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Objectives Executive function in people with depression is linked to the integrity of white matter fibers in the brain. We hypothesized that the maze tests in neuropsychological tests assessed reasoning and problem‐solving abilities dependent on the integrity of brain white matter fibers, and assessed this relationship using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in depressed patients and healthy controls. Methods Participants aged from 18 to 50 years were recruited from Zhumadian Second People's Hospital from July 2018 to August 2019. The sample included 33 clinically diagnosed individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 24 healthy volunteers (HVs). All subjects underwent Neuropsychological assessment battery (NAB) maze tests and DTI. Tract‐based spatial statistics technology in FSL software was used to process DTI data, and threshold‐free cluster enhancement (TFCE) was used to perform multiple comparison corrections. The fractional anisotropy (FA) of white matter fibers in the MDD group and HVs group were compared and extracted. Pearson correlation was used to analyze the relationship between FA and NAB scores and HAMD scores. Results The mean NAB maze test score for the MDD group was lower than the HVs group, and the difference was statistically significant (F = 11.265, p = .037). The FA value of the body of corpus callosum and cerebral peduncle right in the depression group was lower than that in the healthy control group, and the difference was statistically significant (p < .05). FA value of the body of corpus callosum was positively correlated with NAB score (r = 0.400, p = .036), but not with the HAMD score (r = 0.065, p = .723). Conclusions The decreased ability of reasoning and problem‐solving in MDD may be due to the decreased integrity of the white matter fibers of the body of the corpus callosum. The NAB maze test score of MDD patients was lower than that of HVs group, The FA value of body of corpus callosum and cerebral peduncle right in depression group was lower than that in healthy control group. FA value of body of corpus callosum was positively correlated with NAB score, but not with HAMD score. The decreased ability of reasoning and problem‐solving in MDD may be due to the decreased integrity of white matter fibers of the body of the corpus callosum.

Long description: From 3rd to 5th of September 2015 the 17th international ProMath conference (Problem Solving in Mathematics Education) took place at the Faculty of Education of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (Germany). For the first time, it was combined with the annual meeting of the working group “Problem Solving† of the Society of Didactics of Mathematics. ProMath is a group of experienced and early career researchers in the field of mathematics education who are interested in investigating and fostering mathematical problem solving and problem oriented mathematics teaching. This book contains 20 peer reviewed articles of researchers from five European countries. The topics of the papers evolved around different areas of learning and problem solving. There are some theoretical papers on problem oriented mathematics instruction and specific aspects of problem solving and creativity as well as reports on detailed studies of problem solving processes of pupils and preservice teachers. Authors also present experiences with “real† problem solving instruction in different countries, considerations and teaching experiments on didactic concepts to foster pupils†™ problem solving abilities, and they describe mathematically rich problem fields and their potentials for mathematical investigations in class.

The increased use of the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) to investigate cognitive dysfunctions in schizophrenia fostered interest in its sensitivity in the context of family studies. As various measures of the same cognitive domains may have different power to distinguish between unaffected relatives of patients and controls, the relative sensitivity of MCCB tests for relative-control differences has to be established. We compared MCCB scores of 852 outpatients with schizophrenia (SCZ) with those of 342 unaffected relatives (REL) and a normative Italian sample of 774 healthy subjects (HCS). We examined familial aggregation of cognitive impairment by investigating within-family prediction of MCCB scores based on probands' scores. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to analyze group differences in adjusted MCCB scores. Weighted least-squares analysis was used to investigate whether probands' MCCB scores predicted REL neurocognitive performance. SCZ were significantly impaired on all MCCB domains. REL had intermediate scores between SCZ and HCS, showing a similar pattern of impairment, except for social cognition. Proband's scores significantly predicted REL MCCB scores on all domains except for visual learning. In a large sample of stable patients with schizophrenia, living in the community, and in their unaffected relatives, MCCB demonstrated sensitivity to cognitive deficits in both groups. Our findings of significant within-family prediction of MCCB scores might reflect disease-related genetic or environmental factors.

Online peer assessment is generally considered an effective strategy that brings many benefits to cultivating 21st-century skills, such as critical thinking and problem-solving, in higher education. Nevertheless, online peer assessment is ineffective due to superficial peer feedback, lack of motivation, and distrust in peers. To enhance the effects of peer assessment and address those potential obstacles, this study adopted a feedback strategy: an online student feedback sandwich (OSFS), which required students to conduct self-assessments before and after engaging in peer assessment using Google Drive. To examine its effectiveness in cultivating students' problem-solving awareness and critical thinking disposition, pre- and post-surveys were performed with an elective course group with 39 students and a compulsory group with 31 students. The paired t-test analysis revealed a significant improvement in students' problem-solving awareness and critical thinking disposition in the elective course group. However, the improvement observed in the compulsory group did not attain statistical significance. This study can enlighten instructors to adopt the OSFS to effectively improve their students' problem-solving awareness and critical thinking disposition, particularly in elective courses. A more rigorous experimental design with control groups could be done in the future to demonstrate the effectiveness of OSFS and explore its influencing factors.

