Group problem solving Laughlin, Patrick R; Laughlin, Patrick R
2011., 20110124, 2011, 2011-01-24
eBook
Experimental research by social and cognitive psychologists has established that cooperative groups solve a wide range of problems better than individuals. Cooperative problem solving groups of ...scientific researchers, auditors, financial analysts, air crash investigators, and forensic art experts are increasingly important in our complex and interdependent society. This comprehensive textbook--the first of its kind in decades--presents important theories and experimental research about group problem solving. The book focuses on tasks that have demonstrably correct solutions within mathematical, logical, scientific, or verbal systems, including algebra problems, analogies, vocabulary, and logical reasoning problems.
Background
Several inventories have been developed to assess social problem‐solving. However, these instruments originally developed for adult or adolescence and do not capture the full range of main ...interpersonal relationships over which elementary students resolve daily life interpersonal problems and apply elementary‐age typical responses. Therefore, the development of a valid scale to measure interpersonal problem‐solving ability in elementary school students is warranted.
Aims
This study aimed to develop and perform a preliminary psychometric evaluation of an interpersonal problem‐solving inventory for elementary school students (IPSIE).
Samples and Methods
The IPSIE was administered to elementary student samples that consist of 516 Vietnamese elementary school students in grades 3–5. This study examined the reliabilities of International problem behaviour (IPB) and interpersonal problem‐solving inventory (IPSI) as well as the construct validity of IPSI. The construct validity of IPSI was investigated by using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to explore the emerging factor structure of the data. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was utilized to fit the data.
Results
The reliabilities of IPB and IPSI were assessed by calculating internal consistencies (Cronbach’s α = 0.79 vs. 0.90, McDonald's ω = 0.79 vs. 0.82). The EFA results suggested that the IPSI has two‐factor structure. The CFA was reexamined to define theory‐driven five‐factor structure of the IPSI’s data. The CFA findings indicated that the scores of IPSI have the five‐factor structure as expected with acceptable global fit indices (CFI: 0.943, TLI: 0.939, RMSEA: 0.030, and RMR: 0.046). The concurrent validity of IPSI was tested by calculating correlations between the IPSI and SPSI‐R scores (r = .667) and the IPSI and SPSTE‐A scores (r = .482).
Conclusions
These finding figures suggest that overall the scales of IPSIE are well‐functioning measures with good psychometric properties. Caution and limitations of IPSIE are discussed. Future study and possible applicability are suggested.
The cover image is based on the Research Article Spatial abilities associated with open math problem solving by Xinlin Zhou et al., https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3919.
The emergence and rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 prompted the global community to identify innovative approaches to diagnose infection and sequence the viral genome because at several points in the ...pandemic positive case numbers exceeded the laboratory capacity to characterize sufficient samples to adequately respond to the spread of emerging variants. From week 10, 2020, to week 13, 2023, Slovenian routine complete genome sequencing (CGS) surveillance network yielded 41 537 complete genomes and revealed a typical molecular epidemiology with early lineages gradually being replaced by Alpha, Delta, and finally Omicron. We developed a targeted next-generation sequencing based variant surveillance strategy dubbed Spike Screen through sample pooling and selective SARS-CoV-2 spike gene amplification in conjunction with CGS of individual cases to increase throughput and cost-effectiveness. Spike Screen identifies variant of concern (VOC) and variant of interest (VOI) signature mutations, analyses their frequencies in sample pools, and calculates the number of VOCs/VOIs at the population level. The strategy was successfully applied for detection of specific VOC/VOI mutations prior to their confirmation by CGS. Spike Screen complemented CGS efforts with an additional 22 897 samples sequenced in two time periods: between week 42, 2020, and week 24, 2021, and between week 37, 2021, and week 2, 2022. The results showed that Spike Screen can be applied to monitor VOC/VOI mutations among large volumes of samples in settings with limited sequencing capacity through reliable and rapid detection of novel variants at the population level and can serve as a basis for public health policy planning.
