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Cognitive Learning01:21

Cognitive Learning

Cognitive learning is based on purposive behavior, incidental learning, and insight learning.
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
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Effective problem-solving consists of two steps: 1. identifying the problem and 2. selecting the appropriate problem-solving strategy (i.e., a plan of action used to find a solution). Humans use four problem-solving strategies:
Inductive Reasoning00:59

Inductive Reasoning

Inductive reasoning is a form of logical thinking that uses related observations to arrive at a general conclusion. It is uncertain and operates in degrees to which the conclusions are credible. As such, inductive arguments can be weak or strong, rather than valid or invalid, and conclusions can be used to formulate testable, falsifiable hypotheses.Inductive reasoning is common in descriptive science. A life scientist makes observations and records them. This data can be qualitative or...
Problem Solving: Dimensional Analysis01:08

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Every mathematical equation that connects separate distinct physical quantities must be dimensionally consistent, which implies it must abide by two rules. For this reason, the concept of dimension is crucial. The first rule is that an equation's expressions on either side of an equality must have the exact same dimension, i.e., quantities of the same dimension can be added or removed. The second rule stipulates that all popular mathematical functions, such as exponential, logarithmic, and...
Theorems of Pappus and Guldinus: Problem Solving01:12

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Pappus and Guldinus's theorems are powerful mathematical principles that are used for finding the surface area and volume of composite shapes. For example, consider a cylindrical storage tank with a conical top. Finding the surface area or volume can be challenging for such complex shapes. These theorems are particularly useful in calculating the volume and surface area of such systems. Here, the cylindrical storage tank with a conical top can be broken down into two simple shapes: a cylinder...
Hindsight Biases01:12

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Hindsight bias leads you to believe that the event you just experienced was predictable, even though it really wasn’t. In other words, you knew all along that things would turn out the way they did. Can you relate this to the phrase "Hindsight is 20/20" now?

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 5, 2026

The Use of the Puzzle Box as a Means of Assessing the Efficacy of Environmental Enrichment
06:50

The Use of the Puzzle Box as a Means of Assessing the Efficacy of Environmental Enrichment

Published on: December 29, 2014

Rebus puzzles as insight problems.

James N MacGregor1, J Barton Cunningham

  • 1School of Public Administration, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. jmacgreg@uvic.ca

Behavior Research Methods
|April 17, 2008
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Rebus puzzles, which combine words and images, can serve as effective insight problems. Their difficulty correlates with the number of assumptions needed for solutions, aiding insight research.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Problem-Solving Research

Background:

  • Insight problem-solving research is limited by a lack of suitable, standardized problems.
  • Existing insight problems are often ad hoc, heterogeneous, and difficult to solve.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the utility of rebus puzzles as a standardized source of insight problems.
  • To test whether the difficulty of rebus puzzles relates to the number of implicit assumptions required for solution.

Main Methods:

  • An experiment was conducted using two parts to assess rebus puzzle validity.
  • Participants solved rebus puzzles with varying numbers of implicit assumptions.
  • Performance was correlated with self-rated insight and remote associates test scores.

Main Results:

  • Participants solved significantly more problems with one assumption compared to those with two or more.
  • Rebus puzzle performance correlated positively with self-rated insight.
  • Rebus puzzle performance showed a significant correlation with scores on the remote associates test.

Conclusions:

  • Rebus puzzles are a viable and theoretically grounded tool for studying insight.
  • The number of implicit assumptions in a rebus puzzle predicts its difficulty.
  • Rebus puzzles offer a promising avenue for expanding the pool of insight problems for research.