Reasoning and Problem-Solving¶
Scope: Deductive, inductive, causal, analogical, mathematical reasoning; hypothesis testing; categorization; insight; means-ends analysis; planning; subgoaling.
Out of scope: “Reasoning” as umbrella; “logical reasoning” as umbrella over deductive + inductive; fluid intelligence as an individual-difference construct.
Note
Open issues: None open.
This category contains 11 processes.
Analogical reasoning¶
Process ID: hed_analogical_reasoning
Mapping of relational structure from a source domain to a target domain.
Tasks that engage this process: Raven’s Progressive Matrices Task
Fundamental references
Gentner (1983) Cognitive Science 7:155–170 (DOI)
Categorization¶
Process ID: hed_categorization
Assignment of instances to categories according to their features.
Tasks that engage this process: Artificial Grammar Learning Task, Facial Emotion Recognition Task, Implicit Association Task, Lexical Decision Task, Phonological Awareness Task, Probabilistic Classification Learning Task, Rapid Serial Visual Presentation Task, Wisconsin Card Sorting Task
Fundamental references
Rosch (1973) Cognitive Psychology 4:328–350 (DOI)
Further references
Seger & Miller (2010) Annual Review of Neuroscience 33:203–219 (DOI)
Causal reasoning¶
Process ID: hed_causal_reasoning
Also known as: causal inference
Inference about cause–effect relations from observation and intervention.
Tasks that engage this process: Causal Learning Task
Fundamental references
Cheng (1997) Psychological Review 104:367–405 (DOI)
Deductive reasoning¶
Process ID: hed_deductive_reasoning
Also known as: Logical reasoning - Broader term encompassing deductive and inductive forms; its definition is a union of the two, and the Wason Selection Task links here.
Inference in which the conclusion follows necessarily from the premises.
Tasks that engage this process: Wason Selection Task
Fundamental references
Wason (1968) Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 20:273–281 (DOI)
Further references
Hypothesis testing¶
Process ID: hed_hypothesis_testing
Generation and evaluation of alternative explanations against evidence.
Tasks that engage this process: Wason Selection Task, Wisconsin Card Sorting Task
Further references
Klayman (1995) Psychology of Learning and Motivation 32:385–418 (DOI)
Inductive reasoning¶
Process ID: hed_inductive_reasoning
Inference from specific instances to general principles; probabilistic rather than necessary.
Tasks that engage this process: Raven’s Progressive Matrices Task
Fundamental references
Rips (1975) Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 14:665–681 (DOI)
Further references
Kemp & Tenenbaum (2009) Psychological Review 116:20–58 (DOI)
Insight¶
Process ID: hed_insight
Sudden restructuring of a problem representation yielding a solution that was previously unavailable, often accompanied by an “Aha!” experience distinct from incremental analytic search.
Tasks that engage this process: Remote Associates Task
Fundamental references
Further references
Mathematical reasoning¶
Process ID: hed_mathematical_reasoning
Manipulation of numerical and algebraic quantities and relations.
Tasks that engage this process: none in the current Catalog.
Fundamental references
Dehaene (1997) The Number Sense (DOI)
Further references
Amalric & Dehaene (2016) PNAS 113:4909–4917 (DOI)
Means-ends analysis¶
Process ID: hed_means_ends_analysis
Iterative problem-solving strategy in which the distance between the current state and the goal state is reduced by selecting operators that diminish the largest remaining difference.
Tasks that engage this process: Tower of London Task
Fundamental references
Newell A & Simon HA (1972) Human Problem Solving Prentice-Hall
Atwood ME & Polson PG (1976) Cognitive Psychology 8:191-216 (DOI)
Further references
Huys QJM et al. (2015) PLoS Computational Biology 11:e1004112
Planning¶
Process ID: hed_planning
Mental formulation of a sequence of actions toward a goal before execution.
Tasks that engage this process: Tower of London Task
Fundamental references
Shallice (1982) Philosophical Transactions B 298:199–209 (Tower of London) (DOI)
Subgoaling¶
Process ID: hed_subgoaling
Decomposition of a goal into an ordered sequence of subgoals whose satisfaction advances the overall task; dissociable from means-ends search and often studied through hierarchical task analysis.
Tasks that engage this process: Tower of London Task
Fundamental references
Egan DE & Greeno JG (1974) in Knowledge and Cognition Erlbaum
Anderson JR (1983) The Architecture of Cognition Harvard University Press
Further references