Recent advances in tumor molecular subtyping have revolutionized precision oncology, offering novel avenues for patient-specific treatment strategies. However, a comprehensive and independent ...comparison of these subtyping methodologies remains unexplored. This study introduces 'Themis' (Tumor HEterogeneity analysis on Molecular subtypIng System), an evaluation platform that encapsulates a few representative tumor molecular subtyping methods, including Stemness, Anoikis, Metabolism, and pathway-based classifications, utilizing 38 test datasets curated from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and significant studies. Our self-designed quantitative analysis uncovers the relative strengths, limitations, and applicability of each method in different clinical contexts. Crucially, Themis serves as a vital tool in identifying the most appropriate subtyping methods for specific clinical scenarios. It also guides fine-tuning existing subtyping methods to achieve more accurate phenotype-associated results. To demonstrate the practical utility, we apply Themis to a breast cancer dataset, showcasing its efficacy in selecting the most suitable subtyping methods for personalized medicine in various clinical scenarios. This study bridges a crucial gap in cancer research and lays a foundation for future advancements in individualized cancer therapy and patient management.
Insight occurs when a person suddenly reinterprets a stimulus, situation, or event to produce a nonobvious, nondominant interpretation. This can take the form of a solution to a problem (an "aha ...moment"), comprehension of a joke or metaphor, or recognition of an ambiguous percept. Insight research began a century ago, but neuroimaging and electrophysiological techniques have been applied to its study only during the past decade. Recent work has revealed insight-related coarse semantic coding in the right hemisphere and internally focused attention preceding and during problem solving. Individual differences in the tendency to solve problems insightfully rather than in a deliberate, analytic fashion are associated with different patterns of resting-state brain activity. Recent studies have begun to apply direct brain stimulation to facilitate insight. In sum, the cognitive neuroscience of insight is an exciting new area of research with connections to fundamental neurocognitive processes.
In Creating Wicked Students, Paul Hanstedt argues that courses can and should be designed to present students with what are known as "wicked problems" because the skills of dealing with such knotty ...problems are what will best prepare them for life after college. As the author puts it, "this book begins with the assumption that what we all want for our students is that they be capable of changing the world...When a student leaves college, we want them to enter the world not as drones participating mindlessly in activities to which they've been appointed, but as thinking, deliberative beings who add something to society."There's a lot of talk in education these days about "wicked problems"-problems that defy traditional expectations or knowledge, problems that evolve over time: Zika, ISIS, political discourse in the era of social media. To prepare students for such wicked problems, they need to have wicked competencies, the ability to respond easily and on the fly to complex challenges. Unfortunately, a traditional education that focuses on content and skills often fails to achieve this sense of wickedness. Students memorize for the test, prepare for the paper, practice the various algorithms over and over again-but when the parameters or dynamics of the test or the paper or the equation change, students are often at a loss for how to adjust.This is a course design book centered on the idea that the goal in the college classroom-in all classrooms, all the time-is to develop students who are not just loaded with content, but capable of using that content in thoughtful, deliberate ways to make the world a better place. Achieving this goal requires a top-to-bottom reconsideration of courses, including student learning goals, text selection and course structure, day-to-day pedagogies, and assignment and project design. Creating Wicked Students takes readers through each step of the process, providing multiple examples at each stage, while always encouraging instructors
Dreams and creative problem‐solving Barrett, Deirdre
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences,
October 2017, Volume:
1406, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Dreams have produced art, music, novels, films, mathematical proofs, designs for architecture, telescopes, and computers. Dreaming is essentially our brain thinking in another neurophysiologic ...state—and therefore it is likely to solve some problems on which our waking minds have become stuck. This neurophysiologic state is characterized by high activity in brain areas associated with imagery, so problems requiring vivid visualization are also more likely to get help from dreaming. This article reviews great historical dreams and modern laboratory research to suggest how dreams can aid creativity and problem‐solving.
