Alessandro Antonietti

THE VERBALIZER-VISUALIZER QUESTIONNAIRE: A REVIEW '

The psychometric properties of Richardsons 1977 Verbalizer-Visual-izer Questionnaire have been studied by analyzing papers in which this questionnaire was employed. Such review showed that the Verbalizer-Visualizer Questionnaire does not measure a unidimensional construct and does not predict the actual use of mental imagery in thinking. Further, a lack of long-term reliability of the questionnaire emerged. In conclusion, use of the questionnaire to assess the verbal-visual cognitive style appears questionable.

Individual differences in analogical problem solving

Abstract Five studies are reported whose aim was to assess whether in undergraduates analogical transfer of a solution strategy from a source story to an isomorphic target problem in a different domain is associated with individual differences in reasoning ability, cognitive style, academic curricula, and gender. In Study 1 there were no relationships between analogical problem solving and Ravens Progressive Matrices. Study 2 showed that field-independent subjects were more likely to be analogical solvers than field-dependent subjects. Study 3 failed to support the notion of a link between analogical transfer and right-left and verbal-visual styles of thinking. There was evidence that rates of analogical solutions were higher in adaptors than in innovators (Study 4) and in bio-medical than in humanities students (Study 5). Males tended to give analogical solutions more frequently than females. Results suggest that cognitive styles, rather than abilities, are involved in analogical problem solving.

Effects of hypermedia instruction on declarative, conditional and procedural knowledge in ADHD students.

Two groups of students aged between 12 and 14 years--27 with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 28 with both ADHD and learning problems--were compared to a sample of 29 typically developing students in terms of the acquisition and retention of declarative, conditional and procedural knowledge either in a hypermedia learning or in a traditional instructional setting. Hypermedia instruction produced better learning outcomes than traditional instruction did; the benefits concerned prevalently procedural knowledge and emerged mainly in the retention phase. Hypermedia instruction led ADHD students to reach achievement levels similar to those of typically developing students. Furthermore, hypermedia instruction contrasted the decay of knowledge from the acquisition to the retention phase in both clinical groups. On the basis of these findings, hypermedia instruction is proposed as an approach that may help ADHD learners to overcome attention deficits.

An increase in strength of tilt aftereffect associated with tryptophan depletion.

The effects of a tryptophan-free amino acid mixture on tilt aftereffect, movement aftereffect, and the Mueller-Lyer illusion were studied. 12 male subjects ingested either a balanced amino acid mixture or a tryptophan-free mixture which causes a marked depletion of brain tryptophan and serotonin. The tryptophan-free mixture significantly increased the strength of tilt aftereffect but had no effect on movement aftereffect or the Mueller-Lyer illusion. These results were discussed with reference to the pharmacological activity of serotonin and its influence on the strength of lateral inhibition in mammalian brains.

Mental visualization before and after problem presentation: a comparison.

Three experiments were carried out to study the effects on problem solving of visualization when subjects (secondary-school students and undergraduates) were instructed to generate mental images before the problem was presented and when they received such a hint after being given the problem. In each experiment an arithmetic, a geometric, and a practical problem were presented in three different conditions, a control condition, an “imagery-before” condition, and an “imagery-after” condition. Analysis showed that, in general, the “imagery-after” task helps subjects to overcome the misleading or fixating tendencies which interfere with problem solution; in contrast, the “imagery-before” task may enhance such tendencies.

EFFECTS OF PARTIAL ANALOGIES ON SOLVING AN ILL-DEFINED PROBLEM

Two experiments were carried out to verify whether in Dunckers radiation problem undergraduates and secondary school students take advantage of partial analogies (i.e, analogies providing subjects with only one element of the solution) and can integrate two partial analogies to deduce a solution plan which may be transferred successfully to the target problem. Subjects were initially presented verbal stories (Exp. 1, n = 112) or visual patterns (Exp. 2, n = 80) describing situations structurally similar to Dunckers problem and to one of its possible solutions. Then subjects had to solve the target problem. Results of both experiments showed that partial analogies play weak heuristic functions and that two partial analogies can provide a complete problem-solving strategy for the target problem only if their order of presentation corresponds to the sequence of the solution steps.

Anagram solving is facilitated by intra- but not cross-modal priming

200 undergraduates had to solve a series of typewritten single-solution anagrams after the presentation of their solution words (primes). Primes were visually (in a typewritten or in a handwritten format) or auditorily presented, and subjects were or not informed about the relationships between primes and anagrams. Analysis showed that visual primes facilitated anagram solution regardless whether typed or handwritten; auditory primes were ineffective for the anagram task. No significant differences between informed and uninformed subjects were found. Data suggested that word models are modality-specific in a mental lexicon even though they do not preserve perceptual features. Finally, there is evidence that in anagram solution—as on other linguistic tasks—priming effects are not due to strategic processes.

Reproduction of short time intervals by African immigrants

20 Italians (mean age: 29.1 yr.) and 20 African immigrants (mean age: 29.7 yr.) were asked to assess when one minute had passed after a given signal. Italians produced an approximately correct time interval, while African immigrants produced time intervals shorter than the correct ones. The subjective underestimation observed in African immigrants is discussed with reference to the changes in the style of life associated with the transition from their native country to the country in which they are living.

Source Processing Influences Analogical Problem Solving

Abstract Four experimental conditions were devised to test the hypothesis that the solution of a target problem is affected by the way in which a source story structurally similar to that problem has been previously elaborated. In the literal recall condition, undergraduates were requested to memorize the source in detail. In the schematizing condition, they had to identify the essential features of the source. In the evaluation condition, they were asked to judge the adequacy of the source. In the control condition, they had to read and recall a story with no correspondence to the target. The highest frequencies of analogical solutions occurred in the schematizing and evaluation groups. Data suggest that a deep and abstract representation facilitates the use of the source in problem solving.

Solution of an insight problem at different age levels.

The purpose was to study performance on an insight problem by 3-to 25-yr.-olds. A task involving restructuring and requiring two wooden blocks be fitted together to form a tetrahedron was presented to five groups of 20 subjects each from kindergarten, primary school, secondary school, high school, and a university. The frequencies of solvers within each group increased from the first age group to the third but then remained constant. Solution times and frequencies of solutions attempted were not significantly different among the five groups. Perhaps insight does not follow the same developmental trend as other thinking processes.