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Reasoning Ability (reasoning + ability)
Selected AbstractsBayes nets and babies: infants' developing statistical reasoning abilities and their representation of causal knowledgeDEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, Issue 3 2007David M. Sobel A fundamental assumption of the causal graphical model framework is the Markov assumption, which posits that learners can discriminate between two events that are dependent because of a direct causal relation between them and two events that are independent conditional on the value of another event(s). Sobel and Kirkham (2006) demonstrated that 8-month-old infants registered conditional independence information among a sequence of events; infants responded according to the Markov assumption in such a way that was inconsistent with models that rely on simple calculations of associative strength. The present experiment extends these findings to younger infants, and demonstrates that such responses potentially develop during the second half of the first year of life. These data are discussed in terms of a developmental trajectory between associative mechanisms and causal graphical models as representations of infants' causal and statistical learning. [source] Fostering students' knowledge and argumentation skills through dilemmas in human geneticsJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 1 2002Anat Zohar This study examined the outcomes of a unit that integrates explicit teaching of general reasoning patterns into the teaching of a specific science content. Specifically, this article examined the teaching of argumentation skills in the context of dilemmas in human genetics. Before instruction only a minority (16.2%) of the students referred to correct, specific biological knowledge in constructing arguments in the context of dilemmas in genetics. Approximately 90% of the students were successful in formulating simple arguments. An assessment that took place following instruction supported the conclusion that integrating explicit teaching of argumentation into the teaching of dilemmas in human genetics enhances performance in both biological knowledge and argumentation. An increase was found in the frequency of students who referred to correct, specific biological knowledge in constructing arguments. Students in the experimental group scored significantly higher than students in the comparison group in a test of genetics knowledge. An increase was also found in the quality of students' argumentation. Students were able to transfer the reasoning abilities taught in the context of genetics to the context of dilemmas taken from everyday life. The effects of metacognitive thinking and of changing students' thinking dispositions by modifying what is considered valuable in the class culture are discussed. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 35,62, 2002 [source] Supporting the problem-based learning process in the clinical years: evaluation of an online Clinical Reasoning GuideMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 6 2004Greg Ryan Purpose, Implementing problem-based learning (PBL) in the clinical years of a medical degree presents particular challenges. This study investigated the effectiveness of using an online Clinical Reasoning Guide to assist integration of PBL in the clinical setting and promote further development of students' clinical reasoning abilities. Method, A total of 52 students in 6 PBL groups, together with their 6 clinical tutors, participated in the study. Data were analysed from videotaped observations of tutorial activity and follow-up, semistructured interviews. Results, From both the student facilitators' and the clinical tutors' perspectives, the Guide proved an effective tool for augmenting the PBL process in clinical settings and promoting the development of clinical reasoning. By combining computer-aided learning with collaborative PBL tutorials it promoted individual as well as collaborative reasoning. There is also evidence to suggest that the Guide prompted students to look more critically at their own, their colleagues' and other clinicians' reasoning processes. [source] An examination of the CTONI utilizing Gc-Gf theory: A comparison of the CTONI and WJ-IIIPSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 6 2007Kerry S. Lassiter The present investigation examined the validity of the Comprehensive Test of Nonverbal Intelligence (CTONI) with the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ-III COG) by administering these instruments in counterbalanced order to 60 college students. Results indicated that the mean CTONI NIQ score was not significantly different from the mean WJ-III COG General Intellectual Ability (GIA) score. However, mean score differences were found between the CTONI NIQ and the WJ-III COG Verbal Ability, Thinking Ability, Comprehension-Knowledge, and Fluid Reasoning cluster scores. Although the correlations between the CTONI and the WJ-III COG cluster scores were generally of small magnitude, the CTONI Geometric Nonverbal IQ composite score demonstrated construct specificity, whereas the CTONI Pictorial Nonverbal IQ scale did not. The implications of the findings are discussed and practitioners are asked to use caution when using this instrument to assess the fluid reasoning abilities of college students. