IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/intell/v83y2020ics0160289620300805.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The moderating effect of prior knowledge on the relationship between intelligence and complex problem solving – Testing the Elshout-Raaheim hypothesis

Author

Listed:
  • Weise, Julius J.
  • Greiff, Samuel
  • Sparfeldt, Jörn R.

Abstract

Although the relation between intelligence and complex problem solving (CPS) has been investigated repeatedly, the moderating effect of prior knowledge on this relation still remains an open question. The Elshout-Raaheim hypothesis (see Leutner, 2002) predicts a higher correlation between intelligence and CPS at a medium level of problem specific prior knowledge and lower correlations at higher as well as lower levels of prior knowledge, thus a curvilinear moderation. We investigated this hypothesis in a sample of N = 495 high school students by using general intelligence (g) and a minimal complex systems approach (MCS) of CPS. Strategic prior knowledge in the sense of the relative frequency of the vary-one-thing-at-a-time strategy (VOTAT; Tschirgi, 1980) increased across MCS tasks in the knowledge acquisition phase of CPS. With increasing prior knowledge, correlations followed the predicted inverted U-shaped pattern in the knowledge acquisition phase and the knowledge application phase of CPS, thus supporting the Elshout-Raaheim hypothesis. The moderating effect of strategic prior knowledge for the intelligence–CPS relation and its relevance are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Weise, Julius J. & Greiff, Samuel & Sparfeldt, Jörn R., 2020. "The moderating effect of prior knowledge on the relationship between intelligence and complex problem solving – Testing the Elshout-Raaheim hypothesis," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:intell:v:83:y:2020:i:c:s0160289620300805
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2020.101502
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289620300805
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.intell.2020.101502?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stadler, Matthias & Niepel, Christoph & Greiff, Samuel, 2019. "Differentiating between static and complex problems: A theoretical framework and its empirical validation," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 1-12.
    2. Scharfen, Jana & Peters, Judith Marie & Holling, Heinz, 2018. "Retest effects in cognitive ability tests: A meta-analysis," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 44-66.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lotz, Christin & Scherer, Ronny & Greiff, Samuel & Sparfeldt, Jörn R., 2022. "g's little helpers – VOTAT and NOTAT mediate the relation between intelligence and complex problem solving," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mansukoski, Liina & Bogin, Barry & Galvez-Sobral, J. Andres & Furlán, Luis & Johnson, William, 2020. "Differences and secular trends in childhood IQ trajectories in Guatemala City," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    2. Schneider, Benedikt & Sparfeldt, Jörn R., 2021. "How to solve number series items: Can watching video tutorials increase test scores?," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    3. Nicolay, Björn & Krieger, Florian & Kuhn, Jörg-Tobias & Graesser, Arthur C. & Ifenthaler, Dirk & Baker, Ryan & Greiff, Samuel, 2023. "Unsuccessful and successful complex problem solvers – A log file analysis of complex problem solving strategies across multiple tasks," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    4. Breit, Moritz & Scherrer, Vsevolod & Preckel, Franzis, 2021. "Temporal stability of specific ability scores and intelligence profiles in high ability students," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    5. Herrmann, W. & Beckmann, J.F. & Kretzschmar, A., 2023. "The role of learning in complex problem solving using MicroDYN," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    6. Lotz, Christin & Scherer, Ronny & Greiff, Samuel & Sparfeldt, Jörn R., 2022. "g's little helpers – VOTAT and NOTAT mediate the relation between intelligence and complex problem solving," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    7. Harrington, Karra D. & Dang, Christa & Lim, Yen Ying & Ames, David & Laws, Simon M. & Pietrzak, Robert H. & Rainey-Smith, Stephanie & Robertson, Joanne & Rowe, Christopher C. & Salvado, Olivier & Vill, 2018. "The effect of preclinical Alzheimer's disease on age-related changes in intelligence in cognitively normal older adults," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 22-29.
    8. Rindermann, Heiner & Becker, David & Coyle, Thomas R., 2020. "Survey of expert opinion on intelligence: Intelligence research, experts' background, controversial issues, and the media," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    9. Schneider, Benedikt & Becker, Nicolas & Krieger, Florian & Spinath, Frank M. & Sparfeldt, Jörn R., 2020. "Teaching the underlying rules of figural matrices in a short video increases test scores," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:intell:v:83:y:2020:i:c:s0160289620300805. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/intelligence .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.