancy, and Ss of these 2 groups were randomly assigned to training or control conditions. The training group showed significant training gains on 2 microcounseling criteria, while the directiveness-expectancy variable had no significant effect. Findings vis-à-vis the brief instructions illustrate that a significant training gain can be induced simply by alerting trainees to the evaluative criteria. It is concluded that such instructions could be used both as highly efficient means of instituting initial counseling skill in paraprofessional workers and as an apt control in assessing the effect of relatively more extensive counselor training programs. (French abstract) (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The counsellor trainee as client: Client process as a predictor of counselling skill acquisition.

This study was based on C. R. Rogers's (1951) proposition that openness to and expressiveness of inner experiencing relates to the individual's ability to be sensitive to and acceptant of others. 34 participants in a human relations training program were first interviewed by experienced therapists. The Ss' capacities to process themselves as clients were assessed by use of an experiencing scale developed by E. T. Gendlin and E. M. Tomlinson (1961), and a process measure of this scale was used as a predictor of counseling skill acquisition during the program. It was found that there was no relationship between the predictor and skill acquisition during the initial phase of the training program. However, between the middle and final phase of the program, the High Mode Experiencing Ss sustained their facilitative communication despite a shift of training focus to action-oriented skills, whereas the facilitative communication of the Low Mode Experiencing Ss deteriorated during this period. It is concluded that the capacity to process themselves as clients may have little bearing on whether or not trainees can achieve low levels of facilitative functioning when these skills are explicitly addressed. However, this variable may have considerable bearing on the extent to which trainees can maintain the empathic attitude while extending their total range of functioning. (French abstract) (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teaching with concrete and abstract visual representations: Effects on students' problem solving, problem representations, and learning perceptions.

In 3 experiments, we examined the effects of using concrete and/or abstract visual problem representations during instruction on students' problem-solving practice, near transfer, problem representations, and learning perceptions. In Experiments 1 and 2, novice students learned about electrical circuit analysis with an instructional program that included worked-out and practice problems represented with abstract (Group A), concrete (Group C), or abstract and concrete diagrams (Group AC), whereby the cover stories were abstract in Group A and concrete in Groups C and AC. Experiment 3 added a 4th condition (C-A) with a concrete cover story and abstract diagrams. Group AC outperformed Groups A and C on problem-solving practice in Experiments 1 and 2 and outperformed Group C on transfer across the 3 experiments; Group AC also outperformed Group C-A in Experiment 3. Further, Group A outperformed Group C on transfer in Experiments 2 and 3 and outperformed Group C-A in Experiment 3. Transfer scores were positively associated with the quality of the diagrams and the number of abstract representations drawn during the transfer test. Data on students' learning perceptions suggest that the advantage of Group AC relies on the combined cognitive support of both representations. Our studies indicate that problem solving is fostered when learners experience concrete visual representations that connect to their prior knowledge and are enabled to use abstract visual representations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of model persistence and success on children's problem solving.

Studied the effects of a social model's performance on children's persistence in problem solving using a wire-puzzle task. 80 1st and 2nd graders were assigned to 1 of 4 live modeling groups or to a no-model control group. Two durations of model effort (high or low persistence) relative to the control group performance were factorially compared with model success or no success in reaching a solution. Both duration of effort and success of the model significantly affected persistence. Together these variables significantly improved or depressed the Ss' persistence compared with that of the control group. Social comparisons by the Ss of the length of their performances and those of the models appeared to covary with imitative behavioral outcomes. Results are discussed in terms of A. Bandura's social learning theory. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of practice and positional variables in acquisition of a complex psychomotor skill

40 Navy subjects practiced a three-dimensional tracking task in two positions (the apparatus either in front of,, or above, the subject) under distributed and massed practice schedules to determine the effects of these variables on acquisition of skill. Distributed and massed practice were defined in terms of trial (4 1/2 and 9 min.) and session (1 and 2 hr.) lengths with the subjects equally divided into these four groups: distributed trials, distributed sessions; distributed trials, massed sessions; massed trials, distributed sessions; and massed trials, massed sessions. Total training (practice and rest) time was identical for all groups. Results indicated that task position was a relevant variable in acquisition of skill, i.e. different practice schedules were optimal for the two positions studied.     

Explicitly teaching for transfer: Effects on third-grade students' mathematical problem solving.

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of explicitly teaching for transfer by (a) broadening the categories by which students group problems requiring the same solution methods and (b) prompting students to search novel problems for these broad categories. This transfer treatment was combined with instruction on solution methods. The effectiveness of a combined treatment (transfer-plus-solution instruction) was contrasted to solution instruction alone and to teacher-designed instruction. Twenty-four 3rd-grade teachers, with 375 students, were assigned randomly to conditions. Treatments were conducted for 16 weeks. Improvement on immediate- and near-transfer measures supported the utility of solution instruction. Improvement on near- and far-transfer measures revealed the added contribution of explicitly teaching for transfer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of variability of practice in a movement-education program on motor skill performance

The study investigated the effects of the direct and exploration methods of teaching on the overhand throwing performance of kindergarten children. Variable throwing practice was provided in the exploration method by allowing children to throw 5 different types of balls at a variety of targets. Children given the direct method threw only one type of ball and received specific instruction and demonstrations. Throwing for distance and throwing accuracy were measured on pre- and posttests. A novel throwing task was administered on the posttest to measure skill transfer. The experimental groups received instruction three times per week for 4 wk. in throwing while a control group received no instruction. Significant sex differences in throws were found for distance and accuracy. Analysis of data from the novel task gave no significant effects. The two methods of teaching did not produce different levels of throwing skill.     

