Following the Wrong Footsteps: Fixation Effects of Pictorial Examples in a Design Problem-Solving Task.

Two experiments examined possible negative transfer in nonexperts from the use of pictorial examples in a laboratory design problem-solving situation. In Experiment 1, 89 participants were instructed to "think aloud" and were assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: (a) control (standard instructions), (b) fixation (inclusion of a problematic example, describing its problematic elements), or (c) defixation (inclusion of a problematic example, with instructions to avoid using problematic elements). Negative transfer due to examples was measured both quantitatively and qualitatively through verbal protocols. Verbal protocols (N = 176) were analyzed for participants' reasons for reference to the examples. In Experiment 2, fixation to examples was evaluated in nonverbalizing participants (N = 60). Results of both experiments suggest that (a) although participants consulted the problem instructions, they tended to follow the examples even when they included inappropriate elements and (b) the fixation effects can be diminished with the use of defixating instructions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessment of biodiesel stability under long-term storage and dynamic accelerated oxidation: a comparison approach

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - The biodiesel susceptibility to oxidation causes its qualitative deterioration and affects both its handling and long-term storage. This study aims to...     

When shoes become hammers: Goal-derived categorization training enhances problem-solving performance.

Problem-solving theories have not examined how solvers navigate their knowledge to interpret problem situations or to plan strategies toward goals. In this article, the author argues that success in problem solving depends on the solver's ability to construct goal-derived categories, namely categories that are formed ad hoc to serve goals during the instantiation of problem frames. Experiment 1 (N = 140) showed improved problem-solving performance after training to construct goal-derived categories. Experiment 2 (N = 80) demonstrated that effects of training in category construction can be obtained without participants being explicitly informed regarding the relevance of training to problem solving. These studies suggest that problem solving is a dynamic expression of goal-directed cognition and provide evidence for the involvement of categorization in problem-solving processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Scientific Denial of the Real and the Dialectic of Scientism and Humanism.

Comment on "Realism, Instrumentalism, and Scientific Symbiosis: Psychological Theory as a Search for Truth and the Discovery of Solutions" by John T. Cacioppo, Gun R. Semin and Gary G. Berntson (see record 2004-14303-001). The appeal for the unification of psychology is in fashion and Cacioppo et al.'s term "symbiosis" connotes a cooperative and communal practice that is difficult to criticize without being regarded as quarrelsome and cantankerous. As Cacioppo et al. stated, the ultimate goal for a unification in psychology should be "to approach or approximate scientific realism" (p. 221). Thus, iterative practice or not, there is no symbiosis, only a reductionistic approach with a gesture toward including positive qualities of instrumentalism. Cacioppo et al. essentially proposed a check-and-balance system for scientific realism which is the ultimate victor. Ramey and Chrysikou go on to discuss the differences between scientific realism and instrumentalism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)