This research investigates the abilities of undergraduate students to apply scientific reasoning in Indonesia, with a particular focus on the concept of force and motion. Forty-three first-year undergraduate students from an Indonesian private institution, comprising 20 males and 23 females, performed the Scientific Reasoning Test of Motion (SRTM) in five different patterns of scientific reasoning. The current research combines quantitative and qualitative analysis. The findings reveal that the SRTM is a valid and reliable instrument. While no significant gender-based differences were observed in Correlational Thinking (CT), differences emerged in Control of Variables (CV), Proportional Thinking (PPT), Probabilistic Thinking (PBT), and Hypothetical-Deductive Reasoning (HDR). These results indicate that PBT, HDR, and CT are applicable across gender groups, although students struggle with scientific reasoning. Specifically, the students had misconceptions regarding projectile motion and applying Newton's second law in practical situations. These findings indicate the necessity for further developing students' abilities to apply scientific reasoning.

Adaption-Innovation is a timely and comprehensive text written for anyone who wants to know more about dealing with problem solving, thinking style, creativity and team dynamics.   In an age when teams have become critical to successful problem solving, Adaption-Innovation (A-I) theory is a model in this field, which aims to increase collaboration and reduce conflict within groups. A-I Theory and associated inventory (KAI) have been extensively researched and are increasingly used to assist teambuilding and personnel management. In the context of the management of diversity and change, Dr Kirton outlines the central concepts of the theory, including the processes of problem solving, decision making and creativity as well as explanatory concepts such as the paradox of structure; coping behaviour; the distinction between how teams collaborate on the common task and how teams manage their own diversity. In addition, Dr Kirton focuses on the positive side of managing a wide diversity within teams that has the potential to lead to the highest levels of problem solving, creativity and effective management of change. The book offers practical information for those helping diverse teams succeed in today's demanding climate. In this fresh context, leadership theory is explored, suggesting a new and interesting approach in use of different styles. For those working with diverse, problem solving teams managing complex change, this is a must have book. It will appeal to a broad range of people, from practitioners such as human resource managers, psychologists, business consultants, and group trainers, to academics studying and doing research in disciplines such as psychology, business, management, sociology, education and politics and the practical use of the hard sciences. * This reprint contains some new insights by Dr. Kirton into the theory. A small number of critical key changes have been ma

Human Thinking: The Basics provides an essential introduction into how we develop thoughts, the types of reasoning we engage in, and how our thinking can be tailored by subconscious processing. Beginning with the fundamentals, the book examines the mental processes that shape our thoughts, the trajectory of how thought evolved within the animal kingdom and the stages of development of thinking throughout childhood. Robertson insightfully explains the effectiveness of political slogans and advertisements in engaging shallow information processing and the effortful, analytical processing required in critical thinking. Delving into fascinating topics such as magical thinking in the form of religion and superstition, fake news, and motivated ignorance, the book explains the discrepancy between reality and our internal mental representations, the influence of semantics on deductive reasoning and the error-prone, yet adaptive nature of biases. Containing student-friendly features including end of chapter summaries, demonstrative puzzles, simple figures, and further reading lists, this book will be essential reading for all students of thinking and reasoning. Part 1: Thinking: what is it and where does it come from? 1. What is ‘thinking’? 2. Evolution of thinking Part 2: Thinking as reasoning 3. Problem-solving 4. Rational thinking Part 3: When thinking goes awry 5. Biases, errors, and heuristics 6. Society made me do it 7. The confabulating mind Part 4: Motivated Cognition 8. Mistaken beliefs about the world 9. The truth, the whole truth, and nothing like the truth 10. Magical thinking S. Ian Robertson gained his PhD from the Open University, UK, on ‘Problem Solving from Textbook Examples’. He has published work on portable computing as well as articles and books on problem solving. He was the Head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Bedfordshire from 2001 to 2014 when he retired.