Effects of feedback on insight and problem solving efficiency in training groups.

"An experiment was conducted in a field setting to investigate two of the learning principles utilized in human relations courses. The Ss were 103 first line supervisors, in groups of about 12, in a one week, highly participative management course… . The data indicated that personalized feedback markedly, and consistently, improved group problem solving efficiency. Under some conditions, feedback improved self-insight." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social-skills training with institutionalized elderly: Effects of precounseling structuring and overlearning on skill acquisition and transfer.

66 institutionalized elderly patients (mean age 65.5 yrs) were assigned to 6 experimental conditions and 1 control condition. Half of the treatment Ss received a precounseling structuring session prior to training. During training, one-third of the Ss received low overlearning, one-third received medium overlearning, and one-third received high overlearning. Controls were given a combination of attention and brief instructions. Analyses of covariance with level of cognitive functioning as the covariate revealed that all treatment groups acquired the skill. Results also indicate that (a) medium overlearning enhanced skill transfer, (b) high overlearning decreased skill acquisition and transfer, and (c) precounseling structuring had no effect on acquisition or transfer. Findings suggest that the method evaluated was effective in teaching a social skill to institutionalized elderly. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of self-focused rumination on negative thinking and interpersonal problem solving.

Hypotheses about the effects of self-focused rumination on interpretations of events and interpersonal problem solving were tested in 3 studies with dysphoric and nondysphoric participants. Study 1 supported the hypothesis that dysphoric participants induced to ruminatively self-focus on their feelings and personal characteristics would endorse more negative, biased interpretations of hypothetical situations than dysphoric participants induced to distract themselves from their mood, or nondysphoric participants. Study 2 showed that dysphoric participants who ruminated were more pessimistic about positive events in their future than the other 3 groups. Study 3 showed that dysphoric ruminating participants generated less effective solutions to interpersonal problems than the other 3 groups. In Studies 1 and 3, dysphoric ruminating participants also offered the most pessimistic explanations for interpersonal problems and hypothetical negative events. In all 3 studies, dysphoric participants who distracted were as optimistic and effective in solving problems as nondysphoric participants. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group process and performance: Interpersonal behaviors and decision quality in group problem solving by consensus.

A correlational study examined group performance of a problem-solving task that required consensus in relation to 3 interpersonal behaviors: discussing strategy, inviting input, and asking or summarizing agreement. Participants did a simulated survival task individually and then worked toward consensus in 54 mixed-gender groups of 4 to 6. Group error scores indicated decision quality. Videotaped sessions were scored for observed behaviors. Rate of asking about or summarizing agreement correlated positively with group error. The same behaviors unexpectedly correlated with completion times, which correlated inversely with group error: Faster groups made more errors. Other behaviors were unrelated to group decision quality or completion time. Rate of discussing strategy declined over time; inviting input stayed stable; and rate of asking or summarizing agreement increased. Temporal trends were unrelated to performance. Implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of principle explanation and superficial similarity on analogical mapping in problem solving.

When solving a problem, people often make use of an earlier problem by mapping the objects from the earlier problem to the current one. Three experiments varied the superficial similarity between study and test problems to discriminate 2 views of the mapping process: direct mapping and near miss. Subjects studied 4 probability principles and study problems and solved test problems. The mapping of earlier problems on the basis of superficial similarity would lead to incorrect answers. In Experiment 1, evidence was found for the direct mapping view: Test problems with more similar objects to the study problems were more likely to be (inappropriately) mapped. However, in Experiment 2, in which the principle explanation was embedded in the study problem, this effect was reversed. In Experiment 3, 2 explanations for the differences in effect were contrasted. The discussion focuses on how principle explanation may affect analogical problem solving. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of environmental enrichment on open-field activity and Hebb-Williams problem solving in rats.

Conducted an experiment with 24 male and 24 female Carworth Europe rats to test the effects of sex, preweaning experience (enrichment vs. restriction), postweaning experience (enrichment vs. restriction), and test order on: (a) activity and defecation in the open field; and (b) Hebb-Williams maze test errors (see record 1946-02683-001). Postweaning restriction increased both activity and error scores, while preweaning restriction increased activity but had no effect on error scores. There was no correlation between scores on the 2 variables when the enriched and restricted postweaning-Ss were considered separately. It is concluded that errors in the maze are not the result of exploration, but that the test scores are more likely to be a valid measure of problem-solving ability. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)