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Judging a book by its cover: interpretative effects of content on problem-solving transfer
1Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
Memory & Cognition
|May 1, 1995
Summary
Problem cover stories influence how people solve problems by shaping their understanding of underlying structures. This research shows semantic knowledge from stories affects abstract problem-solving and transfer.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Problem Solving
- Learning Science
Background:
- Existing models of problem-solving transfer focus on representational content.
- These models suggest surface features of problems can impede recognition of structural similarities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how cover stories of isomorphic problems influence problem transfer.
- To propose and test the hypothesis that cover stories induce semantic knowledge, modifying problem structures.
Main Methods:
- Conducted two experiments using permutation problems (random assignment).
- Manipulated cover stories with different element sets (e.g., objects/people vs. people/people).
- Analyzed how participants represented and solved structurally isomorphic problems.
Main Results:
- Cover stories led participants to abstract different "interpreted structures" despite problems being structurally isomorphic.
- Problems with objects and people induced an asymmetric structure ("get").
- Problems with similar people sets induced a symmetric structure ("pair").
- Transfer was mediated by the similarity between interpreted structures of learned and novel problems.
Conclusions:
- Cover stories significantly impact problem transfer by inducing semantic knowledge that alters problem representations.
- The way a problem is framed (its cover story) can lead to different abstract structural understandings.
- Understanding these "interpreted structures" is key to predicting and improving problem-solving transfer.