Originally published in 1976, this title is an edited volume and reflects the major approaches being taken in structural learning at the time. Chapter 1 deals with the basic question of whether competence (knowledge) should be characterized in terms of rules (automata), on the one hand, or associations on the other. The bulk of Chapter 2 is devoted to a series of earlier experiments on rule learning by the editor and his associates. The two contributions in Chapter 3 deal with graph theoretical models. Piagetian models constitute the subject of Chapter 4. Chapter 5 deals with attempts to stimulate human behaviour with a computer. Chapter 6 ranges over a wide variety of competence models, with particular reference to logic and mathematics. In Chapter 7 the editor proposes a new theory of structural learning, together with some empirical results. Preface. 1. Basic Unit in Structural Learning: Association or Automaton (Rule)? A Set-Function Language Joseph M. Scandura . Stimulus-Response Theory of Finite Automata Patrick Suppes . Memory Limitations of Stimulus-Response Models Michael A. Arbib . Stimulus-Response Theory of Automata and Tote Hierarchies: A Reply to Arbib Patrick Suppes . A Reply to Suppes’ Reply Michael Arbib . S-R Theory or Automata? (A Final Word) Joseph M. Scandura 2. New Directions for Research on Rule Learning Empirical Research Joseph M. Scandura . Comments on Scandura’s Approach to Rule-Governed Behavior Merlin C. Wittrock . A Reply to Wittrock Joseph M. Scandura 3. Graph Theoretic Models Psychological Representation of Structured Knowledge James G. Greeno . Some Preliminary Experiments on Structural Learning James G. Greeno 4. Piagetian Models Intellectual Growth and Understanding Mathematics Kenneth Lovell . Activity Stuctures in Four-Year Olds Klaus G. Witz 5. Simulation Models Human Problem Solving: The State of the Theory in 1970 Herbert A. Simon and Allen Newell . Cognition, Simulation and the Problem of Complexity Robert E. Shaw 6. Competence Models in Mathematics Structural Models for Use in Psychological Research Paul C. Rosenbloom . Mathematical Reasoning and the Structure of Language John Corcoran . The Nature of a Correct Theory of Proof and its Value John Corcoran . Two Theories of Proof John Corcoran . A Theory of Mathematical Knowledge: Can Rules Account for Creative Behavior Joseph M. Scandura . Formulating Mathematical Models of Psychological Phenomena Zoltan Domotor . 7. A Theory of Structural Learning Deterministic Theorizing in Structural Learning: Three Levels of Empiricism Joseph M. Scandura . Structural Learning: Definitional Foundations for Competence Theories and the Idealized Theory of Behavior Joseph M. Scandura . Bibliography. Author Index. Subject Index.

The area of psychological research reviewed in this book is one that is not only increasing in popularity in college curricula, but is also making an ever larger impact on the world outside the classroom. Drawing upon research originally cited in Ken Manktelow's highly successful publication Reasoning and Thinking, this completely rewritten textbook reflects on the revolutionary changes that have occurred in the field in recent years, stemming from the huge expansion in research output, as well as new methods and explanations, and the appearance of numerous books on the subject aimed at the popular market. The main areas covered are probability judgment, deductive and inductive reasoning, decision making, hypothetical thinking and rationality. In each case, the material is almost entirely new, with topics such as the new paradigm in reasoning research, causal reasoning and counterfactual thinking appearing for the first time. The book also presents an extended treatment of decision making research, and contains a chapter on individual and cultural influences on thinking. Thinking and Reasoning provides a detailed, integrated and approachable treatment of this area of cognitive psychology, and is ideal reading for intermediate and advanced undergraduate students; indeed, for anyone interested in how we draw conclusions and make choices.

The publication of the first book by Kenneth Arrow and Hervé Raynaud, in 1986, led to an important wave of research in the field of axiomatic approach applied to managerial logic. Managerial Logic summarizes the prospective results of this research and offers consultants, researchers, and decision makers a unified framework for handling the difficult decisions they face. Based on confirmed results of experimental psychology, this book places the problem in a phenomenological framework and shows how the influence of traditional methods has slowed the effective resolution of these problems. It provides a panorama of principal concepts and theorems demonstrated on axiomatized methods to guide readers in choosing the best alternatives and rejecting the worst ones. Finally, it describes the obtained extensions, often paradoxical, reached when these results are extended to classification problems. The objective of this book is also to allow the decision maker to find his way through the plethora of \"multicriterion methods\" promoted by council organizations. The meta-method it proposes will allow him to distinguish the wheat from the chaff. The collaboration with Kenneth Arrow comes essentially from the fact that his work influenced all subsequent works quoted in this book. His famous impossibility theorem, his gem of a PhD thesis, and his various other works resulted in him receiving the Nobel Prize for economy just before meeting Hervé Raynaud who was at that time a visiting professor at Berkeley University in California. Their mutual publications serve as the basis for the axiomatic approach in multicriterion decision-making.