Différences individuelles dans la sélection des stratégies : un modèle dynamique appliqué à l’épreuve du voyageur de commerce

Abstract

The present study examine individual difference in strategy use in the context of a dynamic model that integrates information from the current context of the problem and information from participant�s past history of using the strategies. This model is applied to a travelling salesperson task which allows the use of three strategies of resolution completed by 240 young adults. Results show that both perceptual properties of the items and individuals experience of the task influence strategy selection. Specifically, problem solvers are more likely to use a strategy the more frequently they used it during the last three items and the more effective it is in the context of the current problem. Individual differences appear in the ability to use and to integrate these two kinds of information in an appropriate way. Some participants show patterns of strategy selection that are clearly led by these two factors whereas others patterns seem more random. A relation is found between these individual differences estimated by the model and the performance on the Raven�s advanced progressive matrices. These results underline the central role in performance of the processes of strategy selection directed by perceptual properties of the items and individual experience of the task.