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] The incidence of dyslexia among young offenders in KuwaitDYSLEXIA, Issue 2 2009Gad Elbeheri Abstract This paper investigates the incidence of dyslexia among young offenders in Kuwait. A total of 91 children/young adults from 8 juvenile delinquent welfare centres across Kuwait were interviewed and tested. A measure of non-verbal reasoning ability was used to exclude those with low general ability. The remaining 53 participants were tested on their ability to identify alliteration and rhyme, retain and manipulate sequences of digit and letter names, decode novel letter strings and identify words within letter chains. Participants' reading accuracy, rate of reading, reading comprehension and ability to spell correctly dictated text were also assessed. These measures were used to determine those with indicators of dyslexia. The results indicated that the percentage of individuals presenting evidence of dyslexia was much larger (greater than 20%) in this population of young offenders than would be expected based on the national average (around 6%) of dyslexics in Kuwait derived from a nationwide study (A survey study of dyslexia in Kuwait, Kuwait Dyslexia Association: Kuwait City; 2002). These findings replicate previous evidence for an increased frequency of dyslexia among young offenders. The implications of such findings are discussed in terms of dyslexia awareness, socio-cultural factors, education and intervention, particularly in Kuwait juvenile delinquent welfare centres. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Auditory and visual distractor decrement in older worker manual assembly task learning: Impact of spatial reasoning, field independence, and level of education,HUMAN FACTORS AND ERGONOMICS IN MANUFACTURING & SERVICE INDUSTRIES, Issue 4 2009S. F. Wiker This study examined the impact of age on manual assembly task learning in the presence of visual and auditory distracters. Manual assembly task learning (e.g., number of learning trials needed to obtain consistently accurate assembly and near asymptote performance times) was studied in men and women between 18 and 65 years of age. Higher spatial reasoning capabilities were associated with fewer trials to reach the learning criterion, faster manual assembly times, and material prophylaxis for the type of distractors addressed in this study that are likely to be encountered in the workplace. Years of formal education and field independence showed no impact on distractor-based decrements in task learning. For the oldest group of subjects (>50 years), concomitant presentation of visual and auditory distractors that are commonly encountered in industry were associated with a greater number of learning trials that were needed to achieve asymptotic manual assembly task learning. Spatial reasoning and field independence measures were lower in the older than in the younger age groups (p < 0.05). When spatial reasoning was treated as a covariate, however, nearly all age differences found in learning performance in the face of distractors were removed. The findings suggest that selection of workers based on spatial reasoning ability, rather than age, would yield better manual task learning in the face of visual and auditory distraction. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Self-efficacy, reasoning ability, and achievement in college biologyJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 5 2007Anton E. Lawson Abstract This study compared the relationships of self-efficacy and reasoning ability to achievement in introductory college biology. Based on the hypothesis that developing formal and postformal reasoning ability is a primary factor influencing self-efficacy, a significant positive correlation was predicted between reasoning ability and degree of self-efficacy to complete biological tasks. Further, reasoning ability was predicted to be more highly correlated with course achievement than self-efficacy. The study involved pre- and posttesting 459 introductory biology students. Both self-efficacy and reasoning ability increased during the semester. As predicted, self-efficacy and reasoning ability were positively correlated. Depending on the nature of the achievement measure, reasoning ability accounted for some 15 to 30 times more variance in achievement than self-efficacy. Also, as predicted, reasoning ability was a strong predictor of self-efficacy, but self-efficacy was not a strong predictor of reasoning ability. Self-efficacy estimates and achievement were higher for the concrete tasks than for the formal tasks and higher for the formal tasks than for the postformal tasks. In general, students tended to overestimate their abilities to carry out the concrete, formal, and postformal tasks. Results support the study's working hypothesis that intellectual development continues for some students during the college years, that a postformal level of intellectual development exists, and that reasoning ability is a primary factor influencing both self-efficacy and achievement. Student overestimation of their abilities may contribute to complacency, lack of effort, and to less than optimal achievement. Consequently, it may be advantageous early in the semester to provide students with particularly challenging tasks that "shock" them out of their complacency and perhaps increase their effort, their reasoning skills, and their achievement. