Promoting Complex Problem Solving by Introducing Schema-Governed Categories of Key Causal Models
The ability to recognize key causal models across situations is associated with expertise. The acquisition of schema-governed category knowledge of key causal models may underlie this ability. In an experimental study (<i>n</i> = 183), we investigated the effects of promoting the constru...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Behavioral Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/13/9/701 |
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| author | Franziska Kessler Antje Proske Leon Urbas Micah Goldwater Florian Krieger Samuel Greiff Susanne Narciss |
| author_facet | Franziska Kessler Antje Proske Leon Urbas Micah Goldwater Florian Krieger Samuel Greiff Susanne Narciss |
| author_sort | Franziska Kessler |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The ability to recognize key causal models across situations is associated with expertise. The acquisition of schema-governed category knowledge of key causal models may underlie this ability. In an experimental study (<i>n</i> = 183), we investigated the effects of promoting the construction of schema-governed categories and how an enhanced ability to recognize the key causal models relates to performance in complex problem-solving tasks that are based on the key causal models. In a 2 × 2 design, we tested the effects of an adapted version of an intervention designed to build abstract mental representations of the key causal models and a tutorial designed to convey conceptual understanding of the key causal models and procedural knowledge. Participants who were enabled to recognize the underlying key causal models across situations as a result of the intervention and the tutorial (i.e., causal sorters) outperformed non-causal sorters in the subsequent complex problem-solving task. Causal sorters outperformed the control group, except for the subtask <i>knowledge application</i> in the experimental group that did not receive the tutorial and, hence, did not have the opportunity to elaborate their conceptual understanding of the key causal models. The findings highlight that being able to categorize novel situations according to their underlying key causal model alone is insufficient for enhancing the transfer of the according concept. Instead, for successful application, conceptual and procedural knowledge also seem to be necessary. By using a complex problem-solving task as the dependent variable for transfer, we extended the scope of the results to dynamic tasks that reflect some of the typical challenges of the 21st century. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:03:04Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-328X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:03:04Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Behavioral Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-f7c2affeab214158843a324ac8d616f82023-11-19T09:34:35ZengMDPI AGBehavioral Sciences2076-328X2023-08-0113970110.3390/bs13090701Promoting Complex Problem Solving by Introducing Schema-Governed Categories of Key Causal ModelsFranziska Kessler0Antje Proske1Leon Urbas2Micah Goldwater3Florian Krieger4Samuel Greiff5Susanne Narciss6Faculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, 01069 Dresden, GermanyFaculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, 01069 Dresden, GermanyDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Technische Universität Dresden, 01069 Dresden, GermanySchool of Psychology, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2050, AustraliaFaculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, TU Dortmund University, 44227 Dortmund, GermanyDepartment of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences, University of Luxembourg, 4366 Luxembourg, LuxembourgFaculty of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, 01069 Dresden, GermanyThe ability to recognize key causal models across situations is associated with expertise. The acquisition of schema-governed category knowledge of key causal models may underlie this ability. In an experimental study (<i>n</i> = 183), we investigated the effects of promoting the construction of schema-governed categories and how an enhanced ability to recognize the key causal models relates to performance in complex problem-solving tasks that are based on the key causal models. In a 2 × 2 design, we tested the effects of an adapted version of an intervention designed to build abstract mental representations of the key causal models and a tutorial designed to convey conceptual understanding of the key causal models and procedural knowledge. Participants who were enabled to recognize the underlying key causal models across situations as a result of the intervention and the tutorial (i.e., causal sorters) outperformed non-causal sorters in the subsequent complex problem-solving task. Causal sorters outperformed the control group, except for the subtask <i>knowledge application</i> in the experimental group that did not receive the tutorial and, hence, did not have the opportunity to elaborate their conceptual understanding of the key causal models. The findings highlight that being able to categorize novel situations according to their underlying key causal model alone is insufficient for enhancing the transfer of the according concept. Instead, for successful application, conceptual and procedural knowledge also seem to be necessary. By using a complex problem-solving task as the dependent variable for transfer, we extended the scope of the results to dynamic tasks that reflect some of the typical challenges of the 21st century.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/13/9/701relational reasoningtransfercomplex problem solvingschema-governed category |
| spellingShingle | Franziska Kessler Antje Proske Leon Urbas Micah Goldwater Florian Krieger Samuel Greiff Susanne Narciss Promoting Complex Problem Solving by Introducing Schema-Governed Categories of Key Causal Models Behavioral Sciences relational reasoning transfer complex problem solving schema-governed category |
| title | Promoting Complex Problem Solving by Introducing Schema-Governed Categories of Key Causal Models |
| title_full | Promoting Complex Problem Solving by Introducing Schema-Governed Categories of Key Causal Models |
| title_fullStr | Promoting Complex Problem Solving by Introducing Schema-Governed Categories of Key Causal Models |
| title_full_unstemmed | Promoting Complex Problem Solving by Introducing Schema-Governed Categories of Key Causal Models |
| title_short | Promoting Complex Problem Solving by Introducing Schema-Governed Categories of Key Causal Models |
| title_sort | promoting complex problem solving by introducing schema governed categories of key causal models |
| topic | relational reasoning transfer complex problem solving schema-governed category |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/13/9/701 |
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