Both cognitive and learned helplessness models of depression stress the importance of low self-esteem in the etiology of depression and depressive symptomatology. To investigate the correlations and causal relationship of low self-esteem to depressive cognition, equal groups of low, medium, and high self-esteem college students (N=135; 89 female,…

A theoretical model specifying the underlying knowledge and procedures whereby human subjects can generate effective initial descriptions of scientific problems was formulated. The model is prescriptive since it does not necessarily try to simulate the behavior of actual experts nor assume that their performance is optimal. The model, elaborated…

This book, designed for a college course on general problem-solving skills, focuses on skills that can be used by anyone in solving problems that occur in everyday life. Part I considers theory and practice: understanding problems, search, and protocol analysis. Part II discusses memory and knowledge acquisition: the structure of human memory,…

Suggests a method of analyzing mass media advertising strategies within an integrated behavioral science research framework. Available from: Communication Research, Sage Publications, 275 South Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, California 90212. Subscription Rates: institutional, $20.00 per year; professionals and teachers, $12.00 per year; full-time…

This study examines the relationship between three variables in the problem-solving approaches of emotionally disturbed children. The variables of locus of control, persistence behavior, and reflection-impulsivity were related to each other and to problem-solving approach. The varying nature of these relationships is discussed. (SJL)

The cognitive processes in a widely used, non-verbal test of analytic intelligence--the Raven Progressive Matrices Test (J. C. Raven, 1962)--were analyzed. The analysis determined which processes distinguished between higher-scoring and lower-scoring subjects and which processes were common to all subjects and all items on the test. The analysis…

This report summarizes research on experienced programmers' comprehension of computer programs that was carried out over a three-year contract period (1982-85). Following an extensive review of the programming skill literature, an analysis of programs based on the multiple abstractions (points-of-view) that characterize program text and design was…

The approach taken to discourse analysis that classifies text types according to isolated linguistic features is criticized, and an alternative approach to argumentative texts is proposed. This approach looks at the process of argumentation as an instance of the problem-solving process. The argumentative text is then seen as moving from the…

Preliminary results from a study of students' conceptions in introductory rotational physics are discussed. Analyses of data from problem solving interviews and written diagnostic tests provided evidence that many students had a poor qualitative understanding of torque. Even among students who answered questions correctly a percentage did so for…

This monograph examines the issues surrounding the educational movement toward emphasizing critical thinking in our schools. The emergence of the critical thinking movement in education in today's schools is discussed in the light of the historical role of schools in our society and the developing complexity of educational needs. The concept of…

Problem solving skills such as patterning facts, locating problems, separating problems and solutions, and presenting effective written products are essential to success in the business community. Facts can be patterned using a grid relating a problem's effect at the individual, group, situational, and organizational level. Such a grid tests each…

The Systems Thinking and Curriculum Innovation (STACI) project is a multi-year research effort intended to examine the cognitive demands and consequences of learning from a systems thinking approach to instruction and from using simulation-modeling software. This study tests the potentials and effects of integrating the systems approach into…

Thirty four-year-olds and 30 five-year-olds participated in a study of social influences on computer activity. During a first session children were individually pretested for general cognitive level and alphabet and number skills; during a second session they were given individual training on the computer; during third and fourth sessions half of…

Noting that the new literary and rhetorical theories are concerned with revealing the constructive nature of productive and interpretive processes, this paper examines the cognitive processes in reading and writing which make them constructive and intentional acts, and how reader and writer "negotiate" meaning in light of context, reader…

The purpose of this study was to describe and compare kindergarten and first-grade children's performance on addition and subtraction problems presented in two contexts: verbal (in which problem data were linked to physical referents such as objects or people and their actions), and abstract (in which no such links to physical situations…