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 706,724, 2007 [source] Executive Functioning Early in Abstinence From AlcoholALCOHOLISM, Issue 9 2004Sandra Zinn Background: Executive dysfunction is among the cognitive impairments that may persist after abstinence in alcohol-dependent persons. The type(s) and extent of executive dysfunction early in abstinence have not been well characterized, but they may have important implications for the evolution of behavioral treatment strategies. Methods: To determine which aspects of executive functioning were impaired in early abstinence, we administered memory and executive function tests to veterans who successively presented for treatment at an outpatient substance abuse clinic. We then compared the neuropsychological performance of these recovering alcoholics (n= 27) with that of age-matched primary care outpatients (n= 18). We also examined group differences in self-evaluation of cognitive decline and evaluated associations between drinking history and cognitive impairment in the index group. Results: We found that the normal and alcohol-dependent groups differed on abstract reasoning, memory discrimination, and effectiveness on timed tasks. Patients in the alcohol-dependent sample were also more likely to perceive themselves as cognitively impaired. It is interesting to note that the duration of alcohol use did not relate to neuropsychological test performance, but recent quantity consumed and days of sobriety were associated with nonverbal abstract reasoning ability. Conclusions: Executive functions are impaired early in abstinence and should, therefore, be taken into account when early behavioral treatments are being developed. [source] Psychological processes and paranoia: implications for forensic behavioural scienceBEHAVIORAL SCIENCES & THE LAW, Issue 3 2006Richard P. Bentall Ph.D. Paranoid delusions have recently become the focus of empirical research. In this article, we review studies of the psychological mechanisms that might be involved in paranoid thinking and discuss their implications for forensic behaviour science. Paranoia has not been consistently associated with any specific neuropsychological abnormality. However, evidence supports three broad types of mechanism that might be involved in delusional thinking in general and paranoia in particular: anomalous perceptual experiences, abnormal reasoning, and motivational factors. There is some evidence that paranoia may be associated with hearing loss, and good evidence that paranoid patients attend excessively to threatening information. Although general reasoning ability seems to be unaffected, there is strong evidence that a jumping- to-conclusions style of reasoning about data is implicated in delusions in general, but less consistent evidence specifically linking paranoia to impaired theory of mind. Finally, there appears to be a strong association between paranoia and negative self-esteem, and some evidence that attempts to protect self-esteem by attributing negative events to external causes are implicated. Some of these processes have recently been implicated in violent behaviour, and they therefore have the potential to explain the apparent association between paranoid delusions and offending. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Effectiveness of problem-based learning on academic performance in geneticsBIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EDUCATION, Issue 6 2007Gülsüm Araz Abstract This study aimed at comparing the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL)1 and traditional lecture-based instruction on elementary school students' academic achievement and performance skills in a science unit on genetics while controlling for their reasoning ability. For the specified purpose, twoinstructional methods were randomly assigned to intact classes of two different teachers. Each teacher had both PBL classes and traditional classes. Although students in PBL classes (n = 126) worked on ill-structured problems cooperatively with the guidance of the teacher, students in traditional classes (n = 91) received instruction based on teacher's explanations, discussions, and textbooks. Genetics Achievement Test was developed by researchers to measure the academic achievement and performance skills. Multivariate Analysis of Covariance results showed that the PBL students had higher academic achievement and performance skills scores (M = 11.44 and M = 2.67, respectively) when compared with those in traditional classes (M = 10.91 and M = 2.20, respectively). This indicated that the PBL students tend to better acquire scientific conceptions related to genetics and integrate and organize the knowledge. Moreover, it was found that the reasoning ability explained a significant portion of variance in the scores of academic achievement and performance skills. [source] 15 Assessing the Clinical Reasoning Skills of Emergency Medicine Clerkship Students Using a Script Concordance TestACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 2008Aloysius Humbert Fourth-year medical students in emergency medicine (EM) clerkships are evaluated by various methods. Multiple choice examinations are frequently used to supplement clinical evaluations. These are limited in their ability to evaluate students' clinical reasoning skills. The Script Concordance Test (SCT) is an innovative assessment method developed to evaluate clinical reasoning. The SCT consists of a series of clinical vignettes, each followed by a series of specific questions that present an additional piece of data (a lab result, a physical finding, etc.) to the student. The students then indicate how the additional data affect their thinking regarding a possible diagnosis, an investigational strategy, or a therapeutic intervention, using a 5 point Likert scale (-2,-1,0,+1,+2). SCT questions have no single correct answer; instead, students receive credit based upon the level of agreement between their answers and those of a panel of 10 to 20 expert physicians who take the test to derive the answer key. The SCT is easily administered. In other disciplines, the SCT has demonstrated the ability to differentiate between the clinical reasoning skills of experienced and novice clinicians. The clerkship directors developed an EM SCT using an expert panel of 10 EM attending physicians. For the 07-08 academic year, SCT questions have been incorporated into the EM clerkship end-of-rotation written examination. The EM SCT shows promise as a measure of a student's clinical reasoning ability. Future studies will assess in greater detail the performance and statistical properties of the SCT in the setting of the EM clerkship. [source] | ||||||||||||||||