In these problems, subjects have to correct a numerical statement by physically moving and recombining parts of numerical symbols. Careful task analysis revealed that some problems of this sort require relaxing constraints from arithmetic and others require the decomposition of notational chunks. The analysis predicted transfer effects from a first to a second encounter with a problem for some problem types but not for others. The predictions were confirmed by the data. The next phase of this project will aim to apply the constraint relaxation and chunk decomposition concepts in a more complex domain.
People acquire skills by practicing.
Practice is paradoxical because it consists in attempting to solve a problem that the learner or trainee has not yet mastered. The problem for cognitive psychology is to understand why such attempts eventually lead to mastery. It has been clear at least since the work of Edward Thorndike in the 1890s that feedback from the environment plays a crucial role in skill acquisition. Feedback includes information about errors, i.e., outcomes that indicate that the action taken was inappropriate or less than useful. Objective and hypotheses .