Examines problem-solving in selected software, considering what packages really teach and how useful they are in classrooms. Includes a table listing 21 packages with information in such categories as: suggested ages; solving standard logic puzzles; trial/error or predicting outcomes; breaking tasks into smaller parts; drawing conclusions; and…

Results of participant-observation techniques used to study the everyday cognition and problem-solving process in marketing tasks defined and organized by mildly mentally retarded adults, revealed five "composites" of strategic behavior. An association between composite and early life experiences was also shown. (Author/CL)

The article, while focusing on mathematics and problem-solving characteristics, reexamines the definition of "mathematically gifted," and discusses current practices and some areas of concern related to the identification of the mathematically gifted. It also calls for an identification procedure which includes information about qualities of the…

This paper discusses the role of uncertainty during the early stages of problem solving. It is argued that students start the problem solving activity with some degree of uncertainty that may vary from high to low. This degree of uncertainty may affect students' decisions at early stages of the problem solving process. It may be suggested that an…

This paper addresses two questions: "Does conceptual understanding help students solve related quantitative problems?" and "Does working through a quantitative problem help students understand the concepts involved?" A class of approximately 100 students was split into two equally skillful groups, A and B. Group A was administered a tutorial…

Decision exercises using a finite state machine and replacement systems are described in this second of two articles. For the first article, see MT No. 62, March, 1973, pp. 50-55. (DT)

After being measured for test anxiety, three groups of participants observed an experimenter, who served as a model, solve sample problems prior to performing themselves. Opportunity to observe a model who verbalized while working on problems and who stated general principles had a positive effect on performance. (Author/KM)

A number of models are considered that specify how children and adults solve single-digit addition problems. (Authors)

Portions of this paper were presented at the meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Santa Monica, California, March 1969. (MH)

Research supported by National Research Council of Canada Grant No. APA-250.

Discusses current research (including that involving amnesiacs and snails) into the nature of the memory process, differentiating between and providing examples of "fact" memory and "skill" memory. Suggests that three brain parts (thalamus, fornix, mammilary body) are involved in the memory process. (JN)

Reports on a study of human problem-solving behavior in which a technique called First-Order Cognitive Analysis was employed to analyze the tasks involved in certain accounting processes such as bookkeeping. A reference list, an appendix outlining the problem employed in the study, and an appendix on the task analysis are attached. (JL)

Two nonentrenched tasks are described, one requiring projection into the future of states of objects, the other requiring complex anological reasoning where multiple terms of analogies can be replaced by alternative answer options. Some speculations are made about the implications of these results for educational theory and practice. (Author/GK)